A Word from the President
endnotes
New Campus Facilities and ServiceFocused Programs Confirm Gannon’s Historical Commitment to the University and Erie Community Fall 2010 will live in Freshman Hall, which you can read about on page 8. Some of our seasoned alumni will remember that this was originally a Gannon dormitory in the 1950s. As summer winds down, another Academic Year is about to begin. Since our May graduation, we have had three summer school sessions, numerous academic and athletic camps for youth and five orientation sessions for first-year and transfer students. And with all of that activity, construction has begun on a new residence hall. The University has acquired several buildings over the last two decades for student housing, but this is the first new residence hall built on campus since 1987. Because we had to demolish University Apartments to build the new residence hall, some members of the freshman class of
Moreover, Erie-GAINS will help students as well as faculty and staff members focus their efforts on the neighborhoods around campus as Gannon continues to make downtown a more vibrant place to live, work and learn. We are working hard to achieve the goals laid out in the Strategic Plan while remaining true to our Mission to prepare students for leadership roles in their careers, society and churches, and this initiative fits well within our plans.
Gannon students take full advantage of both a high-quality education and extensive opportunities for service on campus and in the community. From winning awards for writing in The Gannon Knight student newspaper to earning accolades for research (p. 5), Gannon students perform well in and beyond the classroom. And the numerous stories of student accomplishments in this issue of Gannon Magazine not only demonstrate that, but they also give us many reasons to Believe in the possibilities.
endnotes
You are probably already aware that you can read this magazine online at www.gannon.edu/magazine, but I encourage you to take another look at the Web page to see recent improvements in the way it is displayed online. New software allows readers to turn the virtual pages of the magazine, search for topics of interest and e-mail articles to friends and former classmates. I hope that many of you will determine that you want to receive future issues of Gannon Magazine in only the electronic form. Cutting back the number of printed issues will save students’ tuition dollars and reduce paper waste in the environment.
As many of you know, Gannon has always been a major anchor of downtown, and the University has been very committed to serving the community. That commitment has become more demonstrable recently with the initiation of the Erie-GAINS (Erie-Gannon Alliances to Improve Neighborhood Sustainability). Gannon’s new director of community development, Shay Meinzer—who is profiled on p. 15—has been selected to lead the project. Gannon students, like those on p. 4, who are very actively engaged in service-learning in the city of Erie and around the world, will play a pivotal role in this initiative.
As Erie-GAINS becomes more established in this 180-block area, the entire University community will be dedicating their time and talents to enhancing our neighborhood and strengthening relationships with long-term partners. Raising funds for these activities will be important. For example, a recent $75,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development has created valuable hands-on learning opportunities for students and is stimulating job creation with a consortium of six local companies, three of which are housed in the Erie Technology Incubator on campus (p. 3).
President, Antoine M. Garibaldi, Ph.D. 29