Mission Statement

Founded in 1858, St. Bonaventure is a Catholic university dedicated to educational excellence in the Franciscan tradition. We are committed to the constant pursuit of distinction in our undergraduate and graduate programs, our innovative liberal arts core and all of our courses of study. At. St. Bonaventure University, we come to know our students on an individual basis and become their mentors. We strive to bring out the best in every individual. As an academic and spiritual community, we endeavor to prepare our students for the challenges they will face in their professional careers as well as in their personal lives. True to our Franciscan heritage, we encourage students to manifest our values through lives of citizenship and service.

Values Statement

As a Catholic university in the Franciscan tradition, we dedicate ourselves to the following Core Values and to making them live and thrive at St. Bonaventure:

We steadfastly pursue intellectual, spiritual and personal growth in a way that reflects our belief in the wonder, excitement and joy of discovery along life’s good journey. Central to that journey is an appreciation for the best that has been thought, written and discovered. It is our firm intent that our faculty and students add to this body of knowledge, sharing the adventure of inquiry in an atmosphere of academic freedom, both within and outside the classroom.

We believe in an inclusive community that values diversity as a strength. We foster and celebrate practices that nurture living and learning in an atmosphere of caring, respect and mutual accountability. We seek to enhance the quality of life in the world around us, particularly by reaching out to the poor, the less fortunate and the disadvantaged. We not only demonstrate this spirit of community on our campus; we manifest it wherever we go.

At the core of our identity is a strong belief in the goodness of life and the God-given worth of every individual. We treat all members of our community with dignity and strive to help them reach their full potential. We commit ourselves to actions that empower all members of the St. Bonaventure community and encourage their full participation in creating our future.

By our sesquicentennial year of 2008, St. Bonaventure University will be a nationally-recognized Catholic university because of our proven ability to:

1. Provide a highly personalized academic experience to our graduate and undergraduate students.

2. Integrate a strong, interdisciplinary, liberal arts core with degree-granting programs providing preparation for professional careers and graduate study.

3. Excel in our chosen specialty areas, including signature programs that augment our reputation and serve as models for the delivery of educational programming at the University.

4. Foresee the changing needs of students and develop programs and utilize technologies consistent with those needs.

5. Create and sustain a community in which all aspects of university life are a reflection of Franciscan values.

We will be the premier Franciscan institution of higher learning in North America, and, as such, we will have the resources and endowment befitting our university’s mission, age and tradition.