From the Alumni Association:

Mary Small Poore, President—Alumni Association Board of Directors

The Siena Heights Mission: Alive and Well

The Mission of Siena Heights University leads us all “to be more competent, purposeful and ethical through a teaching and learning environment that respects the dignity of all.” No time in my recent past have these words spoken to me more clearly than a recent week in April.

I was privileged to attend the Siena Heights University Honors Convocation held on April 25. That ceremony reminded me of all that is great about this school. The students, faculty and staff honored were but a small percentage of the incredible people who constitute this university. Their achievements and accomplishments are all outstanding. Later that same day I attended a reception for the graduates of our Metro Detroit campus. There I met non-traditional students who, along with all of their other personal and professional responsibilities, had achieved excellence in the classroom while striving to create better lives for themselves and their families. As a former traditional student 40 years ago, I could not imagine how difficult their journey must have been. As I told them that evening, I am in awe of each of them.

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From the Alumni Association:

Falling in Love All Over Again

I am very excited to be the newest President of the SHU Alumni Association. After graduation, I stayed connected to Siena for nearly a decade before drifting away…life just seemed to get in the way. But in 2006, I attended Sister Peg Albert’s presidential inauguration—and I have been drawn back ever since. You might say I fell in love with Siena all over again. The more time I spent on campus, the more I remembered what drew me here in the first place: the people and sense of community.

If you attended Homecoming 2013, you know about the excitement on campus and the incredible happenings that continue here. I consider myself blessed to be a part of this growing university. As I reflect on Homecoming, I can’t help but think it is the culmination of many small, meaningful connections that made the weekend so spectacular. And these connections, in turn, are what make this a spectacular university. Let me share a few observations:

From the Alumni Association:

Be Part of this Incredible Time at Siena Heights!

Michael Lane ’05, President, Alumni Association Board of Directors

The night before I planned to write this column, I came home to my New York City apartment and found a card in the mail from SHU English professor Sr. Pat Schnapp, reflecting on what it meant to her to become an Honorary Alumna of Siena Heights at last year’s Homecoming.

Nothing in recent memory has brought such a smile to my face. How appropriate it was—since I was already planning to write about Siena’s effect on me over the past 13 years—to find this card from a long-time faculty member and recent alumni award winner in my mail.

It says so much about the Siena community that, almost 10 years after my graduation, I received a letter from Sister Pat. And that I had dinner recently with Doug Miller ‘74, another recent alumni award winner and chair of the theatre department, while he was in New York. And that, for the past few years I have had a constant online Scrabble game going with my acting mentor, professor and friend Mark DiPietro ’83.

In New York, I meet many people who have had great training in whatever they studied; but when I tell them about my experience at Siena, they grow jealous. Siena Heights is unique in the sense of community it provides, even long after graduation. Years, or decades, after you walked across the commencement stage, you still have a home at Siena. Even if the faces in the halls have changed, you can always stop in or pick up the phone and find someone ready to welcome you with open arms. No matter when you enter Siena, you will, for life, be a member of the community.