| August 28, 2008 | Vol 10. No. 1 |
Canisius Begins New Traditions at Mass of the Holy Spirit
Students in the procession carried flags as they followed the bagpiper to the Montante Cultural Center.
Canisius celebrated the beginning of the academic year today with its annual Mass of the Holy Spirit. New this year, a bagpiper led the procession of Jesuits, faculty, staff and students down Main Street to the Montante Cultural Center for Mass.
The tradition of celebrating the Mass of the Holy Spirit, especially at Jesuit high schools and universities, is a tradition that is almost as old as the Society of Jesus itself, dating back to the first Jesuit school in Messina, Sicily, in 1548.
Also new this year, faculty and administrators formed an Honor Processional to greet students as they entered the Montante Cultural Center for the Mass of the Holy Spirit.
Another Canisius tradition is the annual state of the college address given by President Rev. Vincent M. Cooke, S.J., during Academic Convocation. All faculty, staff and administrators are encouraged to attend this year’s Academic Convocation on Thursday, September 4 at 2:30 p.m. in the Montante Cultural Center.
Welcome Back
Mike Globits `10, a member of the Canisius men's soccer team, was among the student-athletes who lent a hand on moving-in day last Friday.
Classes began on Monday, August 25 but student leaders and athletes arrived on campus earlier in the month. Many were on hand to help their classmates move into the dorms last weekend.
“We had a great start of the academic year,” said Scott A. Chadwick, PhD, vice president for academic affairs. “Our freshman class is particularly strong academically and will complement our other students on campus.”
Nearly 1,300 freshmen and their parents attended “Your Amazing Race,” a travel-themed Welcome Weekend 2008. Organized by the Office of Campus Programming and Leadership Development, Welcome Weekend provides an introduction to campus services, a family Mass and blessing, social activities and entertainment.
Mark Tortelli '10 (top, left), treasurer of the Canisius chapter of Habitat for Humanity, and Matthew Lindenberg '10, president of the Canisius chapter of Habitat for Humanity, assisted several members of the Class of 2012 during the Welcome Weekend service project at the Habitat site at 412 Cambridge Avenue off of East Delavan Avenue.
Forty members of the college community, including incoming freshmen, participated in the Welcome Weekend service project on Sunday, August 24. Canisius’ community partners were Habitat for Humanity and the Little Portion Friary Homeless Shelter. The event was organized by the Office of Campus Ministry.
Major Summer Renovation Projects Complete
The Canisius men’s soccer team practices on the new A-Turf athletic field at the Demske Sports Complex.
Upon their return, student-athletes will notice several major improvements at the Koessler Athletic Center (KAC), which is the midst of a $2.1 million, four-phase renovation. The first phase includes a new state-of-the-art facility Center for Athletic Training, which will be used for game and practice preparation. The center is also fully equipped for acute and long-term injury rehabilitation.
The Demske Sports Complex, which received a $1.6 million facelift, now boasts A-Turf, a new multi-purpose, all-weather synthetic playing surface and new scoreboards. The men’s and women’s basketball teams have new-and-improved locker rooms for the upcoming season.
The Golden Griffins also have a new Web site, in partnership with JumpTV, which went live on August 21. The newly redesigned version of GoGriffs.com, presents fans with the opportunity to enjoy enhanced content, photos and video features for all 16 Canisius sports, along with the ability to shop and purchase official team merchandise. To view the new Web site, click here.
Other major construction projects completed this summer include final installation and testing of the college’s emergency notification system. Speakers in the hallways of all Canisius buildings can now alert students, faculty and staff in one or all buildings in the event of a college-wide emergency or intruder. The Village Townhouses have new furniture and carpeting, and the interior of Griffin Hall was painted and its student lounge was remodeled. The Commuter Student Lounge in the Richard E. Winter ?42 was also renovated, with the addition of new furniture and a flat-panel television set. Six, six-foot tall banners now clearly identify Science Hall as a Canisius College building located in the heart of the campus.
Canisius Welcomes Iraqi, Tunisian Students
In addition to the more than 40 international students, Canisius welcomes Hussam (who asked that we keep his last name confidential), an Iraqi student displaced by war.
Hussam is one of 17 Iraqi students who will begin classes this fall at U.S. colleges and universities through the Iraqi Student Project (ISP), a group of educators and activists in the U.S. and Mideast who are working to help Iraqi refugees finish their education. These students are among the estimated more than one million Iraqi refugees in Syria. Canisius is one of 15 universities that have agreed to waive tuition to help these students finish their education in hopes that they will return to Iraq to contribute to its rebuilding. Local organizations supporting Hussam's living expenses while he is here in the U.S. include Pax Christi WNY, Islamic Society of the Niagara Frontier, WNY Peace Center, Interfaith Peace Network, Buffalo Diocesan Peace and Justice Commission and Rabbi Drorah Setel.
Amine Bouguerra, from Tunisia, comes to Canisius through the U.S. Department of State Near East South Asia (NESA) Exchange Program. The Near East South Asia Undergraduate Exchange Program is an activity of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the US Department of State. Amine will attend Canisius for the fall 2008 semester.
"Hussam and Amine, along with all of our international students, will enrich our activities, events and classrooms by bringing their cultural perspectives and life experiences to us," said Jerome L. Neuner, PhD, associate vice president for academic affairs.
U.S. News Ranks Canisius 22nd in Top Tier For the second consecutive year, Canisius College is ranked 22nd in the top tier of Northern Universities-Master’s in U.S. News and World Report’s 2009 rankings of America’s Best Colleges. Consistently ranked among the top tier of North region schools, Canisius jumped seven spots to rank 22nd in the 2008 listing.
Canisius also ranked seventh in the Great Schools, Great Prices category, which is a five point gain from last year’s ranking. This category lists the colleges and universities that offer the best value as it relates to a school’s academic quality vs. the net cost of attendance.
“Canisius is strongly committed to the tradition of high-quality Catholic Jesuit education,” said Scott A. Chadwick, PhD, vice president for academic affairs. “Inclusion on this list confirms that Canisius College is successful in our commitment to offer an excellent education that is also a great value.”
There’s more good news.
Canisius’ peer assessment or reputation score has increased over the past three years from 2.9 in 2007 to 3.1 in 2009. The peer assessment score is determined by a survey of presidents, chief academic officers and chief admissions officers at universities within Canisius’ tier. The peer assessment number accounts for 25 percent of the college's score.
In addition, the percentage of Canisius faculty who are full-time has continued to climb over the last three years from 64 to 70 percent.
Canisius’ Little Three competitors, Niagara and St. Bonaventure, rank 58 and 40, respectively.
For more information, click here.
Father Cooke on “Crossroads”
President Rev. Vincent M. Cooke, S.J., shared his experiences from the 35th Jesuit General Congregation during a radio interview on “Crossroads,” a joint production of Regent Broadcasting of Buffalo and the Network of Religious Communities. The interview, conducted by Rev. Jonathan D. Lawrence, assistant professor of religious studies and theology at Canisius, will air on Sunday, September 7 at 6:00 a.m. on WJYE-FM (96.1) and at 6:30 a.m. on WBUF FM (92.9). Father Cooke’s interview will be available on Canisius iTunesU after the September 7 broadcasts.
Father Cooke was one of the 225 Jesuit delegates from around the world who elected a new superior general of the Society of Jesus on January 19, 2008, in Rome. The Society of Jesus is the largest religious order in the Roman Catholic Church.
The Congregation selected Rev. Adolfo Nicolas, S.J., former provincial of Japan and the current president of the Jesuit conference of East Asia and Oceana, as the 30th superior general of the Jesuits. He succeeds Rev. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, S.J., who resigned on January 14 after 25 years of service.
Under the Dome to Debut September 3
On September 3, the Office of Web Services will unveil Under the Dome, a daily on-line publication for Canisius news. Under the Dome will give faculty and staff a central location for college-wide announcements, which were previously submitted to the faculty and staff via E-mail listserv and the Netgazette.
Under the Dome will be published Monday through Friday at 9 a.m. during the fall and spring semesters. You will receive an E-mail each day when Under the Dome is updated. During the summer semester, it will be published every other Tuesday.
Any faculty or staff member may submit news items for Under the Dome via a simple on-line form. A document which details submission guidelines will be posted as a link from the on-line form. Deadline for submissions is 2 p.m. daily for the next day's newsletter.
Look for information from the Office of Web Services regarding Under the Dome Q&A sessions will be announced in the coming weeks. If you have any questions regarding Under the Dome, please contact Suzanne Crean, assistant Web editor, at Ext. 2935 or send an E-mail to creans@canisius.edu.
Scaccias Commit $2 Million to A Legacy Of Leadership
Carmelo '51 and Lynn Scaccia have committed $2 million to A Legacy of Leadership: The Campaign for Canisius College. The largest fund-raising initiative in the college's 137-year history, A Legacy of Leadership aims to raise $90 million dollars for capital improvements and the college's endowment. To date, Canisius has received commitments of nearly $62 million to the campaign."The Scaccias' active involvement and longstanding support of Canisius have played a vital role in the college's success story,' said Rev. Vincent M. Cooke, S.J., Canisius president. "We are exceptionally grateful for their most recent and very generous leadership commitment, which will help create a legacy that will have a permanent impact on our students and in the community."
"Lynn and I believe strongly in the value of a Canisius education," added Carmelo Scaccia. "This gift is our way of helping to ensure that this quality continues at Canisius for future generations of students."
A retired department store executive, Carmelo Scaccia's career in the retail industry spanned nearly 50 years.
For more information, click here.