The sign the university installed on the plot where the graduate housing was supposed to go
Morgan Kilger/The Bona Venture
BY DAVID SCIBILIA, MANAGING EDITOR
Zach Apker, a graduate student looking to earn his MBA in professional accountancy, returned to his alma mater this August and walked past Francis Hall.
He was confused. But not because the campus looked different — in fact, it was because the campus looked the same.
“I saw construction beginning outside of Francis last year and had heard that graduate housing was being built,” said Apker. “But when I was walking the trail around campus this year, I noticed there was now grass where the construction site used to be — as if nothing had happened.”
In September of 2023, St. Bonaventure University erected a bold sign depicting the complex on the lawn across from Francis Hall. The university has since postponed the $11 million project without a set date for it to resume, said Jeff Gingerich, university president.
“I lived on campus for all four of my undergraduate years,” said Apker. “Doing the same for a grad year was never really anything I considered until I had heard of the new housing project. While I cannot say for certain if I would have lived there or not, it definitely would have provided more options to consider.”
The project would have housed 44 students with a mixture of double and single rooms, said Tom Missel, chief communications officer, in a 2023 The Bona Venture article about the complex’s original plans.
“We thought housing would have an impact on growing our graduate enrollment in the School of Health Professions’s graduate programs,” said Gingerich. “And the more that we began to look into that, the more we realized there were other things that we needed to concentrate on that would help, graduate enrollment more than that.”
Gingerich said program development, such as the recently launched educational doctorate program in leadership, Master of Social Work and a Master of Speech Pathology are some of the things the university focused on.
In addition to this, Gingerich said the university has a responsibility to steward funding in a way that best serves all students.
“It became clear throughout last year that there are other needs on campus that had a higher priority,” said Gingerich. “Because of the good enrollment year, we needed more undergraduate housing. We’re reviving the west side electric grid because of concerns after last year’s east side failure.”
Gingerich also said this money is now being used for new doors on the Reilly Center and to install more street lights throughout campus. He also said some of this money was used to move Safety and Security from Robinson Hall to Doyle Hall, opening more rooms in Robinson Hall for freshman dorms.
Although the university cleared the land for the graduate housing complex in September of 2023, Gingerich said the university spent very little money on this. He said he did not know the exact figure.
“We had the funding available for renovations on campus, and these renovations were just higher priorities than moving forward with the graduate housing,” said Gingerich.
Gingerich confirmed there is no money being held for the housing complex.
“[Building the complex] is not off the table,” said Gingerich. “Right now, it’s all about prioritizing the safety and security of our students and getting necessary renovations completed.”
scibild22@bonaventure.edu
