Tag: servant leadership

USF News

Support USF Students on April 6 through Day of Giving

Day of Giving - April 6, 2022

Joliet, Ill. – The University of St. Francis (USF) will celebrate Day of Giving on Wednesday, April 6, 2022, and invites alumni, parents, students, friends and the community to support USF students as they continue on their journey of servant leadership.

“Day of Giving is a special 24-hour time period during which USF invites our entire university community to make a gift and, more importantly, make a difference,” said Kim Kalafut, USF Director of the Annual Fund.

In 2021, 100% of USF’s incoming freshmen received financial assistance. This financial assistance is made possible through many efforts throughout the year, including the Caritas Scholarship Ball, the fall and spring annual fund appeals, and special events such as Day of Giving.

“Every single gift provides the much needed support for our students at USF.  Approximately 51% percent of this year’s freshman class is comprised of first generation college students – that is, they are the first in their family to attend college. In fact, over the course of the past decade, an average of 59% of each of our incoming freshman classes were first-generation college students. Without scholarship opportunities, their continued education would not be possible. Today’s students are faced with academic unpreparedness as an outcome of COVID. Today’s students need more support than they have ever needed before. Gifts made as part of Day of Giving support our students in their effort to think bigger and pursue a brighter purpose at the University of St. Francis,” added Lisa Sampalis, USF Vice President for Advancement.

To make your gift, please visit stfrancis.edu/dayofgiving or call Kim Kalafut, USF Director of the Annual Fund, at 815-740-3610.

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The University of St. Francis, in Joliet, Ill., serves close to 4,000 students nationwide and offers undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and certificate programs in the arts and sciences, business, education, nursing and social work. There are over 52,000 USF alumni across the globe. For information, call 800-735-7500 or visit stfrancis.edu.

University of St. Francis: Bigger thinking. Brighter purpose.

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USF News

Servant Leaders Donate to the Boys & Girls Club of Joliet

Joliet, Ill. –  As a reflection of its Franciscan values and as Joliet’s university, the University of St. Francis (USF) works closely with area organizations to serve those in need. One recent example of this saw USF’s Servant Leaders program donating new winter clothing to the Boys & Girls Club of Joliet in support of the organization’s upcoming Curbside Christmas Party and Gift Grab on December 19, 2020.

“Striving to serve others and uphold our Franciscan values, the Servant Leaders donated 100 pairs of hats and gloves for the Boys & Girls Club of Joliet. As a part of the Joliet community, we want to have a positive impact on the city, especially during such a challenging time.  We hope that our donations bring joy and comfort to the children who receive them,” said Nicole Kulon, a junior majoring in business management and minoring in marketing.

Kahlil Diab, executive director of the Boys & Girls Club of Joliet, was extremely appreciative of the USF group’s supportive efforts.

“This amazing group of young women and men was generous with their time to collect and deliver this critical donation. We sincerely thank everyone who took part in this effort, and also send a special thank you to Dr. David Gordon, Boys & Girls Club of Joliet ‘Club Ambassador’ (and USF professor), for facilitating this partnership and donation,” he said.

USF’s Servant Leaders program started in fall 2019 and was one component of a successful grant proposal submitted to the Bob and Pat Wheeler Foundation. In addition to the creation of the Servant Leaders program, the successful proposal has resulted in the ongoing transition of USF’s College of Business and Health Administration into a Franciscan College focused on three core areas: faith, service, and academics. The college’s curriculum is being refocused onto Franciscan business ethics at the undergraduate and graduate levels. 

“Our Servant Leaders program is comprised of students who focus on three things: Jesus Christ and the work of St. Francis; promoting Franciscan values within the college and university; and service to others. These leaders are overseen by ‘Faculty Shepherds,’ who guide the students to keep focused on those three objectives,” explained Orlando Griego, Ph.D., dean of USF’s College of Business and Health Administration.

Griego added that since its inception, the Servant Leaders program and its participants have donated over $2,000 to help with the feeding of the homeless and have volunteered many hours of service at local shelters. The group also posts positive, Christ-centered messages around campus, working hand-in-hand with University Ministry, and will provide the chapel with two new sets of altar clothes for daily Mass. The group also participates in annual spiritual retreats.

About the Boys & Girls Club of Joliet

The Boys & Girls Club of Joliet is a proud United Way of Will County funded community partner and is dedicated to helping all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens. Visit bgcjoliet.com to learn more about supporting the organization and its mission.

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Currently celebrating 100 years of higher education rooted in Franciscan values, the University of St. Francis, in Joliet, Ill., serves close to 4,000 students nationwide and offers undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and certificate programs in the arts and sciences, business, education, nursing and social work. There are over 51,000 USF alumni across the globe. For information, call 800-735-7500 or visit stfrancis.edu.

University of St. Francis: Bigger thinking. Brighter purpose.

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USF News

President Dr. Arvid C. Johnson Awarded Honorary Doctorate by Brno University of Technology

Joliet, Ill. – As part of its 120th anniversary celebration the Brno University of Technology (BUT) in Brno, Czech Republic,  BUT awarded an honorary degree of Doctor honoris causa to University of St. Francis President Arvid C. Johnson, Ph.D., on June 19, 2019.

In 1909, the Czech Technical University (now known as BUT), awarded its first Doctor honoris causa. Since that time, only 66 other honorary degrees have been awarded by the university. Past honorees include Serbian-American inventor Nikola Tesla; Edvard Benes, former President of Czechoslovakia; and Vaclav Klaus, former President of the Czech Republic.  Mexico’s Sebastian Diaz de la Torre, Ph.D. was also awarded an honorary degree of doctor honoris causa this year alongside Johnson.

In his ceremonial address, Johnson discussed the origins of BUT’s academic partnerships with USF and Dominican University (where Johnson served as a professor and Dean of the School of the Brennan School Business prior to joining USF) that have since, collectively, produced 18 cohorts of MBA graduates.

“When Rector (Petr) Stepanek notified me that the Scientific Board of the Brno University of Technology had approved the proposal of the Faculty of Business and Management to confer upon me the degree of Doctor honoris causa, I was certainly honored – and even thrilled.  But, at the same time, I recognized that this proposal was not so much about honoring me as celebrating the many years of partnership between VUT and its American partners in the Chicagoland area,” Johnson said.

Later in his address, Johnson explored the concept of leadership, focusing specifically on what he feels is the most important kind of leadership – servant leadership.

“Leadership is not about power and influence; it’s about service. Leadership is not about you; it’s about those you serve. Leadership is only authentic when it is ‘servant leadership’ and THAT’S when leadership matters,” Johnson said as he paid homage to Robert Greenleaf, who coined the term in his 1970 essay, “The Servant as Leader,” and who founded the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership.

Johnson concluded his address by noting that servant leaders must “love” those they aspire to lead – where, “as James Hunter notes, love is the ‘the act of extending yourself for others by identifying and meeting their legitimate needs and seeking their greatest good’.”

“I believe that, through service, we recognize the Good (the Divine) both in ourselves and in each other, which enables us to put others’ needs before our own.  This is a service – a leadership style – based in joy, not obligation,” Johnson said.

New USF Board of Trustees chairperson Joseph T. Mallof, attended at the ceremony and feels that the honor recognizes more than an academic partnership between USF and BUT.

“I was honored to be present at the ceremony honoring Arvid with an honorary doctorate degree.  I believe this does not just recognize the U.S. MBA program that USF and Arvid have developed with BUT over many years.  I think it also recognizes the moral aspects of a Catholic and Franciscan education that USF provides and Arvid personifies, which fills a need and is valued by BUT and its students.  Arvid’s acceptance speech, that reflected on servant leadership and its religious foundation, addressed this eloquently and courageously,” Mallof said.

During Johnson’s time with the university, he has also helped USF establish international academic partnerships with the University of Finance-Marketing in Ho Chi Minh City and the University of Economics and Business in Hanoi.

The University of St. Francis, in Joliet, Ill., serves over 4,000 students nationwide, offering undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and certificate programs in the arts and sciences, business, education, nursing and social work. There are over 50,000 USF alumni across the globe. For information, call 800-735-7500 or visit stfrancis.edu.

University of St. Francis: Bigger thinking. Brighter purpose.

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