By Amelia Kibbe
Managing Editor
The St. Bonaventure community will gather Tuesday, April 7 in the Rigas Family Theater in the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts to recognize the 2015 recipients of the Fr. Joe Doino, O.F.M. Honors and Awards at the annual Spring Awards Ceremony.
According to Ann Hurlburt, executive administrative assistant to the vice president for Student Affairs, any St. Bonaventure community member can receive a Doino award, and any St. Bonaventure community member can nominate an individual or group for an award.
Committee officials separated the awards into 11 categories: The University Mission Volunteer of the Year, The Fr. Bob Stewart, O.F.M. Award, Program or Event of the Year, Donald L. Korben Community Service Award, The Fr. Gervase White, O.F.M., Staff Person of the Year, Organization/Club of the Year, Student Leader of the Year, The Terry Bickel Student Life Award, Heather Lohr Student Government Association Member of the Year, The Leo E. Keenan Jr. Faculty Appreciation Award and The Margaret T. Bryner Award.
Nomination forms, along with a description of each award, can be found on the my.sbu survey link and at various offices around campus, Hurlburt said. The deadline to submit nomination forms is Wednesday, March 25.
The awards committee for the Doino Awards, which consists of staff, faculty and students, will decide who wins each award.
According to Hurlburt, the group carefully reads the nomination forms and takes into consideration the number of nominations a person or group receives before voting on a winner.
Alexander Noguerola, Student Government Association (SGA) president and awards committee member, said the committee carefully considers each application.
“We review all the nominations and pick the person or group that we think best represents the description of each award,” Noguerola, who will emcee the Doino Awards along with SGA Vice President Rose Brown, said. “We want as many [nominations] as possible. This is a great opportunity for students to recognize each other, as well as faculty they work with and like so much.”
Noguerola said there is no limit to the number of nominations each individual can make. He said the usual number of nominations varies per category, with some of the more popular awards being the Faculty Appreciation Award and the Student Leader of the Year.
Each winner receives a plaque with his, her or the group’s name on it.
In 1994, Father Joe Doino, O.F.M. became the first faculty member to receive the Faculty Appreciation Award posthumously, and in 1995, St. Bonaventure officials renamed the awards in his honor.
In 2009, university officials decided to combine three ceremonies: the Doino Awards sponsored by SGA and Student Affairs, the Staff and Faculty Recognition Awards sponsored by Human Resources and the Faculty Awards sponsored by university officials and the provost, Hurlburt said.
Church officials ordained Father Joe Doino a Franciscan priest in 1950, and he died on March 7, 1994, at age 70.
He served as the director of Franciscan novices and then started his teaching career at St. Bonaventure in 1986.
Father Doino advised SGA and served on its awards committee.
Beth Eberth, director of University Communications, said the Doino Awards allow St. Bonaventure to keep Father Joe’s spirit alive.
“I think the Father Joe Doino Awards are a wonderful reflection of who we are as a university community,” Eberth, a 10-year awards committee member, said. “I never met Father Joe, but I feel I’ve come to know him as the university recognizes people each year who are like Father Joe: those who lead by example, who value academics and who like to have fun.”
Following the approximately hour-long presentation, Noguerola said there will be a reception in the atrium of The Quick Center.
Noguerola said he encourages students and faculty to submit nominations.
“There are a lot of good students and faculty that deserve to be recognized, and this is one of the good ways we can do that,” Noguerola said. “I really encourage students to nominate—the more the better. I want this to be a hard decision to make.”
