Father
Brennan Fitzgerald was born on March 17, 1933. He received his B.A. from
St. Bonaventure in 1957. From 1962-67 he taught at Archbishop Walsh High
School in Olean, NY. He was their director of Student Activities from
1964-67. In May of 1970, Fr. Fitzgerald earned his M.S. in
Education. A month later he was appointed Assistant Director of
Student Activities at St. Bonaventure. The following year, June 1971, he
became the Director of Student Activities at St. Bonaventure, a position he held until 1985.
While at St. Bonaventure, Fr. Fitzgerald was appointed the director of the National Entertainment and Campus Activities Association (NECAA), which is a national educational organization for student activities directors and student leaders from 800 colleges and universities. Fr. Brennan was chosen from a pool of 80 nominees, which must have been a great honor for him, as well as the University.
One of his greatest accomplishments while director at St. Bonaventure was bringing Broadway plays like the 1974 lineup Broadway A La Carte, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Grease, and Fiddler On The Roof. In 1981, some of the plays on the lineup were Children of A Lesser God, Much Ado About Nothing," and Sugar Babies. These plays were big names for a small school, and were very popular with the Bonaventure community.
The greatest challenge Father Fitzgerald encountered was "presenting major programs and balancing the budget by the end of the fiscal year."
In an interview with Father Fitzgerald via letter, he said that he "loved working with the students, faculty and all in the University Community, also the agencies in the popular arts and the classical arts." Father Brennan was very fond of his job, stating in the Olean Times Herald that "the years I have been here in Student Activities, I could see for myself, that I had the best job in the university for me. It afforded me the opportunity to enrich my own life."
Carol Higley, the Student Activities secretary since 1977 at St. Bonaventure, worked with Father Fitzgerald. She describes him as a "kind, caring, Irish friar."
The Franciscan values of Father Brennan allowed him to relate well to the students and where they were in their development. Father Fitzgerald's values were reflected in his work as Director of Student Activities because he enjoyed the diverse challenges he was faced with, and developed many friendships.