RENOVATION NATION
Making a Residence Hall a Home
The first-ever residents of the newly opened Commons residence complex moved in this August
Sister Jackline Mayaka, FSJ, ’15 FCN, ’17 MSN, RN (left), a PhD student in the M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing, received the Inspiring Nurse Award from Nurses with Global Impact during the third annual International Nurses Day at the United Nations in May. Sister Jackline’s work as a community health nurse and midwife in Kenya and her studies at Villanova have focused on bringing effective, professional nursing care to vulnerable populations, particularly HIV-positive mothers and their babies.
A Villanova team of five Master of Public Administration students took first place in the global 2019 Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs and Administration Student Simulation Competition. Competing against nearly 600 students from 27 countries, Villanova's MPA students impressed the judges with their quick thinking and collaboration in proposing public policy solutions to complex issues during a simulated forced migration crisis.
Through a partnership between the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures and the six clinics in the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law, undergraduate students are gaining valuable, hands-on experience with their Spanish language skills and cultural competencies. As Community Interpreter interns, the students act as translators and interpreters, assisting Villanova student lawyers in their interactions with clients in the Hispanic community.
Two Villanova undergrads, the creators of Savvy, billed as the world’s first live mobile dating game, tied for third place in the inaugural Big East Startup Challenge, held during the 2019 Big East men’s basketball tournament. Fernando Delgado ’19 CLAS and Brendan Kenny ’21 VSB joined teams of student entrepreneurs from the Big East conference’s 10-member institutions in pitching their innovative business ventures to a judging panel, which included Kristy Wallace ’99 CLAS, CEO of Ellevate Network.
Calling it “a fascinating dialogue between the world of economics and the world of faith,” the Vatican’s Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation bestowed its “Economy and Society” International Prize on the book Aquinas and the Market: Toward a Humane Economy, written by Mary Hirschfeld, PhD, associate professor of Economics and Theology. The prize is given every two years to work that upholds the Catholic Church’s social doctrine.
Villanova hosted its third biannual, multidisciplinary Mendel Symposium in March, assembling international experts in food security, genetic engineering and plant diversity to explore connections between 19th-century Augustinian Friar Gregor Mendel’s plant hybridization research and today’s food supply challenges. Symposium attendees were called to consider how these issues raise philosophical, ethical, security and economic questions related to stewardship of the Earth’s resources.
Villanova’s expert grounds maintenance crews, responsible for keeping campus spaces in tiptop, lush green shape, have been recognized with the highest honor — a Grand Award — in the Urban University Grounds category from the Professional Grounds Management Society. “We strive to make every first impression a great one and make Villanova University a little more beautiful every day,” says Jared Rudy, superintendent of Grounds.
In May, more than 2,500 Villanova graduates walked across the stage and into the next chapter of their lives. Over two days, more than 15,000 guests arrived on campus to celebrate our graduates at three Commencement ceremonies, three masses, five undergraduate convocations and one Naval ROTC commissioning ceremony.
Photos by Pete Brown, Paul Crane, James Judy, Sydney Mueller, John Shetron and Marissa Reinhart
