From the Editor:

Siena Heights Will Be Ready and Waiting for You

Well, that didn’t turn out the way I thought it would.

That probably was the collective feeling of us all entering the year 2020. As the chair of the Centennial Committee, I was looking forward to the end of Siena Heights University’s 100^th anniversary year with a slew of events and activities, culminating with Commencement Weekend.

Instead, you all know what happened. A worldwide pandemic shut down almost everything in its path, including the best laid plans at Siena Heights.

In fact, since the Adrian campus closed in mid-March, I have only been on campus twice since late July. For the past few months, my new office has been the patio room of my home. My new office mate is my cat, and thankfully, he sleeps on the job most of the time.

During the early stages of my mandated stay-at-home work order, a phrase came to mind that our president, Sister Peg, has said many, many times over the years: Siena Heights is more than just bricks and mortar; it’s about the people.

From the Alumni Office

Kate Hamilton ’15/MA<br />Director of Alumni Relations — Kate Hamilton ’15/MA
Director of Alumni Relations

Hello Saint Alums and Friends:

My hope is that you are all safe and well during this COVID pandemic. Special thanks to all essential workers at Siena and across our nation who continue going to work in person each day to keep our world moving.

As you might guess, this pandemic has brought with it many changes at Siena. In order to keep in touch, and offer continued value to our alums and friends, we have initiated some virtual programming that I would like to share with you:

We have launched an Alumni (and friends) virtual book club. This no-cost club features discussion boards where you can chat with others about the current, member-selected read. Check it out and join us here: https://www.pbc.guru/shu.
Another recent offering has been our SHU Alumni Consortium featuring a variety of informative webinars. These webinars take place at noon on various days, but If the webinar day/time doesn’t work into your schedule, you can watch any program you wish a day after its premier. I encourage you to look here to view both the upcoming and archived selection: https://alumlc.org/sienaheights.
Read more . . .

From the President:

Moving Forward in Faith, Fortitude and Conviction!

Over the last few months, there have been so many things that have been put in our path, from the COVID pandemic to racial injustice. As I write this, we are finalizing our plan to open the 2020-21 academic year, and there is still so much uncertainty surrounding us as we at Siena Heights try to move forward.

First, the actions that caused the death of our brother, George Floyd, and many others, are totally unacceptable and an affront to our mission of respecting the dignity of all. As a faith-based university in the Catholic-Dominican traditions, our search for truth is of the utmost importance. And, sometimes, the truth is difficult for us to accept and face. We must take a long, loving look at ourselves and recognize our sinfulness. We must own where we have fallen short by recognizing how we have been a part of oppressing others either consciously or unconsciously. As a result, I have set up an advisory committee that will report to me and will assist the SHU community in dealing with these injustices.