Column
from the president
People flooded our campus the entire weekend.
I had the privilege of moving from event to
event, witnessing the excitement on the faces
of the people who attended.
However, Siena Heights isn’t about the anticipation of football, the much-needed upgrade of
our athletic facilities and the promise of a stateof-the-art University Center. As I’ve said many
times before, Siena Heights is not about facilities
or programs. It’s about people.
“Kicking It up a Notch” at SHU
Homecoming Weekend is usually a time of
celebration at Siena Heights.
It’s an event that allows our faculty, staff, students
and alumni to gather together for a common
cause to reminisce about the past, enjoy the
present and get excited about the future.
To borrow a phrase from a popular food personality, this year’s Homecoming “kicked it up
a notch.” We had a chance to host possibly the
largest crowd ever assembled on campus. Nearly
5,000 attended Saturday’s first home football
game and watched us dedicate our new Sister
Jeanne O’Laughlin Stadium and Dr. Mike and
Lynne Dawson Field. It was truly a moving
event, and a moment I’ll never forget. Tears of
joy flowed from my eyes as well as many others.
2
Reflections Winter ’12
I’m thrilled about all the recent happenings on
campus, because all these developments provide
more opportunities for our students, as well
as for our community. These projects and programs didn’t just happen; they were the result of
a lot of preparation, planning and just plain hard
work from a lot of people, both present and past.
Many people contributed to make this moment
in our history possible. Homecoming was the
Siena community’s time to revel in their accomplishments and step back and enjoy the fruits
of their labors. We were thrilled to see so many
of our graduates and their families on campus
to join us.
We also had a chance to recognize and celebrate
the generosity of our donors. Our Board of
Trustees made a special point to meet that weekend so they could stay in town and enjoy the
Homecoming festivities. That’s a testament to
the direction our University is going.
We hosted a number of our benefactors on
campus who also got a first-hand look at the
results of their gifts. One of those people was
Mary Spencer, a generous woman from Florida
who was making her first visit to our campus.
Her generosity was a driving force in making
projects like O’Laughlin Stadium and the Mary
and Sash Spencer Athletic Complex a reality.
It was great to finally be able to show her and
her family what Siena Heights is all about.
And we’re not done yet. We are in the midst
of our On Higher Ground Campaign and so
far I am thrilled with the response. There’s still
plenty of work to be done, plenty of new opportunities waiting to be realized. As the exhilaration of Homecoming Weekend wanes a bit with
time, I’m sure we will have many more reasons
to celebrate.
These are historic times at Siena Heights University. We continue to be that transformative
force for good as our footprint in the world
continues to loom larger by the day.
It will be very difficult to match the joy of
Homecoming Weekend 2011. But we sure
look forward to trying!
God bless!
Sister Peg Albert, OP, PhD
President