St Bonaventure University

St Bonaventure University is a Catholic affiliated university on a 500 acre campus in Allegany, southwestern New York state. The university is named for a Franciscan monk and scholar who served as a close friend of Thomas Aquinas. Founded in 1858, its motto is ‘Becoming Extraordinary’.

There are over 50 academic programmes available at St Bonaventure, in the Schools of Arts & Sciences, Business, Education, and Communication. Graduate programmes are offered at a satellite campuses in Olean and within the Buffalo Centre of Hilbert college, as well as courses offered online or in hybrid format. The school of Franciscan Studies also runs a summer programme on campus, providing a continuing education based around religious and spiritual traditions.

Clare College is the administrative arm of the university, and provides a core curriculum to students based in interdisciplinary liberal arts study and academic endeavour in the spirit of Bonaventure himself.

Approximately 75% of students live on campus. Residences are divided between freshman and upper-class housing, and Living & Learning communities grouping people together with common interests, such as religious and spiritual traditions at Assisi House, academic major houses, and residences for quiet study or substance free zones.

Athletics teams are known as the Bonnies, and compete in the NCAA Division I. There are eight women’s sports programmes including lacrosse and nine men’s, including rugby. Opened in 1966, the Reilly Centre is the home to Bonnies basketball teams and university events, and such is the popularity of games it is designed to seat almost twice the amount of students attending the university.

Among the many esteemed alumni of St Bonaventure are five members of Congress, and six Pulitzer Prize winning journalists.