ALLEGANY, N.Y. — The 150th anniversary celebration of St. Bonaventure University will be a 15-month-long series of events and activities starting in March of 2008 and concluding in May of 2009. The celebration spans two calendar years because the first building on campus was dedicated in 1858 and the first classes offered were in 1859.
The celebration will begin on March 30, 2008 with a musical performance created especially to kick off the celebration.
Musical Kick-off in March
The concert will feature Antares, a young chamber ensemble which returns to St. Bonaventure to repeat its triumphant performance of Messiaen’s epic Quartet for the End of Time and to perform the world premiere of The Canticle of Creation by Cal Stewart Kellogg, commissioned by SBU’s The Quick Center to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the founding of St. Bonaventure. World-renowned tenor Kenneth Riegel will join Antares.
This event also serves to inaugurate the 2008 meeting of the OFM English-Speaking Conference on the SBU campus. While conferees are at St. Bonaventure, the university will convene its 150th Anniversary Spring Convocation and present two honorary degrees to the Most Rev. Jose Rodriguez Carballo, OFM, General Minister, and The Most Rev. Edward Kmiec, D.D., STL., Bishop of the Diocese of Buffalo, N.Y.
Members of the family of St. Bonaventure University’s founding friar, Pamphilo da Magliano, will attend the kick-off events.
Anniversary Pilgrimage in May
The celebration continues with an anniversary pilgrimage program taking place May 22 to June 2. This special pilgrimage program traces the Irish roots of the university as depicted in the homeland of Nicholas Devereux, St. Bonaventure University’s founding benefactor. The pilgrimage then departs Ireland for Italy, where traditional pilgrimage sites and experiences will commemorate the history of the Franciscan tradition through an investigation of the lives of St. Francis, St. Clare and St. Bonaventure.
June 2008 brings the Holy Name Province chapter meeting to the campus of St. Bonaventure from June 1 to 6, followed by the 150th Anniversary alumni reunion June 6 to 8.
St. Francis Commemoration in October
A wide range and variety of programs are planned for the remainder of the anniversary celebration, with the hallmark event centering on the Feast of St. Francis, Oct. 3-5, 2008. The university administration is “pleased to be sharing our celebration with the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany who also celebrate their 150th anniversary during the 2008-09 calendar years,” according to Emily Sinsabaugh, vice president for marketing and communications.
St. Bonaventure University’s 150th anniversary celebration concludes in May 2009 as the university anticipates simultaneously celebrating the successful conclusion of its capital campaign, The Anniversary Campaign, which promises to reach the $90 million mark by May 30, 2009, Sinsabaugh added.