Road Trip: Flashes of Brilliance

After visiting Duquesne, I headed east to visit Saint Francis University. I am always interested in how colleges came to be and their history: as with family genealogy, I find that the history of a college can give you insights into who they are today and their connections to others. I don't know enough about church history though to truly understand the how's and why's the church decided to form an institution of higher education in what is, as staff and faculty admitted, an out-of-the-way place. However, it's certainly a beautiful place, and the college has a history to be proud of: according to that relevant source, Wikipedia, "The university was one of the first Catholic universities in the United States and the first Franciscan college in the nation. Although it originally only admitted males, it became one of the first Catholic Universities to become co-educational." That's all pretty impressive. 

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And, they have a fountain, which is always good. I also am sort of a nerd when it comes to school mascots, so I enjoyed the unique mascot of Saint Francis: the Red Flash. And, almost every student had some SFU or Red Flash garb on, indicating there was a high level of school spirit and pride--and that they liked their unique mascot. My own college had a unique mascot--the Sagehen, a small desert grouse that plays dead when it's approached. I was also a big fan of the menacing Duquesne Duke.

I met with some very interested and interesting students, as well as some faculty who had just heard of our program and were excited by the possibilities of integrating their program--like Environmental Studies--with our own. It was a lovely day--cool, in fact, which made my Seattle-bred body temperature very happy--and I look forward to returning and learning more about this place.