Sr. Margaret Carney, O.S.F., the 20^th president of St. Bonaventure, and Seneca artist Carson Waterman will receive honorary doctorates at the university’s 165^th Commencement Exercises May 18 in Reilly Center Arena.

Carney, who was named president emeritus upon her retirement in 2016, will also deliver the keynote address to the Class of 2025.

Under her leadership, the university invested $71 million in capital projects, from the renovations of Hickey Dining Hall, Shay and Loughlen residence halls and Fred Handler Park, to several new construction projects: Richter Center, Café La Verna, Walsh Science Center, Swan Business Center, Marra Athletics Fields Complex, and the Holy Name Library rare books addition to Friedsam Memorial Library.

Carney was also the driving force in the 150^th Anniversary Campaign for St. Bonaventure, which exceeded its $90 million goal, and helped the university double its endowment between 2005 and 2015.

She was a staunch proponent of diversity at SBU, founding the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies and the Damietta Center for Multicultural Affairs; encouraged students to lives of service; and engaged alumni to assist with internships and job placement.

Only three people — Joseph Butler, Thomas Plassmann and Mathias Doyle, all friars — served longer terms as president of St. Bonaventure than Carney.

“Sister Margaret was instrumental in restoring faith and confidence in the university at a critical time in our history,” said Dr. Jeff Gingerich, university president. “Her leadership for more than a decade and her ability to convince people that the university was still worth investing in helped set the stage for the tremendous success we’ve experienced the last several years.”

Waterman has been a cultural icon in the Seneca Nation since 1975 when he joined the staff at the newly opened Seneca Iroquois National Museum on the Allegany Reservation in Salamanca. He served as exhibit designer, illustrator and artist.

A member of the Snipe Clan and a graduate of Gowanda High School, Waterman studied at Cooper School of Art in Cleveland. Upon graduation, he was drafted by the U.S. Army to serve with the 4^th Infantry in Vietnam. He spent seven months on the battlefields before being reassigned to the division’s Public Information Office to create illustrations for the division’s newspapers.

Upon returning from the war in 1970, Waterman spent four years teaching art at the Cleveland Museum of Art before returning to Salamanca. Since 1988, he has been self-employed as an artist at his gallery on the Allegany Reservation. 

“Carson is one of the most significant artists Western New York has ever produced, and I’ve come to appreciate over the last two years how revered he is in the Seneca Nation,” Gingerich said. “His life has been committed to keeping alive, forever, the beauty and legacy of the Seneca and Haudenosaunee people though his art.”

Waterman’s work can be found throughout the region, with notable installations at the Delavan-Canisius College subway station and Erie Basin Marina in Buffalo, Seneca Allegany Resort and Casino, the Allegheny River and Chautauqua Lake rest areas on Interstate 86, as well as in community centers, nursing homes and fire halls.

Waterman’s exhibition at the Burchfield Penney Art Center in Buffalo, titled “Art Saved My Life,” is on display through June 1. SBU’s Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts will host an exhibition featuring Waterman’s work this fall.

On Thursday, May 15, the ROTC Commissioning Ceremony will be held at 4 p.m. in the Quick Center. The annual Candlelight Induction Ceremony will be held in the Plassmann/Swan quad at 8:45 p.m. Friday, May 16, to formally welcome students into the alumni family.

Activities on Saturday, May 17, include the Multicultural Stole Ceremony at 11 a.m. in Reilly Center Arena and Baccalaureate Mass at 4 p.m. in the arena. Commencement exercises begin at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, May 18.

For more information about Commencement, including the dates for each academic school’s awards ceremony, go to www.sbu.edu/Commencement. Many of the events will be livestreamed here.

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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).