St. Bonaventure University is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

university in St. Bonaventure, New York. It has 2,760 undergraduate and graduate students. The

Franciscans The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor being the largest conte ...

established the university in 1858. In athletics, the

St. Bonaventure Bonnies The St. Bonaventure Bonnies (formerly the St. Bonaventure Brown Indians from 1927 to 1992) are the varsity intercollegiate athletic programs of St. Bonaventure University, based in St. Bonaventure, New York between the two towns of Allegany an ...

play

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Division I sports in the

Atlantic 10 Conference The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. The A-10's member schools are located most ...

. Students and alumni often refer to the university as ''Bona's'', derived from the school's name.

History

The college was founded by

Utica, New York Utica () is the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The tenth-most populous city in New York, its population was 65,283 in the 2020 census. It is located on the Mohawk River in the Mohawk Valley at the foot of the Adiro ...

, financier

Nicholas Devereux Nicholas Devereux (June 7, 1791 – December 29, 1855) was an Irish-American financier and banker, and one of the major early landowners in western New York state. "Nicholas Devereux was very charitable and hospitable — a cultured, pious, progr ...

, Kernan, Thomas. "Nicholas Devereux." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 16 (Index). New York: The Encyclopedia Press, 1914. 24 July 2019 one of the first to gain land grants in newly surveyed Cattaraugus County from the

Holland Land Company The Holland Land Company was an unincorporated syndicate of thirteen Dutch investors from Amsterdam,Kirby, C.D. (1976). ''The Early History of Gowanda and The Beautiful Land of the Cattaraugus''. Gowanda, NY: Niagara Frontier Publishing Company ...

.Demetreu, Danielle. "Nicholas Devereux", St. Bonaventure University Archives
/ref> Devereux founded the town of Allegany on the grant, hoping to build a new city. Devereux approached

John Timon John Timon, CM (February 12, 1797 – April 16, 1867) was an American Catholic prelate who served as the first Bishop of Buffalo and founded the Brothers of the Holy Infancy. He was a member of the Vincentians. Biography Early life John Tim ...

, the bishop of

Buffalo Buffalo most commonly refers to: * True buffalo or Bubalina, a subtribe of wild cattle, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, a genus of wild cattle, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York, a city in the n ...

, for assistance. The two invited the

Franciscan order The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

to Western New York, and a small group under Pamfilo da Magliano arrived in 1855. The school graduated its first class in 1858. St. Bonaventure's College was granted university status by New York State in 1950. The largest residence hall on campus, Devereux Hall, is named for the founder.

The Franciscan connection

The university is named after

Bonaventure Bonaventure ( ; ; ; born Giovanni di Fidanza; 1221 – 15 July 1274) was an Italian Catholic Franciscan bishop, Cardinal (Catholic Church), cardinal, Scholasticism, scholastic theologian and philosopher. The seventh Minister General ( ...

(1221–1274), born John of Fidenza, who became a cardinal and Doctor of the Church. A theologian and contemporary of

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas ( ; ; – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest, the foremost Scholasticism, Scholastic thinker, as well as one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in the W ...

at the University of Paris, he became head of the Franciscan order. Bonaventure was canonized in 1482 by

Sixtus IV Pope Sixtus IV (or Xystus IV, ; born Francesco della Rovere; (21 July 1414 – 12 August 1484) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 August 1471 until his death in 1484. His accomplishments as pope included ...

. The Franciscan friars at the St. Bonaventure Friary belong to the Holy Name Province and are members of the

Order of Friars Minor The Order of Friars Minor (commonly called the Franciscans, the Franciscan Order, or the Seraphic Order; Post-nominal letters, postnominal abbreviation OFM) is a Mendicant orders, mendicant Catholic religious order, founded in 1209 by Francis ...

, one of the orders of Franciscans. The university is also home to the Franciscan Institute. Founded in 1939 by Thomas Plassmann, then president of St. Bonaventure's College, and led by its first director,

Philotheus Boehner Philotheus Boehner (; born Heinrich Boehner; 17 February 1901 – 22 May 1955) was a member of the Franciscan order known for medieval scholarship. Biography Boehner was born Heinrich Boehner in Lichtenau, Westphalia. He entered the Fran ...

Campus

The campus sits on in the town of Allegany, just over the line from the city of Olean (total pop.: 15,000), at Exit 24 of Interstate 86. The university has its own

US Post Office The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal servi ...

and is listed as a separate

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

by the

Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

. The university's postal address is Saint Bonaventure, NY 14778.

Academics

The university has more than 50 academic programs, including programs in the Jandoli School of Communication, School of Arts & Sciences, School of Business, School of Education, and The Dennis R. DePerro School of Health Professions.

Research

St. Bonaventure also has the Center for the Study of Attention, Learning & Memory, a joint initiative between the School of Education and the School of Arts and Sciences, promotes interdisciplinary research and increases awareness of the importance of attention and learning in education. The university also hosts the Franciscan Institute, which provides grants for research on the history and theology of the Franciscan Order.

Rankings

In the ''U.S. News & World Report''s 2025 rankings of colleges and universities, St. Bonaventure University was ranked nineteenth (tie) among "Regional Universities North" and eighth in "Best Value Schools".

Student life

Media

The campus newspaper, '' The Bona Venture'', has been published continuously since 1926. Known on campus as The BV, the newspaper has earned The Pacemaker Award numerous times from the

Associated Collegiate Press The Associated Collegiate Press (ACP) is the largest and oldest national membership organization for college student media in the United States. The ACP is a division of the National Scholastic Press Association. It awards the newspaper, maga ...

, the last time in 1994. The school's student radio station is known as WSBU 88.3 The Buzz. In 2019, the Jandoli School of Communication's student-produced newscast, "SBU-TV", became available to television viewers across Western New York.

Popular folklore

Thomas Merton Thomas Merton (January 31, 1915December 10, 1968), religious name M. Louis, was an American Trappist monk, writer, theologian, Christian mysticism, mystic, poet, social activist and scholar of comparative religion. He was a monk in the Trapp ...

, the Catholic monk and writer, taught English at St. Bonaventure for a year just at the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, living on campus on the second floor of Devereux Hall. It was at this school that Merton finally gave into his vocation and decided to join the

Trappists The Trappists, officially known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (, abbreviated as OCSO) and originally named the Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe, are a Religious order (Catholic), Catholic religious o ...

. He entered the

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

in 1941. A heart-shaped clearing on a mountain in view of campus is linked to Merton in campus myth. Some students call it "Merton's Heart" and claim that Merton visited the place often and that the trees fell when he died. In reality, the hillside had been cleared for oil drilling in the 1920s and trees have since regrown, leaving the bald patch.

Athletics

St. Bonaventure is an

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

member of the

and offers 19 varsity athletic programs. The school's programs are known as the Bonnies. The men's team has reached the

NCAA men's basketball tournament The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as March Madness, or The Big Dance, is a single-elimination tournament played in the United States to determine the men's college basketball national champion of the NCAA Division I, Di ...

a total of 8 times, most recently in the 2020–2021 season.

Notable alumni

Six alumni of the university have received the

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

, including Dan Barry (1980), Bill Briggs (1985), Robert A. Dubill (1958), John Hanchette (1964),

Charles J. Hanley Charles J. Hanley is an American journalist and author who reported for the Associated Press (AP) for over 40 years, chiefly as a roving international correspondent. In 2000, he and two AP colleagues won the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Rep ...

(1968), and Brian Toolan (1972).

References

External links

*
St. Bonaventure Athletics website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Bonaventure University Franciscan universities and colleges Catholic universities and colleges in New York (state) Education in Cattaraugus County, New York Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities 1858 establishments in New York (state) Universities and colleges established in 1858 Tourist attractions in Cattaraugus County, New York