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Students Learn the Impact of Random Acts of Kindness Courtesy of Jay It Forward

Joliet, Ill. – “It would seem wrong not to carry on with the passion that Jay had to make people smile.” – Jay It Forward

On Monday, September 25, over 200 students at the University of St. Francis (USF) personally experienced the positive impact that random acts of kindness can create. The students were recipients of gifts cards, goody bags and cash – all unannounced and unexpected – courtesy of Jay It Forward, an organization in honor of the late Jay Vana and his fun-loving demeanor and generous personality.

“The spirit of St. Francis is just something you need to experience first-hand on-campus at USF. That spirit was certainly robust when Jay It Forward celebrated with our students this week. The emotions on the faces of USF students, faculty and administrators was powerful as they opened envelopes and shared their plans of what they planned to do with the gifts they received,” said Lisa Sampalis, Vice President for University Advancement at the University of St. Francis.

Longtime USF supporters Michele and Tom Vana established Jay It Forward to honor the life of their son, Jay, who passed away in a car accident eleven years ago. Along with Jay’s family and friends, Jay It Forward takes to the community on the anniversary of his passing each year to “pay it forward” to with random acts of kindness. Before coming to USF, the organization also distributed similar random acts of kindness at a local fast-food restaurant and gas station.

“As much as it seems like others are benefiting from these random acts of kindness, I am the true recipient of the blessings. Helping others and seeing their smiles and joy is the healing that I need on this day. Making others happy is truly in the spirit of who Jay was. I really feel his presence when we do this in his memory,” said Michele Vana.

The organization also encourages others to consider performing their own acts of kindness as a tribute to Jay Vana.

About Jay It Forward

Jay Vana was a resident of Homer Glen, Ill., and a student at Lockport Township High School who was known for his fun-loving demeanor and generous personality. He, along with his family and friends, often performed random acts of kindness when they heard of others in need. Unfortunately, Vana passed away unexpectedly as a result of a car accident at the age of sixteen on September 25, 2012. Vana’s family and friends founded Jay It Forward as a way to honor his kind-hearted spirit by continuing to perform random acts of kindness.

Please visit facebook.com/jayitforward25 to learn more about Jay It Forward.

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The University of St. Francis, in Joliet, Ill., serves close to 4,000 students nationwide and offers undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and certificate programs in the arts and sciences, business, education, nursing and social work. There are over 53,000 USF alumni across the globe. For information, call 800-735-7500 or visit stfrancis.edu.

University of St. Francis: Bigger thinking. Brighter purpose.

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Joliet Symphony Orchestra Concert Set for October 7-8 at USF

JSO - October 7-8, 2023

Joliet, Ill. – The Joliet Symphony Orchestra (JSO) is pleased to announce the opening concert series of its 2023-2024 Season with newly appointed Artistic Director & Conductor, Dr. Sean Paul Mills, leading an all-orchestra program featuring music by Verdi, Dvorak, Mussorgsky, and Mendelssohn.

Titled “Renewal”, the JSO will be performing Giuseppe Verdi’s “La Forza del Destino Overture”, Antonin Dvorak’s “American Suite”, Modest Mussorgsky’s “Night on Bald Mountain”, and Felix Mendelssohn’s “Reformation Symphony” on Saturday, October 7, 2023, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, October 8, 2023, at 4 p.m. Both performances will take place in Sexton Auditorium which is located in the Harold & Margaret Moser Performing Arts Center on the University of St. Francis campus at 500 Wilcox Street in Joliet.

New to the JSO this season is a series of FREE pre-concert discussions titled “Noteworthy.” These discussions will take place 45 minutes prior to each performance and provide audience members with an opportunity to learn more about the composers, selections, orchestra, and soloists as well as ask questions and interact with the conductor and guests.

Tickets for JSO concerts are available through the JSO website at www.jolietsymphonyorchestra.org, the Music at Moser website at stfrancis.edu/music-at-moser/, and at the door beginning one (1) hour before each performance. Adults are $10; Seniors, USF Alumni & Non-USF Students are $5; USF Students and Music Educators are FREE with a current ID.

Please join the JSO as it embarks on a new season of exploration and discovery featuring both familiar and new works for symphony orchestra. Upcoming performances will feature guest artists Emily Whittaker, French horn, performing Mozart’s “French horn Concerto No. 3”; mezzo-soprano Amanda Court performing Barber’s “Knoxville: Summer of 1915”. Additionally, the JSO will be performing orchestral works by Max Bruch, Aaron Copland, Edward Elgar, John Knowles Paine, and more!

For more information, please feel free to contact Michelle Mathena, JSO Social Media & Marketing, at jolietsymphonymarketing@gmail.com or Sean Paul Mills, JSO Artistic Director & Conductor, at jolietsymphonyconductor@gmail.com.

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The University of St. Francis, in Joliet, Ill., serves close to 4,000 students nationwide and offers undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and certificate programs in the arts and sciences, business, education, nursing and social work. There are over 53,000 USF alumni across the globe. For information, call 800-735-7500 or visit stfrancis.edu.

University of St. Francis: Bigger thinking. Brighter purpose.

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USF News

WCSF-88.7 FM Mega Music Rummage Sale Set for October 28

Joliet, Ill. – WCSF-88.7 FM, the radio station of the University of St. Francis (USF), is hosting its annual Mega Music Rummage Sale on Saturday, October 28, 2023 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. The sale will take place at the University of St Francis’ St. Clare Campus (Assembly Hall), which is located at 1550 Plainfield Road in Joliet, Ill.

Donated LPs, compact discs, cassettes, sheet music, music books, musical instruments, stereo equipment and more music related items will be available for sale starting at $1.

For months, students have been organizing and cataloging the treasures for the sale. Admission to the event during its scheduled time is free of charge. Early bird admission at 7:30 a.m. is available with a $20 donation. All proceeds will be used to upgrade the nonprofit radio station facilities and equipment.

WCSF-88.7 FM is well-known in the greater Joliet area as the home of the popular “Spirit of Christmas” programming that is broadcasted each year from Thanksgiving Day to New Year’s Day. During the rest of the year, the station plays a great mix of new, alternative, independent and local music programmed and operated by USF students. The station is available on the radio and online at wcsf.streamon.fm.

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The University of St. Francis, in Joliet, Ill., serves close to 4,000 students nationwide and offers undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and certificate programs in the arts and sciences, business, education, nursing and social work. There are over 53,000 USF alumni across the globe. For information, call 800-735-7500 or visit stfrancis.edu.

University of St. Francis: Bigger thinking. Brighter purpose.

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U.S. News & World Report Names USF in 2023-2024 Best Colleges Rankings

Joliet, Ill. – U.S. News & World Report continues to recognize the University of St. Francis (USF) as a top university in the United States. This year’s recognition in the publication’s 2023-2024 Best Colleges rankings marks USF’s fifth year in the “National Universities” category, and the twentieth consecutive year that USF has been honored by U.S. News & World Report.

According to usnews.com/education, “Schools in the ‘National Universities’ category offer a full range of undergraduate majors, plus master’s and doctoral programs. These colleges also are committed to producing groundbreaking research.”

USF moved up in this year’s rankings to place among the top 280 schools in the “National Universities” category of this year’s publication. The ranking placed USF twelfth among all Illinois schools included in the report, seventh among private Illinois schools, and third among Illinois’ ranked Catholic schools.

USF is also once again Will County’s only school included in U.S News & World Report’s 2023-2024 “National Universities” rankings.

“U.S. News & World Report’s continued recognition of USF acknowledges the quality of a University of St. Francis education,” said USF President Arvid C. Johnson, Ph.D. “Rankings such as this help to validate the efforts of our faculty and provide us with many points of pride. These rankings are also more important now than ever before as high school students critically weigh their post-graduation options. USF graduates are considered top prospects by employers, and find jobs that launch their careers. This certainly validates our value proposition of the return on investment realized by USF graduates.”

U.S. News & World Report also ranked USF as one of the top 100 universities in the country in its Top Performers for Social Mobility list for fifth consecutive year. The ranking recognizes USF as a school that supports and assists economically disadvantaged students. According to usnews.com, “Some colleges are more successful than others at advancing social mobility by enrolling and graduating large proportions of disadvantaged students awarded with Pell Grants. The vast majority of these federal grants are awarded to students whose adjusted gross family incomes are under $50,000.”

USF was also included in the publication’s Best Undergraduate Nursing rankings for a third consecutive year.

Visit usnews.com/colleges for more information on the U.S. News and World Report 2023-2024 Best Colleges rankings.

National Recognition Continues

USF continues to receive high praise from a variety of national ranking agencies.

Most recently, USF ranked #130 overall and #8 in Illinois in WSJ/College Pulse’s 2024 Best Colleges in America. Visit wsj.com/rankings/college-rankings/best-colleges-2024 for more information.

Also, Niche.com released its 2024 Best Colleges in America rankings and placed USF as the #5 Best Value College in Illinois and #112 Best Value College (top 7%) in the nation. Visit niche.com/colleges/university-of-st-francis-illinois/ for more information on USF’s other categorical placement in the 2024 Best Colleges in America rankings by Niche.com.

Visit stfrancis.edu/nationally-ranked for more information on additional national accolades earned by USF.

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The University of St. Francis, in Joliet, Ill., serves close to 4,000 students nationwide and offers undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and certificate programs in the arts and sciences, business, education, nursing and social work. There are over 53,000 USF alumni across the globe. For information, call 800-735-7500 or visit stfrancis.edu.

University of St. Francis: Bigger thinking. Brighter purpose.

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American Red Cross Blood Drive at USF on Tuesday, October 3

Joliet, Ill. – The University of St. Francis (USF) is hosting an American Red Cross blood drive on Tuesday, October 3, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the Assembly Hall Gymnasium at USF’s St. Clare Campus, which is located at 1550 Plainfield Road in Joliet. The drive is open to the community.

For an appointment, call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or visit redcrossblood.org and enter “60435” in the red “Find a Blood Drive” box on the home page. You can save up to 15 minutes when you donate blood by using RapidPass. Visit redcrossblood.org/RapidPass for more information.

If you are an eligible type O, B – or A – donor, consider making a Power Red donation. Red blood cells are the most commonly transfused blood component.

For more information, please visit redcrossblood.org.

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The University of St. Francis, in Joliet, Ill., serves close to 4,000 students nationwide and offers undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and certificate programs in the arts and sciences, business, education, nursing and social work. There are over 53,000 USF alumni across the globe. For information, call 800-735-7500 or visit stfrancis.edu.

University of St. Francis: Bigger thinking. Brighter purpose.

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Homecoming 2023 Set for September 29-October 1

Joliet, Ill. – The University of St. Francis (USF) has announced its plans for Homecoming 2023 with events that will take place on Friday, September 29 through Sunday, October 1. With a variety of events on the schedule, there is something for all alumni and friends of USF to enjoy.

This year’s events include the annual Homecoming Tailgate & Football Game (versus Saint Xavier University); Alumni Reunions; USF History in Photos; Campus Tour; Alumni Memorial Mass; Distinguished Alumni Dinner; and more.

Aindrea Hogan, USF Director of Advancement, is looking forward to welcoming members of the Saint Family back to campus.

“This time of year is so special. We have welcomed a new group of freshmen Saints to campus this fall and Homecoming is the perfect opportunity for members of our community to gather and celebrate what it means to be a Saint! This campus is ever-evolving and we welcome our alumni and the entire Joliet community to join us for USF’s Homecoming on September 29 through October 1,” Hogan said.

Visit stfrancis.edu/alumni/hcrw for more information on all Homecoming events, to register for a specific event, and for information on lodging and directions to campus. Alumni are asked to note the event reservation cutoff date of September 20, 2023.

For more information or if you have any questions, please contact the University Advancement Office either by email at alumni@stfrancis.edu or by phone at 877-811-ALUM (2586).

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The University of St. Francis, in Joliet, Ill., serves close to 4,000 students nationwide and offers undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and certificate programs in the arts and sciences, business, education, nursing and social work. There are over 53,000 USF alumni across the globe. For information, call 800-735-7500 or visit stfrancis.edu.

University of St. Francis: Bigger thinking. Brighter purpose.

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