Literary Publishing & Editing BA

St. Bonaventure University was founded through the initiative and dedicated efforts of Nicholas Devereux, a large landholder and financier from Utica, N.Y., with the cooperation and support of John Timon, Bishop of Buffalo, and members of the Franciscan Order. Their dream of more than a century and a half ago has flourished, and St. Bonaventure University has expanded greatly during the 154 years of its existence. In 1854 the two promoters persuaded a group of friars from Italy to venture to America and establish a Catholic college and seminary in Western New York. Principal among these Franciscans was Fr. Pamphilus da Magliano, who later became the College’s first President. On Oct. 4, 1858, the Feast of St. Francis, the formal dedication of the new school was held on the tract of land donated by Devereux. It was then that the College was named after St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio, the Patron of Franciscan Studies and Learning. St. Bonaventure College held its first Commencement Exercise in June 1860, graduating a class of 15 students. Since then the University has grown to more than 2,000 students.