Canisius College

The Canisius College ALANA Student Center recognized graduating students of color at a pre-commencement ceremony honoring the achievements of African American, Latinx, Asian and Native American students. ALANA graduates from the Class of 2021 were honored with custom-made graduation stoles, worn to demonstrate their accomplishments and achievements as individuals from underrepresented racial backgrounds. The colors in the stoles represent Canisius College, and the term ALANA identifies them as someone who shares an identity as a member of a BIPOC (Black/Indigenous People of Color) group.

Students recognized for academic achievement

Canisius College students received the Dr. I Joan Lorch Award for Women & Gender Studies. The award, conferred annually by the Women & Gender Studies Program, honors those who have made a significant contribution to women and who exemplify the pursuit of liberation and justice regarding sex, gender and sexuality. The Lorch Award is named after its inaugural recipient, I. Joan Lorch, PhD, professor emerita of biology at Canisius College. Lorch was a driving force behind the establishment of the college's Women's Studies Program.

Students from Canisius College Higher Education and Student Affairs Administration (HESAA) program share their findings

The Canisius College New Buffalo Institute and the Erie Niagara Area Health Education Center (AHEC) partnered with KeyBank and the First Niagara Foundation to provide high school students in pre-health programs the opportunity to engage in learning about career pathways in healthcare. The Emerging Health Scholars Program provides a series of six sessions, which include mentoring, activities and laboratory experiments conducted with Canisius undergraduate students. High school students receive lab materials, and the sessions are held virtually. Allyson Backstrom, PhD, director of the Pre-Med Center at Canisius College and Brittany Mitchell, LMSW, program manager at Erie Niagara AHEC administer the program.

Canisius students participate in spring retreat

Three Canisius College students were among 15 participants for a five-day, online immersion program about Detroit, Michigan. Called the Virtual Detroit Social Justice Immersion, the program explored Michigan's largest city through the lens of race and social justice. Topics included the role of music as an agent of social change, the influence of Motown, social justice in housing and water, as well as food justice and urban farming.The effort to bring students together for several hours each day to learn and share on Zoom was a collaboration between the University of Detroit Mercy, the University of Scranton and Canisius College. "It was a powerful opportunity to learn more about the history of Detroit, and the incredible work being done by community organizers and activists, and to connect with students from fellow Jesuit institutions," explained Kaitlyn Buehlmann '14, associate campus minister for Campus Ministry.

Two Canisius College students awarded scholarships from the Greater Buffalo Society of Professional Journalists

Canisius College students were among the more than 6,200 attendees at the 2020 Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice, the largest Catholic, Jesuit social justice gathering in the United States. Normally a face-to-face conference in Washington DC, this year's teach-in was presented in an all-virtual format because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants used a dedicated online platform to network with other attendees and to hear from internationally renowned speakers such as Fr. Greg Boyle of Homeboy Industries. The teach-in was organized around the theme of prophetic resilience.

Two films, produced by students in the Canisius College Video Institute, received Telly Awards. The Telly Awards is a New York City-based organization that honors outstanding local, regional and cable television commercials and programs, video and film products, and online commericals, videos and films.

Canisius College congratulates more than 1,300 students who were named to the spring 2020 Dean's List and Merit List

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has selected a Canisius MBA student for its prestigious Postgraduate Technical Assistant (PTA) position, which will begin in summer 2020.

On January 20, a group of 25 pre-medical and pre-health students at Canisius College attended Health Justice 2020: Visions of Equity. Hosted by the State University of New York (SUNY) Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, NY, the conference highlighted structural inequalities in health care and provided insights into the underlying causes and potential solutions. The Health Justice Conference takes place each year on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the federal holiday that celebrates the life and legacy of the American civil rights leader. In addition to the keynote and workshop sessions, Undergraduate Health Justice Scholars Awards are presented to students who have demonstrated a commitment to the health professions and racial equity in medicine. This year Hannah Kralles, Canisius Class of 2020 and a pre-med student majoring in chemistry, was presented with the award. In 2019 Rosalia Sedano, Canisius Class of 2022 and a pre-dental student majoring in biology, was given the award. Breakout sessions at this year's conference included Sickle Cell Disease and Its Inequalities, Gun Violence as a Public Health Issue, Health Justice for the Indigenous, Living Undocumented and Infant Mortality in America.

Canisius College congratulates more than 1,100 undergraduate students who were named to the fall 2019 Dean's List/Merit List

In January, 14 students from Canisius College traveled to Michigan for a service-immersion in Detroit and Flint as part of the 2020 Winter Service Week. In addition to learning about the effects of deindustrialization on major Rust Belt cities like Detroit, the group studied the origins of the Flint water crisis. Working with local nonprofits and community groups, they explored how history, race and socioeconomics have influenced the history, culture and development of Michigan's Lower Peninsula.

Eleven students from Canisius College, including six first-year students, completed a weeklong winter service-immersion in Wheeling, West Virginia, in early January of 2020. The purpose of the trip was to learn about sustainable agriculture and environmental justice and to stand in solidarity with local residents, especially those suffering from homelessness, poverty, food insecurity, addiction and mental illness.

Eleven Canisius College students participated in the 2019 Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice in Washington, DC from November 16-18. The Canisius students joined more than 1,800 members of the Ignatian Family at the largest annual Catholic social justice gathering in the United States to hear from internationally renowned speakers, pray, network, and advocate for justice on Capitol Hill.

Seven students from Canisius College participated in a May 2019 immersion trip to El Salvador and the U.S.-Mexico border between Arizona and Sonora. They were accompanied by John J. Hurley, president of Canisius; his wife, Maureen Hurley; and Kaitlyn Buehlmann, associate campus minister. The purpose of the trip was to understand the underlying causes of migration and foster solidarity with people whose lives have been directly impacted by U.S. and Mexican immigration policies.

A group of undergraduate students spent their 2019 spring break in northern Belize as part of a field course called Tropical Ecology and Conservation. The elective is offered through the Animal Behavior, Ecology and Conservation (ABEC) program at Canisius.

Sixteen pre-health students from Canisius College participated in a two-week immersion in Costa Rica. They helped set up free popup clinics and also conducted public health home visits. The trip was organized by Allyson Backstrom, PhD, director of the Dr. George E. Schreiner '43 Pre-Medical Center at Canisius.