By Leah McCluskey, Staff Writer
Today, Dr. Dennis DePerro will be inaugurated as St. Bonaventure University’s 21st president.
Joseph Zimmer, Ph.D., university provost, has been contributing to the planning process of the ceremony since DePerro unofficially took office last June.
“The ceremony will have a number of brief speeches that will offer greetings from various constituencies,” said Zimmer. “These include greetings from the Diocese of Buffalo, the Seneca Nation of Indians, Student Government Association, Faculty Senate, our state-elected officials, other colleges and universities and the Holy Name Province, our sponsoring order of Franciscan Friars.”
Additionally, there will be an installation ceremony where the chair of the Board of Trustees presents the president with the medallion of the president’s office, and the president will make an inaugural speech.
The ceremonial mass will commence at 10:30 a.m. at the Doyle Hall Chapel.
Amanda Naujoks, associate director of university ministries, encourages everyone to attend and take part in this celebration.
“St. Bonaventure University is richly blessed to have named a man of such strong faith as our 21st president, “ said Naujoks. “Dr. Dennis DePerro is more than inaugurated on Friday, he is also officially commissioned for service,” Naujoks said. “It is right and good that we would come together to pray in a special way for him. As we begin this next step in our good journey, we thank God for the gift of Dr. DePerro’s leadership and we ask for the Lord’s continued guidance as we venture forward together.”
DePerro looks forward to Friday’s events.
“It will give me the opportunity to express my gratitude to so many people who helped me get to this point in my life, from the mentors and colleagues along the way who believed in me, to my wonderful family, without whose love and support this day never could have happened,” DePerro said. “However, the inauguration is not really about me. It is about the rich history of the university and the passing of the torch from one president to the next. To take my place in that remarkable lineage of leaders, is truly humbling.”
After his inauguration, DePerro will continue to pursue his goals for the future of St. Bonaventure and will begin to establish his own rapport with students, faculty, staff and administration.
“I have a number of goals, but one of the biggest is developing new undergraduate and graduate academic programs, with a strong focus on our new School of Health Professions,” DePerro said. “From a broader perspective, we are about to engage in a strategic branding initiative that will help us define much more clearly what we stand for as an institution and what we aspire to be. My hope, after the first three years of my presidency, is that I will be able to walk into an auditorium full of parents at an open house and guarantee them that their children will have a transformational experience at St. Bonaventure and to be able to clearly define for them precisely what that means.”
The installation ceremony will begin at 2:30 p.m. in the Reilly Center Arena.
