Feb 22, 2024
Three state legislators were on hand Thursday to present the St. Bonaventure University women’s rugby team with the state resolution honoring them for winning the national championship in December.
“Bonaventure may be small, but we are mighty,” said Assemblyman Joe Giglio (R-Gowanda), who sent three children to SBU. “For us to do this is a privilege. The population centers in New York don’t often include us so it’s nice, every once in a while, to get to go back to Albany and brag.”
The resolution was officially entered into the state Assembly and Senate records on Jan. 17.
Also on hand at the ceremony in the Athletics Hall of Fame were Sen. George Borrello (R-Silver Creek) and Assemblyman Phil Palmesano (R-Corning), a 1991 SBU alumnus.
“Most of our colleagues in New York City couldn’t find Cattaraugus County on a map, but you have put us on the map,” Borrello said. “And to be able to keep up your academics and still win a national championship is an amazing achievement.”
The Bonnies defeated Wisconsin-Platteville, 22-17, for the 2023 National Collegiate Rugby small-college national title Dec. 3 in Houston.
SBU President Jeff Gingerich and Dr. David Hilmey, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, also offered remarks.
“I’m so proud of what you have accomplished, not only on the field but in the classroom, and how you’ve carried yourself on campus,” Gingerich said.
The legislators honored SBU’s men’s rugby team in 2022 with a state resolution after winning the national title in December 2021.
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About the University: The nation’s first Franciscan university, St. Bonaventure University is a community committed to transforming the lives of our students inside and outside the classroom, inspiring in them a lifelong commitment to service and citizenship. Out of 167 regional universities in the North, St. Bonaventure was ranked #6 for value and #14 for innovation by U.S. News and World Report (2024).