Nazareth University’s centennial is 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. While many upcoming Centennial Celebration events and activities are planned, a significant amount of centennial-related initiatives have already been completed, including:
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 honors his late mother, Beverly Lucity Leva, who attended Nazareth in the late 1950s.
Centennial History Book
As Nazareth celebrates 100 years of educating people who’ve 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.
Centennial Celebration Lights-up Nazareth Campus
Purple lighting continues to visually celebrate the excitement of the Nazareth University 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.
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 Suds: Celebratory Beer Now Pouring
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 founders, the Sisters of St. Joseph, will be served at additional campus events including Naz Weekend 2024.
Centennial Bourbon Captures the Centennial “Spirit” In a Bottle
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 Nazareth University trustee Stephen Brown.
Nuts For Naz — A Tasty Centennial Snack
The mythical and legendary White Squirrel that roams Nazareth University’s campus now has a snack it can enjoy for the centennial! Nazareth and Nat’s Nuts of Rochester have collaborated on Nuts For Naz – centennial-themed, pre-packaged, golden caramel nuts. These will be available at Nazareth’s Centennial Day with the Rochester Red Wings on August 4, 2024, at Naz Weekend 2024, and through various giveaway contests on Nazareth’s social media channels.
We Are Naz/Wear Your Naz Days
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 — part of an ongoing series of Centennial “We Are Naz/Wear Your Naz” Days. Approximately six more similar social media activations are planned throughout the two-year Centennial Celebration.
Centennial Mural
Fittingly, Nazareth’s 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.
Changemaker Chat Podcast
A special edition podcast is now being 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 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 — most notably for nine seasons in the hit Spanish television series Periodistas and the Starz historical drama, The Spanish Princess, among many other roles.
Golden Insights Webinar Series
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’s Athletics.
- February 27: Implementing enrollment strategies at Nazareth (video) »
- March 26: An integrated approach to the student experience (video) »
- June 18: An Update on Athletics at Naz (video) »
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 has been made to integrate centennial messaging into as many events and activities on campus as possible. Examples include:
- 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’s productions of The Spitfire Grill and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Crazy for You.
- Centennial banners adorn 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.
Faces of Nazareth
Hundreds of members of the Nazareth University 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.