Founder's Week/Vincentian Convocation
The Vincentian Convocation, held every year during the University’s Founder’s Week celebration, allows St. John’s the opportunity to honor men, women, and organizations that exemplify St. Vincent’s call to action, holding the honorees up as role models for those who would do likewise. This year’s Convocation was held on September 26 in St. Thomas More Church on the Queens, NY, campus.
Founder’s Week, held from September 20 through 27, encompasses the Solemnity of St. Vincent de Paul and is an annual event that takes place across all campuses of St. John’s University. It gives the entire St. John’s community an opportunity to reflect on the life and work of St. Vincent and recommit themselves to his mission through lectures, reflection, and prayer. This year’s theme was “One with the Poor—in Service Together—Be Vincentian.” This celebration also offers members of the St. John’s family direct service opportunities to help those in need.
Covenant House President and CEO and Vincentian Chair of Social Justice Kevin M. Ryan.
The St. John's community came together on Saturday, September 21 for a day of community service.
The St. John's community came together on Saturday, September 21 for a day of community service.
The St. John's community came together on Saturday, September 21 for a day of community service.
CCPS Design Factory
St. John’s University’s Design Factory in The Lesley H. and William L. Collins College of Professional Studies (CCPS) was officially launched on October 28 during “A Night of Design” that was held within the facility’s new home inside the Farella Innovation Laboratory, which is housed in St. Augustine Hall on the Queens, NY, campus.
“We are here tonight to celebrate the notion of human-centered design and its integration into our curriculum,” said Katia Passerini, Ph.D., PMP, The Lesley H. and William L. Collins Distinguished Chair and CCPS Dean, during her welcoming remarks.
Following a year-long pilot project in several courses crossing various majors in CCPS, such as sport management, mass communication, computer science, administration and economics, and advertising, the Design Factory was established as an interdisciplinary product development and learning center. It aims to connect aspiring student innovators with faculty, industry leaders, and other students from several disciplines, all while working in unique lab spaces.
Alumni Octoberfest
More than 180 alumni, family, and friends joined representatives from St. John’s University’s Office of Alumni Relations for their seventh annual alumni Oktoberfest on Saturday, October 5. The group gathered at Plattduetsche Park Restaurant and Biergarten in Franklin Square, NY, a spacious, open-air venue offering delicious authentic Bavarian specialties, including Wurst on a bun, Schnitzel sandwich, potato pancakes, Bavarian pretzels, German potato salad, and Bavarian ales. Throughout the afternoon, Johnnies and their families enjoyed live music by Johnny Koenig and German dance performances. They also purchased raffles and T-shirts, with all proceeds supporting student scholarships.
CCPS Cyberforce Team
A team of St. John’s cybersecurity students placed second locally and 23rd at the national level at this year’s CyberForce competition. The team was guided and mentored by Rahul S. Karnik, Associate Director, Enterprise Architecture, Systems, and Security at St. John’s.
Papal Biographer
British journalist and official papal biographer Austen Ivereigh, Ph.D., addressed a gathering at the University’s St. Thomas More Church on November 21, as part of a 17-city book tour to promote his second volume on the pope, Wounded Shepherd: Pope Francis and His Struggle to Convert the Catholic Church (Henry Holt, 2019), which was released on November 5.
St. John’s Vincentian Center for Church and Society hosted the event in coordination with Campus Ministry. Much of Dr. Ivereigh’s talk, “Close and Concrete: What Pope Francis Asks of the Church,” was based on Wounded Shepherd, in which he describes Pope Francis’s work during the past six years to reform the Church to create a more welcoming institution that is centered on the needs of humanity—while rejecting power and a tendency to make judgments about others’ morality—and stand in unity with the poor. Dr. Ivereigh is author of the critically acclaimed biography of the pontiff, The Great Reformer: Francis and the Making of a Radical Pope (Holt, 2014).
“He has said before that he is not a reformer and does not want to be confused with the real power of the Church—Jesus Christ,” the author told his audience.
Family Weekend
Family Weekend is a long-standing tradition where St. John’s parents and families are invited to explore campus alongside their students, meet other families, and experience life at the University. In 2019, families representing 32 states traveled to the Queens, NY, campus from as far away as California, Florida, Texas, and Washington, to attend Family Weekend festivities from October 11 to 13.
Throughout the weekend, students and their guests attended faculty lectures and theatrical performances, enjoyed meals together, and took part in a campus block party, as well as a carnival hosted on the Great Lawn, which included New York-style food trucks, games, giveaways, and music. Family Weekend was also hosted at the Staten Island, NY, campus.
Justice at US/Mexico Border
Nineteen members of the St. John’s University community traveled to El Paso, TX, in October to participate in the firstever Jornada por la Justicia (Pilgrimage for Justice), a threeday “teach-in” in support of the thousands of migrants being held at the US/Mexico border. Jornada por la Justicia featured workshops, leadership tools, strategy sessions, coalition building, nationally recognized speakers, and bold public action—all focusing on the themes of migration, antiracism, Catholicism, and other local borderland issues. The event was born out of informal meetings among Catholic Latino leaders at this summer’s National Symposium on Catholic Hispanic Ministry.
Feb 24, 2020