'Opening Doors' is theme of fifth annual Heritage Week March 1 to 7
The University of St. Thomas will observe its fifth annual Heritage Week from Saturday, March 1, to Friday, March 7.
Heritage Week 2008 features a series of events that celebrate the university's history, traditions and values over 123 years. This year's theme is "Opening Doors … of our minds, hearts and spirits." Just as St. Thomas' capital campaign theme projects hope for "opening doors" for students of the future, the 2008 Heritage Week theme celebrates the legacy of St. Thomas doors that already have been opened for past generations.
Among the highlights are a celebration of the 30th anniversary of undergraduate coeducation at St. Thomas; a presentation on the theme that highlights the doors of the newly renovated Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas and the St. Thomas More Chapel in Minneapolis; and a statewide Youth Forum on Global Warming Solutions featuring polar explorer and alumnus Will Steger and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty.
Along with the traditional Heritage Week treasure hunt and receptions on the Minneapolis and St. Paul campuses, other events this year include a significantly enhanced Faculty and Staff Recognition Awards celebration; a student service project, Kids Café, at Powderhorn Park in Minneapolis; and an Ecumenical Prayer Luncheon.
There also will be a blog on coeducation. All faculty, staff, students and alumni -- men and women -- are invited to share their stories of both the beginnings of coeducation on campus and their experiences of coeducation today.
Visit the Heritage Week Web site or watch Bulletin Today in coming days for additional information on the blog and the events of the week:
- St. Thomas Day Mass and Celebration – The annual program begins with Mass at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, March 1, in the Chapel of St Thomas Aquinas. The dinner and awards will held in Murray-Herrick Campus Center's Student Dining Room. The chapel's new altar will be dedicated by Archbishop Harry Flynn at the Mass. The sponsor is Alumni and Constituent Relations.
- Treasure Hunt – The fourth annual hunt, featuring traditionally bad poetry and a $300 St. Thomas Bookstore gift card for the treasure finder, starts Friday, Feb. 29. Rules and clues will appear that day in Bulletin Today. Meanwhile, no peeking.
- Coeducation Blog - Faculty, staff, students and alumni are welcome to read or leave stories about coeducation at St. Thomas. You can access the blog here.
- Opening Spiritual Doors – This presentation on "spiritual doors" will be given by the artists who worked on the university's Chapel of St. Thomas More in Minneapolis and the Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas in St. Paul. The presentation begins at 1:30 p.m. Monday, March 3, in the auditorium of O'Shaughnessy Educational Center on the St. Paul campus. The presentation will be teleconferenced to Thornton Auditorium in Terrence Murphy Hall on the Minneapolis campus.
- Youth Forum on Global Warming Solutions - This is the second of Father Dennis Dease's "Great Conversations" on sustainability. It will include college and high school students from throughout the state, polar explorer Will Steger and Gov. Tim Pawlenty. This Youth Forum on Global Warming Solutions will run from 4 to 6 p.m. Monday, March 3, in the auditorium of O'Shaughnessy Educational Center. Overflow seating will be in the third-floor lounge (Room 304) of Murray-Herrick Campus Center. The forum is a project of the Office of the Governor, the National Governors Association, the Will Steger Foundation, and student leaders from the Minnesota youth climate movement. St. Thomas groups involved with the forum are the Undergraduate Student Government, Engineers for a Sustainable World and the Green Team.
- Heritage Week Receptions - All are welcome to stop for lunch and to celebrate 30 years of undergraduate coeducation, a Concert Choir performance, and an Art History Department poster session on Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas architect Emmanuel Masqueray, in whose spirit the recent renovations have been completed. The St. Paul reception and program, co-sponsored by STAR (St. Thomas Activities and Recreation) will run from noon to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 4, in the first-floor lounge of Murray-Herrick Campus Center. The reception and program in Minneapolis will run from noon to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 5, in the atrium of Terrence Murphy Hall.
- Ecumenical Prayer Luncheon - This annual gathering on the Minneapolis campus will run from noon to 1:30 p.m. Thursday, March 6, in Room 252 of Terrence Murphy Hall. The speaker will be Dr. Catherine Cory of the St. Thomas Theology Department. Registration is required; for information contact Mary Edel-Joyce at (651) 962-4920. Sponsors are the Luncheon Planning Team and Campus Ministry.
- Annual Faculty and Staff Recognition Awards celebration – Significantly expanded in scope, this program recognizes contributions to the university by its faculty and staff. The program, which will include a reception, begins at 3 p.m. Friday, March 7, in the auditorium of Brady Educational Center on the south campus. It is sponsored by the Department of Human Resources.
- Kids Café Service Event – St. Thomas students will participate in this community-service event at 4 p.m. Friday, March 4, at Powderhorn Park in Minneapolis. Registration is required; for information contact (651) 962-6460 or Multicultural Student Services. Sponsoring this annual event are Multicultural Student Services, Commuter Center and Office of International Student Services.
