Province signs partnership agreement with three Franciscan universities

(Washington, DC) Faithful to its commitment to supporting the formation of men and women in the Franciscan intellectual tradition, the Franciscan Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe has formally entered into a partnership agreement with St. Bonaventure University, Siena University, and Quincy University. 

“As your sponsor, we share with you the responsibility of serving as good stewards of the vision and values of St. Francis and Clare of Assisi,” said Br. Lawrence J. Hayes, OFM, provincial minister of the Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe. “These agreements are our mutual pledge to continue sharing the 800-year-old Franciscan intellectual tradition that understands learning as a path not only toward knowledge through academic excellence, but, even more importantly, understands learning as a path toward wisdom—by seeking truth, beauty and goodness in God’s creation, particularly as revealed in Jesus Christ.”  

Under this agreement, friars from the Order of Friars Minor (OFM), or another Franciscan religious order, may serve as trustees or fill faculty positions. The universities maintain their autonomy in governance, accreditation, and operations.  

This agreement is a continuation of a long legacy of the friars’ commitment to fostering education in the Franciscan tradition that began when the universities were founded under other OFM provinces that have since merged into the Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe. St. Bonaventure University in Allegany, New York, and Siena College in Loudonville, New York, were founded by Holy Name Province in 1858 and 1937, and Quincy University in Quincy, Illinois, was founded by Sacred Heart Province in 1860. 

The Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe is proud to continue this legacy as the current sponsor of these universities.