Nazareth University’s centennial was a two-year long celebration to honor and recognize the many incredible places, people, programs and moments that have made – and continue to make — Nazareth so beloved by students, faculty, staff, and alumni.
Centennial Kick-off Event at Naz Weekend 2023
Nazareth University 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."
Centennial Celebration Presenting Sponsor Announced
Nazareth University named Wellington Steele & Associates and the Leva Family as its centennial presenting sponsor, thanks to their generous gift of $100,000 to support Nazareth’s two-year Centennial Celebration. Ed Leva ‘91, a Nazareth alumnus and member of Nazareth’s Board of Trustees — and president and co-founder of Wellington Steele & Associates — says that the sponsorship honored his late mother, Beverly Lucity Leva, who attended Nazareth in the late 1950s.
Centennial History Book
As Nazareth celebrated 100 years of educating people who’ve made an impact on their communities, alumni stories from across generations and life experiences were 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. Hundreds of individuals ordered a copy of the beautiful book, which provides a history of Nazareth and its people to be preserved for generations to come.
Centennial Celebration Lights-up Nazareth Campus
Purple lighting visually celebrated the excitement of the Nazareth University Centennial Celebration. A wide range of campus areas and buildings were lit in beautiful Nazareth purple each evening – and many still remain aglow – 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 campus nooks.
Centennial Summit: Burma
In October 2023, Nazareth University 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.
Centennial Summit: Artificial Intelligence
In April 2024, Nazareth University's School of Business & Leadership and Institute for Responsible Technology hosted a well-attended, thought-provoking Centennial Summit — 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.
Centennial Interfaith Summit
In April 2025, Nazareth Nazareth’s William H. Shannon Chair in Catholic Studies hosted three renowned women scholars on Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in today's world at the University's Interfaith Centennial Summit
- Sister Raffaella Petrini, Ph.D., named by Pope Francis as the first woman to lead the Vatican Governorate.
- Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld, Ph.D., president of Hebrew College, Massachusetts.
- Najeeba Syeed, J.D., a human rights lawyer and the inaugural El-Hibri endowed chair and executive director of Interfaith at Augsburg University.
Faces of Nazareth
Hundreds of members of the Nazareth University community submitted self-portraits to be part of a commemorative mosaic art image in honor of the Centennial Celebration. Prints of the final mosaic design depict Smyth Hall and were available for purchase during the Centennial Celebration.
Centennial Suds
Nazareth's special-edition centennial beer — a collaboration with Nine Spot Brewing and owner Chris Nothnagle ‘99 — 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’s founding Sisters of St. Joseph, was served at numerous additional events throughout the centennial.
Centennial Bourbon Captures the Centennial "Spirit" in a Bottle
Nazareth partnered with Iron Smoke Distillery of Fairport, NY, to create a limited-run bourbon dubbed Centennial Spirit, which was served at a special bourbon tasting event during Naz Weekend 2024 and during the Centennial Gala. Iron Smoke Distillery was co-founded by Nazareth University trustee Stephen Brown.
Nuts For Naz — A Tasty Centennial Snack
The mythical and legendary White Squirrel that roams Nazareth University’s campus had a snack it could enjoy during the centennial! Nazareth and Nat’s Nuts of Rochester collaborated on Nuts For Naz – centennial-themed, pre-packaged, golden caramel nuts. These were available during Nazareth’s Centennial Day with the Rochester Red Wings in August 2024, at Naz Weekend 2024, and through various giveaway contests on Nazareth’s social media channels.
Centennial Crunch Ice Cream
Nazareth University and Pittsford Farms Dairy partnered to create a tasty ice cream flavor made just for the Centennial. Naz Centennial Crunch featured salted caramel ice cream, chocolate covered pretzels and purple sprinkles, and was available at the Nazareth Dining Commons and Pittsford Farms Dairy.
Centennial Mural
Fittingly, Nazareth’s famous tunnels and their equally famous murals provided a wonderful canvas for celebrating the centennial. A centennial-themed tunnel mural was painted by current student Ellery Mertens '26 and her mom, Meredith '96.
Changemaker Chat Podcast
A special edition podcast was produced to honor Nazareth University’s Centennial Celebration, featuring engaging conversations with notable individuals who’ve changed — and continue to change — 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 Nazareth University President Beth Paul and John Drain ‘83, CFO of Hearst Television and chair of Nazareth’s 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 an incredible career that's included coaching the New York Knicks and broadcasting 17 NBA Finals. The June episode featured Alicia Borrachero '90, an accomplished actor whose career in Europe has made her a household name there for many. Additional centennial podcast interviews included chats with Naz lacrosse great and indigenous rights leader Neal Powless ‘98, social media tech leader Nick Cicero ‘09, and cancer epidemiologist Norma Kanarek ‘74.
Centennial Day at the Ballpark
Nazareth students, staff, faculty and alumni — along with their families — gathered in August for a Centennial Celebration with the Rochester Red Wings at Innovative Field. Nazareth's Centennial Committee Co-Chairs threw out the first pitch, while Swoop had a blast engaging with the fans, along with Red Wings mascots Spikes and Mittsy. The first 1,000 fans received a free Nazareth centennial t-shirt, giving the stadium, which is normally filled with fans wearing red, a distinctly purple look.
We Are Naz / Wear Your Naz Days
Members of faculty, students (including incoming students), and alumni took to social media multiple times throughout the centennial to share images of themselves adorned in their Nazareth attire — part of a series of Centennial “We Are Naz/Wear Your Naz” Days.
Golden Insights Webinar Series
A webinar series aimed at sharing the inside scoop of Nazareth with campus leadership kicked off in February 2024 with members of our Strategic Enrollment Management team detailing the proactive enrollment strategy that resulted in the highest number of undergraduate applications in more than 10 years for Nazareth. The final installment, in June 2024, focused on the latest news from Nazareth’s Athletics.
Centennial Alumni Art Show
In March 2025, the Nazareth University Alumni Exhibition, "Centennial," marked a celebratory milestone, offering a compelling showcase of the innovation, nostalgia, and perseverance inherent in the artistic evolution and expression of Nazareth Art and Design alumni over the years. Encompassing a wide range of media, styles, and concepts, the exhibition served as a platform to bring together the diverse Nazareth and Greater Rochester art-loving community to celebrate this collective narrative of generational artistic expression from Naz alumni.
Centennial Celebration in Music
In April 2024, School of Music and Department of Theatre and Dance conducted A Centennial Celebration: Honoring 100 Years of Nazareth University 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’s ten decades of existence.
Centennial Chapel Celebration: Where There is Light in the Soul
Nazareth’s 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.
Centennial Messaging Integrated Across Campus
A concerted effort was made to integrate centennial messaging into as many events and activities on campus as possible. Examples included:
- Centennial remarks read on public address system at all Nazareth Athletic events, with a Centennial-themed video played on video board at all Golden Flyer Stadium events
- Centennial decals on the Kidera Gymnasium floor.
- Centennial flags flying across campus, including flagpoles outside Golisano Training Center and the Arts Center and at three different athletic fields.
- Centennial recognition in playbill inserts for the Theater and Dance department productions.
- Centennial banners adorned roadways throughout campus.
- Centennial signage/posters displayed at numerous on-campus events, including Commencement 2024, Visit Rochester’s Visitor Industry Council conference, Shannon Lecture Series, various Arts Center performances and rehearsals, and events in Linehan Chapel and the Shults Forum.
Centennial Fundraising
In celebration of Nazareth’s Centennial, the University unveiled its landmark 100 for 100 initiative, inviting donors to ensure Nazareth’s long-term financial stability and support the University’s Centennial funding priorities of student success, institutional sustainability and future advancement, community engagement and strategic partnerships, and campus enhancements. Successfully increasing Nazareth’s endowment to $100 million was one of several goals achieved through the 100 for 100 initiative. Nazareth also met its goals of:
- Welcoming 100 new Nazareth Leadership Society members: annual donors of more than $1,000
- Gaining 100 new 1924 Loyalty Society members: donors who give three years or more consecutively
The University is halfway to completing its only remaining goal: to gain 100 new Founders Legacy Society members, Nazareth’s society for planned giving.