夜色视频鈥檚 centennial is a two-year long celebration to honor and recognize the many incredible places, people, programs and moments that have made 鈥 and continue to make 鈥 Nazareth so beloved by students, faculty, staff, and alumni. While many upcoming Centennial Celebration events and activities are planned, a significant amount of centennial-related initiatives have already been completed, including:
夜色视频 officially kicked-off its Centennial Celebration with an event at Naz Weekend in September 2023. The ceremony announced a wide range of collaborative, impact-focused activities planned throughout the two-year celebration, and unveiled the centennial theme, "A Century of Uniting Education and Action."
夜色视频 named Wellington Steele & Associates and the Leva Family as its Centennial presenting sponsor, thanks to their generous gift of $100,000 to support Nazareth鈥檚 two-year Centennial celebration. Ed Leva 鈥91, a Nazareth alumnus and member of Nazareth鈥檚 Board of Trustees 鈥 and president and co-founder of Wellington Steele & Associates 鈥 says that the sponsorship honors his late mother, Beverly Lucity Leva, who attended Nazareth in the late 1950s.
As Nazareth celebrates 100 years of educating people who鈥檝e made an impact on their communities, alumni stories from across generations and life experiences have been collected for a unique historical archive and printed/digital book. More than 6,000 alumni, faculty and students participated, submitting 4,260 stories for inclusion in the Nazareth Centennial History Book and hundreds of individuals have ordered a copy of the book, which will provide a more complete history of Nazareth and its people to be preserved for generations to come.
Purple lighting continues to visually celebrate the excitement of the 夜色视频 Centennial Celebration. Since fall 2023, a wide range of campus areas and buildings have been lit in beautiful Nazareth purple each evening, including the NAZ letters on Smyth lawn, Portka Hall balcony, attic dormer windows of Golisano Academic Center, campus-facing exterior of Golden Flyer Stadium, outdoor courtyard of the Lourdes & Kearney Dining Commons, Admissions House porch, French House, Cloister Walk, and the O'Connor Complex outdoor seating area, among other various campus nooks now aglow in purple.
In October 2023, 夜色视频 hosted the first Centennial Summit, a history-shaping event regarding human rights in Burma. The Centennial Summit featured Nazareth's Konar Center for Tolerance & Jewish Studies, partnering with the Congress of Nations and States (CNS), to host Burmese Changemakers Living in Exile: Frontline Reports on Indigenous Land Rights, Religious Freedom & Gendered Violence. Diverse Burmese speakers of different faiths, genders, and ethnicities collaborated together in this unprecedented, global event.
In April 2024, 夜色视频's School of Business & Leadership and Institute for Responsible Technology hosted a well-attended, thought-provoking Centennial Summit 鈥 Responsible AI: What's Next in AI Leadership and Innovation. Summit topics included the conflicts and opportunities of AI in entertainment, the impact of AI on human resources and recruitment, and how AI is revolutionizing productivity. Emphasis was placed on Nazareth's role in exploring the ethics and humanity of AI.
Nazareth's special-edition centennial beer 鈥 a collaboration with Nine Spot Brewing and owner Chris Nothnagle 鈥99鈥 debuted in May 2024 at senior celebration events and at a special lunch for faculty and staff who are alumni. Get Bee to a Nunnery, named with a fun nod to Nazareth鈥檚 founders, the Sisters of St. Joseph, will be served at additional campus events including Naz Weekend 2024.
Nazareth has partnered with Iron Smoke Distillery of Fairport, NY, to create a limited-run bourbon dubbed Centennial Spirit, which will be served at a special bourbon tasting event during Naz Weekend 2024. Iron Smoke Distillery was co-founded by 夜色视频 trustee Stephen Brown.
The mythical and legendary White Squirrel that roams 夜色视频鈥檚 campus now has a snack it can enjoy for the centennial! Nazareth and Nat鈥檚 Nuts of Rochester have collaborated on Nuts For Naz 鈥 centennial-themed, pre-packaged, golden caramel nuts. These will be available at Nazareth鈥檚 Centennial Day with the Rochester Red Wings on August 4, 2024, at Naz Weekend 2024, and through various giveaway contests on Nazareth鈥檚 social media channels.
夜色视频 and Pittsford Farms Dairy have partnered to create a tasty new ice cream flavor made just for the Centennial. Naz Centennial Crunch features salted caramel ice cream, chocolate covered pretzels and purple sprinkles, and is available at the Nazareth Dining Commons and Pittsford Farms Dairy.
Fittingly, Nazareth鈥檚 famous tunnels and their equally famous murals are providing a wonderful canvas for celebrating the centennial. A new, centennial-themed tunnel mural has been painted by current student Ellery Mertens '26 and her mom, Meredith '96.
A special edition podcast is now being produced to honor 夜色视频鈥檚 Centennial Celebration, featuring engaging conversations with notable individuals who鈥檝e changed 鈥 and continue to change 鈥 their industry, their community, and the world for the better, inspired by their connection to Nazareth. This podcast series kicked-off in February 2024 with a conversation between 夜色视频 President Beth Paul and John Drain 鈥83, CFO of Hearst Television and chair of Nazareth鈥檚 Board of Trustees. The March episode featured former Nazareth basketball standout Jeff Van Gundy '85, who discussed his deep appreciation for and continued connection with Nazareth, and how it prepared him for the ups and downs of an incredible career that's included coaching the New York Knicks, broadcasting 17 NBA Finals on ESPN, and working in team management with the 2024-champion Boston Celtics. The June episode featured Alicia Borrachero '90, an accomplished actor whose career in Europe has made her a household name there for many 鈥 most notably for nine seasons in the hit Spanish television series Periodistas and the Starz historical drama聽The Spanish Princess, among many other roles.
Members of faculty, students (including incoming students), and alumni continued taking to social media in December 2023, as well as February, April, and June of 2024 to share images of themselves adorned in their Nazareth attire 鈥 part of an ongoing series of Centennial 鈥淲e Are Naz/Wear Your Naz鈥 Days. Approximately six more similar social media activations are planned throughout the two-year Centennial Celebration.
A year-long webinar series aimed at sharing the inside scoop of Nazareth with campus leadership, this five-part series kicked off in February 2024 with members of our Strategic Enrollment Management team detailing the proactive enrollment strategy that has resulted in the highest number of undergraduate applications in more than 10 years for Nazareth. The latest installment, in June 2024, focused on the latest news from Nazareth鈥檚 Athletics.
In April 2024, School of Music and Department of Theatre and Dance conducted A Centennial Celebration: Honoring 100 Years of 夜色视频 With a Century of Musical Theatre in Beston Hall at the Glazer Musical Performance Center. The event featured the Nazareth Chamber Singers and a cabaret ensemble performing musical pieces from Nazareth鈥檚 ten decades of existence.
Nazareth鈥檚 Center for Spirituality, along with School of Music students, conducted a music-filled centennial celebration of the Sisters of St. Joseph, who founded Nazareth a century ago. Entitled Where There is Light in the Soul, the April 2024 event in Linehan Chapel included music and reflections from a number of Nazareth students and professors with the message of coming together to better the world in a time of trouble.
Hundreds of members of the 夜色视频 community have submitted self-portraits to be part of a commemorative mosaic art image in honor of the Centennial Celebration. Prints of the final mosaic design will depict Smyth Hall and will be available for purchase later in 2024.
A concerted effort has been made to integrate centennial messaging into as many events and activities on campus as possible. Examples include: