Talk:St. Bonaventure University/Archive 1

Notable Alumni
Would someone explain to me why John K. Schmitt '71, Maureen Keenan LeBoeuf '76, and Thomas P. Ryan, Jr. were removed from the notable alumni section? Are two Brigadier Generals and the longest serving mayor of Rocherster, NY (that other big city in Western, NY) not notable enough? Explain this to me. Schneiderwm (talk) 04:09, 23 November 2008 (UTC)

https://development.sbu.edu/artsandsciences.aspx?id=11708 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Schneiderwm (talk • contribs) 22:58, 5 January 2011 (UTC)

Athletics Section
Any further attempts to shame the university by mentioning the basketball scandal, now 7 years ago, should be considered attacks against the page. Also, can anyone reference SBU winning a national cross-country title? I would think alums of the University would know about it. Therainman58 (talk) 01:11, 23 April 2009 (UTC)

Talk about revisionist history, jeez! I have added several times to the article regarding the scandal and each time my additions have dissapeared. It should be here. The silly comment above is not impartial and explains how it is this article gotten to be so pathetically upbeat and commercialized (one of the biggest criticisms of Wiki articles on businesses). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 149.76.146.167 (talk) 14:35, 14 September 2009 (UTC)

This is an informational page. Mentioning the BB scandal is strictly a bash campaign by whatever author puts it in. I will continue to remove it if I see it. It was significanty at the time (2003) and that time has passed. 74.77.182.155 (talk) 20:57, 30 March 2011 (UTC)

Given this discussion, I am going to ask around the university for approval of a short article regarding this issue, since it has been long enough to at least talk about it openly and publicly. Also, I would like for a student here to write it if they would be willing, rather than a university official. However, I think it should be discussed first before it is put up here, although it ultimately should be added, no? Merbeliumph (talk) 00:41, 16 February 2010 (UTC)

The scandal was enough to cause the firing of the head basketball coach, resignation of the Athletic Director, resignation of the President of the University, and the suicide of the Chairman of the Board of Trustees is certainly worth talking about. I'm not sure why university approval would be needed or even desired for a such a well-documented incident. There's plenty of articles, but here's a quick reference that covers all these topics: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?id=3087784 Smileyy (talk) 19:55, 2 March 2010 (UTC)

Rewrite request
Keeping with the "Wikipedia is not an advertising service" theme, I'd like to suggest that this page be re-written; it reads like a promotional tract (I draw attention to the repeated use of phrases like "students lovingly do this" or "students fondly do that". The last lines even say something like 'it's no wonder students never want to leave' or words to that effect.).

Is this a neutral article or a vacation brochure? It reads like the latter.

As an alum (class of 1990), I'm almost embarassed by the maudlin voice this article uses. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Fionnbharr (talk • contribs) 11:44, July 18, 2006 (UTC)

I agree with the above statement, if anyone is so inclined, sections should gradually be re-written. Where's our J/MC majors when you need them? I just tried re-working the intro but folks should feel free to whale away at the entire article. Therainman58 (talk) 18:13, 22 May 2009 (UTC)

I wanted to point out that from my perspective SBU hasn't had a true basketball identity in a long time. That the opening section implies this and yet does not mention St. Bonaventure himself (or any of our Franciscan principles or values) I think reflects a particular (and outdated/commercial) perception of the university not likely shared by the majority of students any longer. If we are attempting to reflect SBU as objectively as possible then the idea of the university should be communicated with more than the long-lost dream of a successful basketball team, no? I am suggesting cutting the basketball reference in the intro and replacing it with something more substantive. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Merbeliumph (talk • contribs) 15:18, 8 July 2010 (UTC)
 * While I largely agree that Franciscan principles play a larger part in the Bonaventure community than athletics do, it's worth noting that the Franciscan connection is alluded to in three sentences of the header of this article while athletics are mentioned only in one, and that the university's Franciscan history and spirit have more text devoted to them than basketball does in the body of the article as well.Jbening (talk) 18:55, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

To be fair, I was the one who added the "Franciscan" part, and that was quite recently. "Bonas is not a basketball school" is perhaps the best way to put it. It is more a business school, a liberal arts school, a journalism school, a hagiographic research center, an art gallery, etc, etc, etc, than it is a basketball school. Basketball is more a peripheral time waster for a rapidly diminished group of students than it is anything deserving of a synonymous identifier as is implied by its initial location. The fact that Bonaventure himself is not noted gets to the real point. What is Bonaventure's identity? It is not basketball, certainly. It might technically be called a liberal arts school still, but possibly only due to the number of education majors, rather than Philosophy, English, Theology, History, Sociology, and Poli-sci majors. The school is near what, 55 percent pre-professional now? More? So what is its identity? I suggest at least cutting the basketball line and adding a line about the name. Its the classic intro to university pages. Merbeliumph (talk) 22:08, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

The Franciscan Connection
"There is a strong Franciscan presence at Olean General Hospital, and the university operates the Warming House, an area soup kitchen believed to be the oldest student-run soup kitchen in the United States"

There is an obvious lack of citation or grounding for this article. Bonas has students work through the local hospital, but it isn't necessarily Franciscan in nature.

Also, there is no citation for the warming house claim. On what grounds is this claim made? It should be removed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Merbeliumph (talk • contribs) 03:18, 15 February 2010 (UTC)

History
Editing this page should remain unbiased. The language needs to be neutral. There is a problem with passages such as:

"Allegany was to become the great city he hoped it would be, it would need religious instruction" or "A great city needed religious instruction, so Devereux approached..."

These are not appropriate phrases for any section here. We should make an effort to remove all passages with this sort of language. A rewrite still might be needed, however, I want to avoid an editing war. Remember that both these quotes suggest that the religious institution was objectively necessary for the city's proper development, whereas both edits I made were far more appropriate in demonstrating the reasoning behind the choice to build Bonas, which is the point of the sentence in the first place. However, given that the point is not cited, I would suggest that it be removed all together until there is a source given. (Merbeliumph (talk) 06:41, 15 February 2010 (UTC))

Notable Alumni
I would like to propose we combine the sections on "Notable Alumni" and "Pulitzer Prize Winners and Members of Congress." The later is a subdivision of the former and I think it should be formatted as such. Baring any complaints I will do this. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Hydramix (talk • contribs) 16:55, 23 June 2012 (UTC)

Basketball Scandal
I added a section to the page regarding the 2003 SBU Basketball Scandal. I realize this isn't the most popular topic for Bonaventure, however I think that it is something that should be summarized on this page. The scandal resulted in the resignation of the school's president, athletic director and coach, and the suicide of the board of trustee's chairman. Wikipedia is supposed to be an unbiased source of information and this scandal, while ugly, is a big part of Bonaventure's history which the basketball team, arguably, just recovered from. Wikipedia is not an advertisement if that's what your vision for this page is I suggest we simply delete all the information here and redirect to http://www.becomingextraordinary.net/ Hydramix (talk) 04:30, 13 August 2012 (UTC)


 * This has been a bone of contention for a few years now, with text on the scandal being periodically added and deleted. The text you've added just now is factually correct and encyclopedic in tone. I don't care much one way or the other about this issue, but wouldn't a more appropriate place for the paragraph be in the St. Bonaventure Bonnies men's basketball article? The main article for St Bonaventure University athletics is now St. Bonaventure Bonnies, and the main article for the section on men's basketball is now St. Bonaventure Bonnies men's basketball. There's nothing in that article on the scandal, while there certainly should. That article could use expansion generally, so if this is something you care about, maybe you'd like to have a go at that too? As to putting it in the SBU main article: my argument against would be that it now occupies over half of the otherwise very brief section on athletics, which seems disproportionate and a disservice to all of the students who have played on the many other athletic teams over the years. Jbening (talk) 13:04, 13 August 2012 (UTC)


 * I agree with everything you have said. The main reason I put it here in the main article was because it took up a smaller percentage of the entire article than it would have in either St. Bonaventure Bonnies men's basketball or St. Bonaventure Bonnies. The secondary reason is that this incident, while mainly involving the men's basketball team, did encompass the entire university, up through the President and Board of Trustees. Perhaps the best compromise would be to create an entirely new article regarding the scandal in the style of Penn State child sex abuse scandal, and simply linking to it on all the aforementioned pages.  However I do not want to cause any pain to the Swan family, which is why I left Mr. Swan's unfortunate death out of my addition. Any further thoughts are appreciated. Hydramix (talk) 15:25, 13 August 2012 (UTC)

Pictures of the campus
Surely someone (a student, professor or staff member) can take pictures of the main buildings on campus? That would greatly enhance this page. Please reply on my talkpage if you can do that. Thank you.Zigzig20s (talk) 21:16, 4 May 2013 (UTC)

SUNY Upstate Categorization
Is there anyway to remove Bonaventure from the SUNY Upstate Categorization? the school as at best a trivial linkage to the Upstate and other schools with similar dual admission/early acceptance programs are not in the Upstate Category, making me question by SBU is.

Thanks Hydramix (talk) 09:20, 14 March 2015 (UTC)

Figured out how to remove it. Hydramix (talk) 10:52, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

Franciscan Conference
Is there any citation for information regarding the John Duns Scotus conference series? It states it occurred "recently" however I was unable to find any reference on sbu.edu.

Thanks.Hydramix (talk) 09:18, 14 March 2015 (UTC)

§ Removed information barring any further information being added. Hydramix (talk) 10:51, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

Location: Allegany vs. St. Bonaventure
The address of the school is given as "St. Bonaventure, NY", and a US post office with that designation is located on campus. Is there a reason this article lists "Allegany, NY" as the location? Yoho2001 (talk) 21:49, 15 March 2018 (UTC)