St . Bonaventure University St . Bonaventure University is a private , Franciscan Catholic university , located in Allegany , Cattaraugus County , New York , United States . It has roughly 2 , 400 undergraduate and graduate students . The university was established by the Franciscan Brothers in 1858 . Its current president is Sister Margaret Carney OSF STD , the 20th president and the first religious sister to hold the position full - time . In athletics , the St . Bonaventure Bonnies play NCAA Division I sports in the Atlantic 10 Conference . Students and alumni often refer to the university as " Bona ' s " , derived from the school ' s original name , St . Bonaventure ' s College . The college became a university in 1950 . History . The college was founded by Utica financier Nicholas Devereux , one of the first to gain land grants in newly surveyed Cattaraugus County from the Holland Land Company . Devereux founded the town of Allegany on the grant , hoping to build a new city . He believed the city would need religious instruction , so Devereux approached John Timon , the bishop of Buffalo , for assistance . The two invited the Franciscan order to Western New York , and a small group under Father Pamfilo da Magliano OFM arrived in 1856 . This was the first group of Franciscan brothers to settle in the United States . The school graduated its first class in 1858 . St . Bonaventure ' s College was granted university status by New York State in 1950 . The largest residence hall on campus , Devereux Hall , is named for the founder . Once one of the nation ' s most prominent Catholic colleges , St . Bonaventure ran into financial difficulties in the early 1990s , and nearly declared bankruptcy in 1994 . Since then , the school has been put on a more solid financial footing and has seen record growth and campus improvements in the past five years . Thomas Merton , the religious writer , taught English at St . Bonaventure for a year just at the start of World War II . It was at this school that Merton finally gave into his vocation and decided to join the Trappists . He entered the monastery in Kentucky in 1941 . A heart - shaped clearing on a mountain in view of campus is linked to Merton in campus myth . Some students call it " Merton ' s Heart " and claim that Merton visited the place often and that the trees fell when he died . In reality , the hillside had been cleared for oil drilling in the 1920s and trees have since regrown , leaving the bald patch . Location . The campus sits on in the town of Allegany , just over the line from the city of Olean ( total pop . : 15 , 000 ) , at Exit 24 of Interstate 86 . The university has its own U . S . Post Office . The postal address for the university is Saint Bonaventure , NY 14778 . Campus buildings are designed in red brick with Italianate roofs , to reflect the architecture of St . Francis ' native Italy . The campus proper has several residence halls , townhouses / apartments and academic buildings . Its expansive front lawn has been cited as the largest front lawn in America . The past couple of years has seen several campus improvements , including a new $ 6 million recreation center , a new Starbucks - product coffee café , and completely renovated dining hall and residence hall . The state - of - the - art William F . Walsh Science Center is another recent addition . The university is a large landowner in the Allegany area , as part of the original Devereux grant , and offers much to appreciators of nature . The south edge of campus lies on the Allegheny River . A small portion of the campus is wooded . Across the street from campus , the university owns a cemetery , nine - hole golf course , and restaurant . About from the main campus , the university also has the opportunity to experience the Franciscan eremitical tradition in the Allegheny Mountain foothills in western Clarksville , New York , at a community called Mount Irenaeus . " The Mount " , as it is referred to by students , faculty and alumni , provides a retreat for students . While not owned by the university , Mount Irenaeus has a shared mission with the university and primarily serves its population . St . Bonaventure also has a second graduate studies center in Hamburg , a suburb of Buffalo , on the campus of Hilbert College . Most graduate programs are taught there , set up on a Friday night / Saturday morning schedule . The Hilbert College library , bookstore , cafeteria , athletic facilities and computer lab are available to St . Bonaventure graduate students during the week , including evenings , and on weekends . A computer lab directly linked to the St . Bonaventure network is located at Hilbert College . The Franciscan connection . The university is named after St . Bonaventure ( 1221 – 74 ) , born John of Fidenza , who became a cardinal and Doctor of the Church . A theologian and contemporary of St . Thomas Aquinas at the University of Paris , he became head of the Franciscan order and did much to institutionalize that order . His most famous work is " Itinerarium mentis in deum " , or " The Soul ' s Journey to God " . Bonaventure was canonized in 1482 by Sixtus IV . The Franciscan friars at the St . Bonaventure Friary belong to the Holy Name Province and are members of the Order of Friars Minor , OFM , one of the orders of Franciscans . The Bonaventure friars are involved in a number of activities in the greater Olean community , besides ministry on campus . They administer St . Bonaventure ' s Parish in Allegany , called " Little Bona ' s " . There is a strong Franciscan presence at Olean General Hospital , and the university operates the Warming House , an area soup kitchen believed to be the oldest student - run soup kitchen in the United States . Also adjacent to campus is the Motherhouse of the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany , a group of Franciscan religious sisters . The university is also home to the Franciscan Institute . Founded in 1939 by Fr . Thomas Plassmann , O . F . M . , then president of St . Bonaventure College , and led by its first Director , Fr . Philotheus Boehner , O . F . M . , the Franciscan Institute stands as the preeminent center in North America of teaching , research and publication on the history , spirituality and intellectual life of the Franciscan movement . Recently the University took part in a conference through the Franciscan Institute . St . Bonaventure was host to one part of a four part world wide conference series on John Duns Scotus . There were four parts , only one of which was in America at St . Bonaventure . The other three were in Germany , Italy and Oxford , England . The University today . The school is well known in New York state and the mid - Atlantic region for its journalism , business and education programs , having produced five Pulitzer Prize – winning writers . The university has more than 50 academic programs . These include combined degree health care programs guarantee admission to medical school for more than 30 students annually , preparing freshmen for careers in medicine , dentistry , physical therapy or pharmacy . St . Bonaventure is accredited by the Middle States Association , National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education ( NCATE ) , and the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business ( AACSB ) . The Regina A . Quick Center for the Arts hosts several art galleries and a 321 - seat theater . St . Bonaventure is home to the Russell J . Jandoli School of Journalism and Mass Communications . Its campus newspaper , " The Bona Venture " , has been published continuously since 1926 . Known on campus as The BV , the newspaper has earned The Pacemaker Award numerous times from the Associated Collegiate Press , the last time in 1994 . The school is also home to " The Laurel " , the nation ' s oldest continuously published college literary magazine . The school ' s student radio station , WSBU 88 . 3 The Buzz , is ranked No . 4 nationally by " The Princeton Review " and has been ranked in the top 5 — and No . 1 on more than one occasion — for more than a decade . The school has a unique organization known as SFM ( Students for the Mountain ) . SFM holds retreats for students at the Franciscan Mountain Retreat Centre at Mount Irenaeus , including BonaResponds — which sent nearly 300 people to the Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and continues to perform relief work at home and across the county — and SIFE ( Students in Free Enterprise ) , which has established successful business and education programs in the Bahamas . St . Bonaventure is strongly identified with the Western New York region . A notable proportion of the student body are from the Buffalo and Rochester metro areas , and references to Buffalo and Rochester — and their Catholic high schools — are common even among students not from those areas . However , the university has students from 31 states and nearly 40 countries . Athletics . St . Bonaventure is a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference and offers 14 varsity athletic programs . The school ' s programs are known as the Bonnies , and colors are brown and white . Four St . Bonaventure alumni have been elected to professional halls of fame : Baseball legends Hughie Jennings and John McGraw , for whom the university ' s athletic fields are named , are in the Baseball Hall of Fame ; Bob Lanier , ' 70 , who led St . Bonaventure to the NCAA Final Four , is in the Basketball Hall of Fame ; and Jack Butler , ' 51 , who had a stellar career with the Pittsburgh Steelers and was named to the NFL ' s All - Decade Team in the 1950s , was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2012 . Division I sports offered : Club sport offerings : Graduate program offerings . Dual admissions program : These programs are available for high school students who are looking for careers in health care . To be admitted to these programs , students must have suitable credentials and are expected to maintain a specific level of academic performance while at SBU . Graduate course offerings : Notable alumni . Notable alumni of St . Bonaventure University include : The school boasts five Pulitzer Prize winners as alumni . Five Members of the United States Congress attended St . Bonaventure .