New state-of-the-art facilities filled with innovative technology and exciting educational opportunities greeted St. Bonaventure University and Siena College students when they returned to campus earlier this month.
SBU’s William E. and Ann L. Swan Business Center, and Siena’s Richard and Joan Rosetti Hall are the latest structures to be built at the Province-sponsored schools.
Each building was constructed with a serious commitment to sustainability, reflecting a Francis-like dedication to caring for creation. Rosetti Hall is one of the first college buildings in Upstate New York to install LED lighting throughout the structure. It is also LEED certified, featuring energy-saving technology such as photovoltaic solar panels on the roof and a geothermal heating and cooling system.
Innovation Meets Education
Contemplation, love, respect, joy, peace, compassionate service — these words, etched on the wall of the terrazzo staircase in the Swan Center, echo the Franciscan values taught to St. Bonaventure students, including the late William Swan, ‘69, for whom the building is named.
“These words … had deep meaning for Bill, as he learned of their important role in his life during his time as a student at St. Bonaventure,” said his wife, Ann Swan, who made a generous donation to the new business school. “I present these values to you, most especially to the students and faculty of St. Bonaventure University, as I aim for them to bring you peace and joy as you study here, surrounded by our rich Franciscan experience.”
The 26,000-square-foot building will house the university’s business school. The Swan Center features a financial services lab with electronic ticker tape, a corporate boardroom, state-of-the-art classrooms, spaces for student collaboration, team building, and faculty research, a dean’s suite, and innovative technology uses. Located in front of Plassmann Hall, the building runs parallel to the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes and is adjacent to the Reilly Center.
Provincial Minister John O’Connor, OFM, F. Edward Coughlin, OFM, ‘70, vice president for the Franciscan Mission, Francis Di Spigno, OFM, executive director of university ministries, and several other friars blessed the building with prayer and incense at the end of the ceremony.
This is the second building the Allegany, N.Y., school has dedicated in five years. The university opened the William F. Walsh Science Center in 2008. John, Daniel Riley, OFM, director of Mt. Irenaeus, and Peter Schneible, OFM, a biology professor at the university, participated in that ceremony.
Photos of the Sept. 12 event are available on the university’s Flickr account.
A Vision Realized
Outside Albany, on Middlefield Road near the MacClosky Square Townhouses and a short distance from St. Bernardine of Siena Friary, Richard and Joan Rosetti Hall equips Siena’s departments of education, social work and sociology with new teaching tools and state-of-the-art technology.
“Along with 27 offices, seminar and meeting rooms, and computer labs, the $6.9 million building features a video editing suite and five classrooms equipped with the latest in teaching technology,” said Janet Shidleler, dean of the school of liberal arts.
In addition to having access to equipment that will help students hone their skills, Rosetti Hall provides space for them to collaborate and connect with their peers and professors.
Richard Rosetti, ‘87, spoke of his parents, Richard and Joan, who made the lead gift toward the building that bears their name.
“Through good fortune and hard work, my family has been blessed with health and great success,” he said. “Therefore, it’s a great privilege for us to give back to a place that has such a strong connection with our family.”
Gregory Jakubowicz, OFM, college chaplain, and Kenneth Paulli, OFM, chief of staff, blessed the building during the Sept. 6 dedication ceremony.
“The Lord was part of this project,” said Siena College president Kevin Mullen, OFM, ‘75. “Not because of anything the friars did, not because of some magical intervention, but because the people who built this and dreamed it were people who had vision and a mission.”
Photos from Siena’s dedication ceremony and video tours of Rosetti Hall are available on the college’s website.
— Maria Hayes is communications coordinator for Holy Name Province.