Throughout the summer, GoMason.com will introduce the 12 other members of the Atlantic 10 Conference, in the order they joined the conference. We continue with St. Bonaventure.
St. Bonaventure University
Established: 1858
Location: St. Bonaventure, New York
Distance from Mason: 326 miles
Enrollment: 2,400
Colors: Brown and white
Nickname: Bonnies
Fight Song: Unfurl the Brown and White
Athletics Website: http://www.GoBonnies.com
Athletics Twitter Handle: @Go_Bonnies
Joined A-10: 1979
Mason Connection: Three current Mason athletic department staffers formerly worked at Bonaventure: athletic director Tom O'Connor (former AD), deputy athletic director Kevin McNamee (former Sr. Associate AD and head men's swimming coach), director of business development Greg Kennedy (alumnus and former assistant AD).
Notable Alumni:
- Edward Bastian, Delta Airlines President
- Bob Lanier, Basketball Hall of Famer
- Jack Butler, NFL Hall of Famer
- Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo! Sports writer
- Five Pulitzer Prize winners: Robert Dubill, John Hanchette, Dan Barry, Brian Toolan and Charles Hanley
Fun Facts:
- The University is based in Franciscan Catholicism, and campus buildings are designed in red brick with Italianate roofs, to reflect the architecture of St. Francis' native Italy and its expansive front lawn has been cited as the largest front lawn in America. The namesake, Saint Bonaventure, was an intellectual leader for the Franciscan church in the 13th century and led them to be the most prominent order in the Catholic Church until the coming of the Jesuits.
- The University operates the Warming House, and area soup kitchen believed to be the oldest student-run soup kitchen in the United States
-The Bonnies men's basketball team once had a 99-game home winning streak(1950's & 60's), the second longest in NCAA history.
- The athletic teams were known as the St. Bonaventure Brown Indians from 1927-92. There was a brief time when the mascot was the Bona Fanatic, but after a poor reception it was changed to the Bona Wolf in 1998.
- The Princeton Review ranked the college radio station, WSBU 88.3 FM, #1 in 2012.
