Betsy and Jeff Gingerich
I could sense it during the interview process earlier this year with trustees and so many members of the campus community.
I saw it with my own eyes, in staggering numbers, when I went to the NIT in New York, just three weeks after I was named president.
But not until I attended Reunion, June 3-4, and had the chance to talk with so many alumni did I fully comprehend the unique and special community that is St. Bonaventure University.
When you’re being interviewed, everyone tends to be on guard a bit, wanting to make sure they paint a positive picture so they don’t send you running for the exit if they’re too candid.
The engagement I had with folks at the Reunion, however, was organic and spontaneous. All Betsy and I could feel at the events we attended Friday and Saturday was a remarkable sense of community that affirmed what everyone had told us about Bonaventure.
When my interest was piqued in pursuing the presidency, I noticed that one of the more prominent social media hashtags the university was using was #BonaFamily. The weekend I spent with more than 1,000 alumni made me realize that wasn’t just some catchy marketing slogan. It’s the absolute truth.
I saw it when alumni greeted Joe Flanagan, our retiring alumni director and my guide through much of the weekend, like he was a brother they hadn’t seen in years.
I saw it when people became choked up talking to me about what this university had meant to them in shaping their lives and how they view Bona’s as their second home. It didn’t matter if they were alums who’ve had Bonnies season tickets since they graduated or people who hadn’t been back to campus in 20 years. Either way, the theme of “home” was conveyed to me continuously throughout the weekend.
And I saw it in your embrace of Betsy and me and how warmly you welcomed us into the family. This truly is, as so many alumni told me, a “special place.”
Even though I didn’t officially start my presidential role until June 21, I was given a great gift being able to attend Reunion and the Board of Trustees meeting the following weekend. Being able to dive head first into this special community just days after arriving in Olean allowed me the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of what makes this place unique.
What became clear with each passing conversation is how impactful the Franciscan mission is on our students and alumni and how much they appreciated our friars and the values we cherish. I met so many fundamentally good people who want to contribute to the world and make it a better place. They want to because of their transformational experience at Bona’s.
It also gave me pause because I left each weekend feeling a tremendous responsibility to carry on this extraordinary tradition of student transformation and to continue the incredible momentum Dr. DePerro and Dr. Zimmer have established over the last five years.
Indeed, challenges lie ahead for St. Bonaventure. Issues about affordability, the saturation of colleges in the Northeast, and the rapidly evolving policies related to Division I athletics will keep us on our toes for years to come, but I am more confident than ever that with your continued support we can navigate these choppy waters.
I look forward to meeting many more alumni as I prepare to hit the road soon to launch the public phase of our Bolder Bonaventure campaign. To those alumni and friends of the university I’ve already met, thank you for making Betsy and me feel like we already belong to this incredible community.
Dr. Jeff Gingerich
University President
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