Bonaventure Magazine: Summer 2015 Page 5

tions make sense -- in essence, are they assets or liabilities?

They must be one or the other.
For months, a committee of trustees and University administra-

tors pored over reams of data, weighing the pros and cons of con-
sidering another athletic path.

In the end, the Board of Trustees unanimously approved the

committee's conclusion, that St. Bonaventure's presence in a
conference as academically and athletically successful as the At-
lantic 10 -- one that offers brand-defining national TV exposure
and revenue sources impossible to duplicate in lower Division I
or non-Division I leagues -- is worth the expense of participa-
tion. Roughly 30 percent of St. Bonaventure's enrollment comes
from outside of New York, and the evidence suggests that this
little fish in a big pond benefits greatly from that exposure.

Moreover, the committee's exploration revealed that one way

to enhance enrollment is actually to expand athletic capacity, at
both the club level -- which already involves more than 300 stu-
dents -- and in Division I. That process has already begun by
adding an outdoor track component to the men's and women's
cross country teams, resulting in increased roster sizes -- mean-
ing 10 to 15 more students -- for a sport that operates with low
overhead costs. (Those teams begin competition in 2016-17.)

BUT THE DECISION to better leverage and monetize our ath-

letic program comes with a significant caveat: Academics must
remain the core mission of this University to attract more stu-
dents, and additional investments in academics and marketing
are needed to grow enrollments.

University administrators are now developing a new strategic

plan that will align academic and co-curricular planning and in-
vestments with athletics planning and investments to maximize
synergies and appropriately leverage the assets of each.

But none of this will be easy, which is precisely why we need

you. We invite you to follow updates shared via email, this mag-
azine, or alumni events to understand our goals, challenges and
opportunities.

We'd love for you to follow the University's social media chan-

nels to share and forward the good news we post each day with
those in your social media networks. The power of your Bona
pride can make a significant difference.

We continue to value your talent through volunteer service,

from alumni chapters and advisory boards to the SHARE pro-
gram that involves alumni in student recruitment.

Use your talents to benefit our students by hosting them as in-

terns at your place of work or offering to serve as a mentor to a
student through our Career and Professional Readiness Center.

Finally, we need you to make philanthropic giving to St. Bona-

venture University a priority in your life -- and a top priority
among your philanthropic intentions.

To sustain the signature academic strengths upon which this

University's legacy has been built, and to continue to be a part
of Division I athletics in the Atlantic 10, we need to see increases
in alumni donations to the University. Alumni support is the
lifeblood of small, private colleges.

We fully recognize that not everyone has the ability to make a

major gift. But nearly everyone has the ability to give something
back -- if not their treasure, then their time, their talents, even
an enthusiastic suggestion to a college-age student to consider
your alma mater.

One of the oldest tenets of the financial world is this: Past per-

formance is not an indicator of future results. Simply because
this remarkable University has been around for 157 years
doesn't assure that it will be around for 157 more. More than
one study has suggested that the number of small, private, reli-
giously affiliated colleges in Western New York is not sustain-
able.

We're sharing this information not to cause undue angst, but

merely to be candid about this critical crossroads. We will do all
we can to create open and transparent discussion opportunities
so we can leverage the power of our 27,000 alumni in our
strategic actions for the future.

The questions we face might call for radical answers to com-

bat these difficult times so that we can be first to market in an-
ticipation of the changing world around us. "Think different,"
Apple proclaimed nearly 20 years ago, and we need to do the
same -- all of us.

We intend to explore every avenue to make this great Univer-

sity thrive and we feel a deep and abiding obligation to let you
know that we need you to be part of the solution.

As you have so many times in the past, we expect that you will

say yes to this urgent invitation.

Pax et bonum,
Sr. Margaret Carney, O.S.F., University president
& Robert Daugherty, Board of Trustees chair

B O N A V E N T U R E

Campus News

Chair Robert Daugherty of Chatham,

N.J., is a retired partner with Pricewater-
houseCoopers. He has served on the
Board since 2007. He served as vice chair
of the Board for the past three years
under Raymond Dee and was chair of the
successful $15 million School of Business
Campaign. Fellow Board officers are:

Meet the new Board officers

Vice chair Daniel

Collins of Painted Post,
N.Y., vice president of
Corporate Communica-
tions at Corning Inc. He

served as a trustee at his alma
mater from 1998 to 2002 and re-
joined the Board in 2006.

Vice chair Kathleen

(Pekar) Colucci of Mid-
dlebury, Conn., vice
president of Global
Sales Transformation at

IBM Corp. A trustee since 2007,
Colucci is also a Seraphim Legacy
Society member.

Secretary Laurie Branch

of Olean is president of Iro-
quois Group, Inc. She
served on the Board from
2002 to 2011 and rejoined

the Board in 2012. She is an adjunct
in the schools of Business and Jour-
nalism & Mass Communication.