Wesley Kenyon '68
Connecting past students with today’s students at UNE
"I love our class reunions, and I always try to attend Reunion Weekend. For me, it’s important to attend so that I can connect with as many classmates and friends as possible. It’s also important to see firsthand all the new things taking place on the campus and within the University. I find it tremendous, and I love the community atmosphere here — the sense that the Franciscan values that the University was founded on still exist today.
"The most important thing my St. Francis College education gave me was the ability to do research and to find my own way in life. Whatever occupation or job I undertook, I was much better at it because I learned how to do research. I studied Liberal Arts, becoming a mechanical contractor, mainly due to the educational process I went through at St. Francis College.
"At the class of 1968’s 40th class reunion, Joe Valenza, (Joseph J. Valenza, Ph.D., ’68) said, 'Let’s do something for our 50th reunion.' That’s how the idea of creating the St. Francis College Class of 1968 Memorial Scholarship began. The main impetus for my involvement was to carry on the legacy of St. Francis College, to epitomize the core values of St. Francis College, and to connect the legacy of past students to the students of today. UNE is very community orientated, and there is a lot of caring and support for students here. I thought it was important that as the University grows there be continued support for current students based on the traditions of the founding Franciscan community."