St. Bonaventure President Passes Away

It is a sad day to be a Bonnie.

I did not even go to St. Bonaventure, but I know that the bond in the St. Bonaventure community is unlike any other college in America.

Dr. Dennis R. DePerro, the 21st president of St. Bonaventure University passed away yesterday (Sunday, February 28) due to COVID-19 complications. He became the President in 2017.

Dr. DePerro was admitted to a Syracuse hospital Dec. 29 after testing positive for the coronavirus on Christmas Eve. He had been placed on a ventilator in mid-January.

St. Bonaventure released a statement on Monday morning:

Words simply can’t convey the level of devastation our campus community feels right now,” said Dr. Joseph Zimmer, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, who was named acting president late last month while Dr. DePerro was in recovery. “I know when people die it’s become cliché to say things like, ‘He was a great leader, but an even better human being,’ and yet, that’s the absolute truth with Dennis. We are heartbroken.”

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