November 12, 2012
There’s something about a coffee house that brings people
together, and now St. John’s University has one of its own.
Photo gallery
On Tuesday, October 18, 2012 the Sodano Coffee House was
officially dedicated on the Queens campus. Located in the D’Angelo
Center, it was created to serve as a place where members of the St.
John’s community can get together in a social atmosphere to read,
chat, debate the issues of the day or simply spend a few relaxing
moments away from the hustle and bustle of their busy lives.
This
most recent addition to the University was established through the
generosity of Valerie Sodano ’49CBA. Sodano met her late
husband Gerard (’49CBA) when they were both classmates on the
Schermerhorn Street campus in the mid-1940s. Over the years they
have been among the University’s most loyal and committed
alumni.
Speaking at the dedication ceremony, St. John’s University
President Rev. Donald J. Harrington, C.M. noted
that, ‘This is just the most recent way that they have manifested
their love and gratitude to St. John’s. Valerie and Gerry have been
very, very generous donors before, and I can’t imagine any
university that wouldn’t be proud to claim them as their own. The
Sodano name will always be here, and every time any one of us walks
through this building, we’ll think of Valerie and remember Gerry in
our prayers.”
Lending their name to a University facility was particularly
appealing to Valerie Sodano as a way to establish a legacy that
would allow her and her husband to forever remain a part
of St. John’s. She felt
that the Coffee House would be especially appropriate because, in
addition to adding to student life on campus, it would reflect on
one of her husband’s most endearing personality traits.
“I decided to choose the Coffee House because it will be a fun and
happy place where students can come together and meet their
friends,” she said, “and also because it will be a good reflection
of my husband. Gerry was a very gregarious individual. He loved
people and he did so much for the young people in our family. I
definitely believe that this Coffee House fits Gerry, because it’s
a legacy that I know he would have wanted.”
In
addition to serving as a comfortable gathering space on a daily
basis, the Sodano Coffee House will now become the ideal location
for a variety of special events, including movies, poetry readings
and lectures. A moveable stage quickly transforms the location into
a perfect venue for musical and dramatic performances, and plans
are underway to schedule gatherings around Red Storm away
basketball games.
“When the D’Angelo Center opened a few years ago, it quickly became
our students’ on-campus home,” said Kathryn Hutchinson, Ph.D., Vice
President for Student Affairs. “And now, as of today, that home has
a heart. As we dedicate this beautiful and vibrant space, we say
thank you to Valerie and Gerry Sodano, whose love of St. John’s is
reflected in this wonderful Coffee House that will forever bear
their name.”
Following the formal dedication, students took advantage of the
opportunity to get comfortable with what will surely become one of
their most popular campus locations. Whether sinking into the plush
furniture or browsing the original artwork that adorns the walls,
they repeatedly expressed their gratitude that an alumna had
donated the resources for something that would directly impact
current and future students.
“When this space was first opened it was somewhat bland,
more of a study space and not very comfortable,” remarked Ashton
Minor ’13C, President of the Resident Students Association and Vice
President of Commuter Advocacy and Programming. “Now, with the
blessing of the Sodanos, this space has become vibrant and alive,
and also much more comfortable and open.
Without their generosity, this Coffee House would not exist, and
the fun that is planned to take place here starting today would
never happen. They have really made a difference for the students,
and whenever we come here, whether for a specific event or just to
relax with a cup of coffee or hot chocolate, we’ll always think of
them.”
Hajrudin Becunjanin ’14CPS expects that the Coffee House will serve
as a way to bring students together from throughout the University,
and that the special events scheduled there will make their time at
St. John’s even more enjoyable.
“As a student, this space is a place where I can come and relax and
meet other people in the St. John’s
community,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to that and I know
so many other students who are as excited about this as I am. This
is a place where we can come and create an event, and each event
that we create here will help the students to unite a little more
every time. We’re so grateful to the Sodano Family for donating
this wonderful space, and turning it into something that St. John’s
students will enjoy forever.”