Students, alumni, professors gather for the dinner celebration
Photo: @BonasJSchool on Instagram
BY GENEVIEVE BLUMBERG, STAFF WRITER
The Jandoli School of Communication celebrated its 75th anniversary, bringing a sea of alumni, students and faculty together to recognize years of success, and those who made it possible.
Deb Henretta ‘83 contributed to the renovation of the Murphy Professional Building that will cement her name on campus.
“I’m hoping that it will give a new face to the journalism program, and be a symbol and signal that we’re changing,” said Henretta. “One of the wonderful things about Dr. Jandoli, who started this school, was he always said ‘If you’re standing still, you’re falling behind.’ What I think this is going to do is propel us into the future, a very bright future.”
Prior to the event, dean of the Jandoli school, Aaron Chimbel, discussed the importance of the day.
“75th is a big milestone to celebrate,” said Chimbel. “This is a significant moment for the school and our rich history. It’s also a great time to look forward and look to the future of the school, which happens to coincide with us breaking ground on the major expansion and renovation of the building.”
Jeff Gingerich, university president, spoke about the necessity of Murphy building renovation as the ‘Crown Jewel’ of Bonaventure.
“I would put our faculty and our communication program up against any other school in this country, but our Jandoli facilities– our students’ learning laboratory– needed to be better,” said Gingerich. “Aaron knew that, I knew that, the trustees and the administrators who came before me knew that.”
Chimbel gave many thanks for the generous donations by alumni for the renovation. According to Gingerich, approximately 70% of the $12.2 million goal has been reached. At multiple points throughout the day, guests were reminded that donations were still welcome.
“More than 270 donors have contributed to the Jandoli campaign, getting us to the point where we can begin work on this new addition,” said Gingerich. “We’re just not done yet.”
Dan Barry ‘80, Pulitzer Prize recipient, gave the keynote speech at the dinner. He spoke about fake news and the responsibility of ethics in communication.
“I cannot help but hear the voices of Dr. Russell Jandoli, Fr. Dan Reilly and other guiding lights of St. Bonaventure urging us to unearth and share the sacred facts, urging us to speak out against the untruths, urging us to use the communication skills we’ve learned and are learning right here in ways that might help us better understand one another, urging us on and on for another 75 years.”
The event honored Rich Williams ‘24, the Hellinger Award winner, and Cassidey Kavathas ‘24 the honorable mention. Williams discussed the importance of The Jandoli School to him.
“The love for living that I learned at the J school is something that I will never forget,” said Williams. “The passion that the faculty and the professors have for their work, and the students, here is unmatched, and that passion seeps into their students.”
Eric Fisher, class of 1994, spoke about significant lessons he took away from his time at the Jandoli School of Communications.
“So much has changed, but what hasn’t changed is clear writing and the adherence to style, good grammar and having a clear thought. That never runs out of style,” said Fisher. “I’ve written for a number of different publications on different mediums and having those traditional skills never goes out of style.”
Maribeth Franczyk Fisher, class of 1994, was not a Jandoli School major but said journalism has a way of bringing people together.
“I was an English major but I spent three years at the BV so I was very entrenched with this crowd,” said Fisher. “What we told our children when they were looking at colleges is to come out with a job that you don’t hate and lifelong friends. Our kids have grown up knowing our BV friends. That just says everything for us.”
Professors watched their current and former students communicate a shared appreciation of the school. Mike Jones-Kelley, Jandoli school professor, discussed what this event meant to him.
“It’s several layers,” said Jones-Kelley. “One is, the event is for the Jandoli school, where I work and for which I am eternally grateful. Second is, these are my colleagues, and I love my colleagues. Third is, Rich Williams is one hell of a guy. It was a pleasure being his professor and working with him. He’s now in advertising as I was, so now he’s my colleague.”
Katie Squires, junior strategic communications major, discussed the comfort she has found within the Jandoli school, and what it means to her.
“To me, it means connections and networking that I would not have gotten anywhere else,” said Squires. “The alumni here, I felt like, were unparalleled. In addition to that it felt so homey and welcoming; the second I stepped into that Murphy building I felt like every single professor was on my side and they wanted to help me.”
Students, faculty, professors and alumni alike agreed that their time at Bonaventure was meaningful. Amy Moritz ‘95 shared a reminder of the importance of a holistic viewpoint, one that is central to the Jandoli School of Communication.
“The Jandoli school is not a trade school; it’s not like you come in and you learn how to do journalism and that’s it. You learn how to relate to people, you learn how to see people’s viewpoints, you learn to see things from different angles,” said Moritz. “It’s the Franciscan values too that are infused into everything at the university and at the Jandoli school.”
blumbegc24@bonaventure.edu
