Outreach

The project to build a Saint Francis University Tiny Classroom is officially a reality! The Tiny Classroom Big Impact project, currently under construction, will provide hands-on, renewable energy education for SFU students and community members in central and southwestern Pennsylvania. A year ago, the Institute for Energy dreamed an idea to construct a tiny mobile classroom. They envisioned the classroom would utilize renewable energy and serve as a teaching tool about sustainability and power technologies for communities in the region. Two local organizations are making that dream come true

On September 8, 2017, 70-year-old Brother Shamus McGrenra T.O.R., a stage 4 colon cancer survivor, will tackle his toughest route in the history of the annual #GoBroShamus Charity Bike Ride . The journey will begin in Bar Harbor, Maine and cover roughly 1,000 miles of mountainous terrain, taking Bro. Shamus through 10 states and several major cities before coming to an end in Jamestown, Virginia. Bro. Shamus’s goal is to raise $45,000 for the Dorothy Day Outreach Center at Saint Francis University, a volunteer-based charity that provides food and necessities to members of the local Loretto, PA

Students from Saint Francis University helped give people in need something to smile about last weekend. MOM-n-PA Dental Missions hosted their 5th annual clinic this year at Gannon University in Erie, PA on June 17th and 18th. The MOM-n-PA mission is a two-day large scale dental clinic where dental treatment is provided at no cost to individuals who cannot afford dental care. Over 700 dental, medical and pharmacy professionals, students and lay volunteers freely donated their time to help at MOM-n-PA 2017. The two-day clinic provided dental care to nearly 1,000 patients. They did 3,677

Athena, Otis and Tobie graduated from Saint Francis University on Friday! The trio of shelter dogs from the Central PA Humane Society received an SFU collar tag, a diploma and an AKC Canine Good Citizen certification. Now they are heading off to new "furever" homes. The dogs were part of a semester-long Psychology course, “Canine Learning and Behavior." The class is a community partnership project taught by SFU Assistant Professor of Psychology Dr. Shlomit Flaisher-Grinberg and Megan Sanchez, Volunteer Coordinator at the Central PA Humane Society. The idea for the class was initiated by Dr

Saint Francis University and the surrounding communities turned out for the fourth annual "March on the Mountain" Pro-Life rally on Friday, January 27, 2017. About 75 people participated in the local version of the D.C. March for Life that is held on each year on the anniversary of the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision of Roe vs. Wade.

Allison Rohrs, director for the Institute for Energy at Saint Francis University, recently received the Women in Energy Leadership Award by the Pittsburgh Business Times . Rohrs was one of 26 women in the region to receive the 2016 award. The honorees were selected by a panel of industry experts and honored at an event and in a special edition of the Pittsburgh Business Times in October. Rohrs has served as the director for the Institute for Energy at Saint Francis for nearly four years. In her role, she works with local small businesses and farmers to help assess their properties for

Have you ever come across a stream or pond that was full of a thick, murky, orange sludge? You likely saw a case of Abandoned Mine Drainage (AMD) pollution. AMD occurs when acidic, metal-rich water emerges at the surface after passing through abandoned coal or clay mines. These metals then precipitate in a thick, orange sludge called “yellow boy” that can smother life in streams and ponds. This summer, two teams of SFU Biology students studied the effects of pollution on freshwater biodiversity. Dr. Lane Loya and Dr. Justin Merry teamed with a group of four biology students as well as faculty

Saint Francis University senior Tara Fritz of Johnstown, Pa. was named the recipient of the first ever Social Justice Award from the Lydia Maria Child Society in May. Fritz was recognized for her award during the American Literature Association Conference in San Francisco last month. “I feel so incredibly honored to be the first recipient of the society’s undergraduate Social Justice Award,” Fritz said. “I think my interest in social justice comes from the fact that I am a strong feminist, and to me, being a feminist means not only standing up for women but also for all other marginalized

Saint Francis University student Matthew Fraley of Frederick, Md, will be traveling to Poland in July as part of the College Knights Pilgrimage to Krakow and World Youth Day. World Youth Day is an international event started by Saint John Paul II in 1985, celebrated annually at the diocesan level and every two to three years in a major city with millions of youth and young adults who come to be with the Holy Father and to celebrate the Catholic faith. World Youth Day 2016 will be held July 26-31 in Krakow, Poland. For its theme, Pope Francis has chosen a line from the Beatitudes, “Blessed are

Heather N. McHenry, PA-C, ’08, MPAS, ’09, has been selected as the speaker for the 2016 Graduate Commencement ceremony on May 8. About Ms. McHenry Heather McHenry says she knew immediately—on her first trip to Honduras as a Saint Francis undergraduate—that she was hooked on medical missions. “It opened my eyes,” says McHenry of the experience. Even though she was not a licensed provider at the time and could only assist the physical therapy team in charge of the trip, she says she found the work immensely gratifying. After earning her master’s in physician assistant science and licensure