Dialogue with President Beth Paul

As Nazareth’s Centennial draws closer, many people are hard at work outlining plans to celebrate this incredible milestone. Not surprisingly, discussions about the Centennial often reference the past, the present, and the future. With that in mind, I would like to share some news with you that very much involves the past and the present, and also has promise for our Centennial and beyond. Most students, faculty, and staff know that Golisano Academic Center was the Motherhouse for our founders, the Sisters of St. Joseph. The Sisters kept horses in a small paddock/barn between GAC and Golisano Training Center. When campus expanded in the early 2000s, the Sisters moved to their new home on French Road; the horses remained and continued to be lovingly cared for, in particular by Srs. Margaret Mary and Sienna. Many alumni, students, faculty, and staff fondly remember the stables being a popular stop on cross-campus walks. This small cluster of wooden structures sat unused since the last ho...

Dear students, faculty, and staff, Today is  Juneteenth , commemorating the day in 1865 when Union soldiers landed in Galveston, Texas, with news that the Civil War was over and that all who’d been enslaved in Texas were free.  Juneteenth  is one of America’s oldest nationally celebrated commemorations of the end of slavery. In recognition, Nazareth is closed today.  Taking a collective pause as a campus community provides a chance to solemnly contemplate the evils of slavery while at the same time appreciating — and celebrating – the joy and hope that the news of the end of that terrible practice brought to so many 158 years ago.    We speak of changemakers often; today’s really about change, period.  Juneteenth  celebrates a moment in history and in the American spirit when we faced injustice and tried to make it right. While racism and the struggle for equality continues and remains challenging, that moment — when people who’d never known freed...

It seems like yesterday that we began a new academic year. And while an academic year can be measured in weeks that appear to fly by, it can also be measured in the extraordinary successes — and challenges — that have taken place throughout our campus and neighboring communities. So as the year concludes, let’s take time to celebrate our collective achievements and acknowledge the work we still have ahead of us. Students, you amaze me. Your achievements are endless, from serving as Nazareth's lead ambassadors through academic, extra-curricular, and community engagement activities, to the grants, awards, and honors you've earned. Many of you have participated in individual and faculty-led research, creative and professional activity, and global and domestic study that will be invaluable to your life’s work. We came together for hundreds of campus events running the gamut from fun and whimsical to thought-provoking and awe-inspiring. And at the heart of your engagement and accomp...

  What a great time to be a Golden Flyer! In a historic move as Nazareth prepares to celebrate 100 years of educating our students, Nazareth’s board of trustees has formally voted to approve that the College will soon become  Nazareth University . It is now with the New York State Board of Regents to approve Nazareth’s university status. Once approved, the name — Nazareth University — officially takes effect on June 1, 2023. We have made the conscious decision to take the next seven months for the Nazareth community to thoughtfully transition to University. The decision has been a year-long process as we gathered feedback and perspectives from our Nazareth students, faculty, staff, and alumni about how a change to Nazareth University would affect our next 100 years. I thank each of you who answered surveys or shared your thoughts to inform this decision and shape the transition. I also thank the New York Board of Regents for the new definition of university, allowing Nazareth’...

  Today we observe  Veterans  Day, a day of celebration and gratitude honoring all  military   veterans  of the United States Armed Forces. As the nation salutes those who have served our country, Nazareth proudly recognizes the valuable contributions of student  veterans  and other  military -affiliated students to our campus community. Throughout the year, Nazareth is committed to creating an inclusive and supportive environment that allows  military -affiliated students and their families to thrive while pursuing their educational and life goals. The comprehensive financial and support services provided here have consistently distinguished Nazareth as one of the nation’s Best Colleges for  Veterans  by  U.S. News & World Report , and earned a 2022-2023  Military  Support College of Distinction recognition. Recently, Nazareth’s  Military  and  Veteran  Services  team began offering ...

Nazareth College Professor Ed Wiltse taught a unique class this past spring semester, Hitting the Road: Journeys in American literature. Half of the students were campus-based here at Nazareth and half were based at Groveland, a men's prison south of Rochester. Wiltse’s work is part of a growing national movement that advocates for access to higher education for all, as a pathway for equity and social justice. He joined three spring 2022 students and one past student from the course for a discussion on the Prez Paul Podcast: Ed Wiltse, Ph.D., professor of English and communication, who has been teaching at Nazareth for 23 years, and in a variety of local jail and prison settings for 20 years. Alec Goldammer  is a May 2022 Nazareth graduate with bachelor’s degrees in education and English literature. He is also a part of the student-veteran community, spending five-years in active duty in the United States Marine Corps before coming to Nazareth. Emily Denzler is a May 2022 Nazareth ...

  By Beth Paul, President, and  Lisa Durant-Jones, Vice President for Community and Belonging At the beginning of this Spring 2022 semester, we outlined our action-based, community-wide diversity, equity, and inclusion commitment. At that time we promised to be held accountable for results — to ensure that our DEI promises came to fruition. And so today, we share our progress — the important work done by members of our entire community — in advancing our movement and putting our plans into action. With gratitude for the efforts of our students, faculty, and staff in progress toward the DEI goals we all hold dear, we share the progress on these seven initiatives:  Nazareth Bias Response and Education Team (NBRET):  New NBRET leadership disseminated a survey to all students to determine their awareness of Nazareth’s anti-bias commitment, and to gauge their interest in participating in professional development and other learning opportunities to support the work of NBRE...

An enduring value at Naz is caring actively about our world. Since our founding, our Nazareth education has interrogated injustices and developed changemakers whose life’s work pursues peace and social justice in communities around the globe. The crisis in Ukraine evokes our concern, care, thought, and action. Nazareth’s connection to and support of Ukraine runs deep with our partner school in Ukraine — the National University of Ostroh Academy — and with our Ukrainian community members here at Nazareth and in our local community. Our students and faculty traveled to Ukraine in 2019 and shared their valuable insights and experiences. Let us seek opportunities in our learning community to learn from various perspectives about the conflict; to support our colleagues, friends, and all who are close to the conflict; and to reflect on and advocate for the pursuit of peace. As a sign of solidarity and support with the people of Ukraine locally and globally — and an opportunity for our commun...

  Here is an update from Lisa Durant-Jones, Vice President for Community and Belonging, and me on the  spring 2022 initiatives and goals of our collective diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) movement.  The following is a list of initiatives for which leadership will be accountable; at the end of the semester, we will report on our progress. As our DEI movement includes our entire community, there are many more initiatives happening in areas across the campus (additional information can be found below and on the  Community and Belonging website ).  We are grateful for the activism of our students and the many other individuals and groups who are advancing our DEI movement. Spring 2022 initiatives and goals:  New leadership for the Nazareth Bias Response and Education Team (NBRET) has been appointed, and NBRET will work with the student governance structure to inform a process for student participation. Faculty and academic leadership will continue the wor...

  I want to share the next episode of the Prez Paul Podcast: our changemaker series. This year, we are focusing our conversations around the idea of what it means to be a Nazareth changemaker. In our latest episode of season two, I have a conversation with Nazareth professors Dr. Michael Chen and Dr. Lauren Brooks, along with their graduate assistant and recent Naz alumna Tatianna Trojnor-Hill. They had the prestigious honor of working with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to analyze racial and ethnic disparities in COVID-19 testing in a national sample of more than 2 million patients across the U.S. In addition to identifying significant disparities, they also found that geography and state-level political affiliations can predict individuals' risk of testing positive for COVID-19. Guests:  Michael Chen  is an assistant professor in the Nursing and Public Health Department. He received a bachelor’s degree in economics and public health from Brown University and a Ph.D....

It’s our second season, and we are starting a new series on the podcast  — It’s the Prez Paul Podcast Changemaker series!  Nazareth Choirs director Brian Stevens and students Jonathan Benn and Elena Parkins, talking about the choirs’ changemaking mantra “we sing to change lives.” The choirs actively collaborate with living and under-represented composers to bring their music to the world.   Guests:  Brian Stevens  is director of choirs in the School of Music at Nazareth College, where he focuses on changing lives through the choral arts by building diverse and inclusive choral communities, providing transformative experiences for his students, and fostering choral excellence through innovative programming.  Jonathan Benn  is a sophomore music education major heading down a vocal track and is the current president of the Nazareth College Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association. He studies voice with Dr. Kimberly Upcraft and is a member...

  Today, Veterans Day, is a day to pay tribute to all those who have courageously served our nation. Our veterans bravely sacrificed to uphold the ideals of our democracy and our collective good.  Nazareth College has veterans, children of veterans, and family members of veterans in every area of our community. We honor those who have made sacrifices and taken part in military service. And we thank all those who have and continue to serve our country.  

For many in our community, 9/11/01 is a day we will never forget. Although now 20 years later, we remember exactly where we were when the news started breaking, shockingly, incredulously. And for many in our community, 9/11/01 is before their birth, only understood through others’ stories.  9/11/01 was a surreal — and very real — day of tragedy, violence, horror, loss, questioning, and change. On that day, in our inability to make sense of the senseless, we gathered together in community, with whomever was nearby, watching in stunned silence.  Today, we honor the lives lost, and the courage of first responders and the service men and women who went to war following the events of that day. And as our world continues to grapple with vital questions about terrorism, security, global human rights, tragedy, loss, fear, let us again reach for each other. Let us reflect on our shared values of courage, community and social justice and be proactive about what we can do to bring healin...

By Beth Paul, President, and Lisa Durant-Jones, Vice President for Community & Belonging Nazareth College is committed to promoting a diverse, equitable, and inclusive community as a critical component of the campus experience for our faculty, staff, and students. Our Strategic Framework extends and strengthens this commitment to preparing “the Nazareth community to be equity-minded, socially-just leaders.” This past year has challenged all of us to hold true to our ideals and ensure that we continue to work to create an anti-racist campus, reckoning honestly with our past and proactively building a more just and equitable  future. The trauma, marginalization, and harm that results from systemic racism has had an impact on our Nazareth community, and we must be steadfast with respecting and valuing human difference in all of its forms. On June 19, our country will celebrate Juneteenth. This annual holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States has been celeb...