Dr. Maria del Guadalupe (Morris) Davidson

Class of 1995

Life Before SBU

Lupe, as she’s known, grew up in Syracuse, N.Y., the youngest of eight children. Her parents and four older siblings immigrated to the U.S. from Costa Rica. She had a strong Afro-Costa Rican upbringing, which included a focus on education, but neither she nor her parents “knew how school worked,” she said. “I had no idea how to study … how to prepare for college. One of the things that saved me was that I was a leader, and some of my teachers saw my potential.” Her guidance counselor at Bishop Grimes Catholic High in East Syracuse, a Bona graduate, drove her and another student to Olean to visit St. Bonaventure. “I fell in love on that day,” she said. “My parents were so proud when I got the HEOP scholarship.”

Life at SBU

“Participating as a HEOP student at Bona’s is unique and special in its own way,” said Davidson. “For me, the experience was profoundly impactful. It allowed me to live in another environment away from the chaos and violence that happens in communities that suffer from lack of investment, opportunity, stigmatism, racism and classism. HEOP helped me acquire study skills, taught me how to live and work in community, and even helped me with etiquette, lessons that still serve me today.”

On campus, she was a protester, a member of the Black Student Union, and held a leadership position with the College Democrats. She also worked in the Department of Philosophy, staffed by “some of the best humans to ever walk the planet,” she said. “I cannot thank them enough for giving me a safe, encouraging, supportive, and intellectually engaging space.”

Life after SBU

After earning her bachelor’s degree, Davidson began studies in the English master’s program at St. Bonaventure, mentored by Dr. John Mulryan, retired Board of Trustees Professor of English, “a brilliant professor” who instilled in her a profound love of literature, especially John Milton. She transferred to Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, where she earned two master’s degrees and a Ph.D. It’s also where she met her husband of 20 years, Scott, who also earned his master’s and Ph.D. from Duquesne. They have three children.

Scott Davidson is professor and chair of the Philosophy and Rhetoric Department at Oklahoma City University. Lupe Davidson is L.J. Semrod Presidential Professor of Arts and Sciences, associate professor and chair of the Women’s and Gender Studies Department at the University of Oklahoma, where she has held various teaching positions since 2006. She is also co-director of the university’s Center for Social Justice. “I’m very proud of the work we do in WGS and CSJ. Not only do we have a fantastic curriculum, we also provide social justice programming to the entire campus community,” she said.

Reflecting on HEOP and SBU

“HEOP, at Bona’s, showed me a different kind of world and helped instill within me a desire to achieve but always remain committed to my community,” said Davidson. “It should be of no surprise to anyone when they find a HEOP graduate working for the betterment of society and especially for the benefit of those who have the least.”
Just this spring, she traveled to Gulu, Uganda, with a group of University of Oklahoma students and faculty to help with a women’s peace conference. “Working in Uganda is my love labor, not my research,” she said. “I think I learned the concept of love labor from HEOP specifically at Bona’s. Linking HEOP to the values of a Franciscan institution of higher education … I’m not sure if I could have learned what I learned anywhere else.”