The Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe of the Order of Friars Minor (O.F.M.) has agreed to continue its sponsorship of St. Bonaventure University, reaffirming a Franciscan relationship that dates to the university’s founding in 1858.

The sponsorship agreement was signed Saturday in Washington, D.C., by Br. Lawrence Hayes, O.F.M., provincial minister of the Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and Dr. Jeff Gingerich, president of St. Bonaventure.

The agreement reflects the university’s sponsorship by the Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe, established Oct. 17, 2023, through the unification of six former O.F.M. provinces in the United States. Hayes also signed sponsorship agreements with the presidents of Quincy University and Siena University.

The new sponsorship agreements were created as part of this reorganization to reflect the shared Franciscan identity of the unified province. The three agreements renew the moral and ministerial bond between each university and the Franciscan province responsible for its relationship with the Order of Friars Minor.

“These agreements are our mutual pledge to continue sharing the 800-year-old Franciscan Intellectual Tradition … that understands learning as a path toward wisdom — by seeking truth, beauty and goodness in God’s creation,” Hayes said.

Under the agreement, St. Bonaventure continues as a Catholic university sponsored by the Order of Friars Minor, committed to the Catholic and Franciscan intellectual traditions that emphasize learning in service to wisdom, faith and the common good.

“This sponsorship ensures that our Franciscan and Catholic identity remains central to the life of the university,” Gingerich said. “It strengthens our mission to educate students through knowledge shaped by Franciscan values.”

The agreement also provides for at least three members of the university’s Board of Trustees to be members of the Order of Friars Minor or another Franciscan religious order. It affirms the university’s autonomy in governance, accreditation and operations, while recognizing the Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe as the principal entity responsible for sponsorship, regardless of future structural changes within the order of men or women.

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About the University: The nation’s first Franciscan university, St. Bonaventure is a community committed to transforming the lives of its students inside and outside the classroom, inspiring in them a commitment to academic excellence and lifelong civic engagement. Out of 167 regional universities in the North, St. Bonaventure was ranked #8 for value and #19 overall by U.S. News and World Report (2025).