On August 28, 2007 – the birthday of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton – Seton Hill University hosted an event in downtown Greensburg, Pa. to celebrate the start of construction on the school’s new $21 million Center for the Performing Arts. The event, held at the Center’s construction site on Harrison Avenue in downtown Greensburg, was attended by more than 200 members of the Seton Hill and Greensburg community; Greensburg and regional business owners; local, state and federal legislators; and special guests, including an actress portraying a living statue of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hill theatre students dressed as entertainment icons such as Marilyn Monroe and Mozart, and Seton Hill’s new Scottish Pipe Band, which made its debut performance at the event. During the event, Seton Hill and the City of Greensburg reported on the progress of the project, and publicly thanked everyone who has supported the University Center project. The Most Reverend Lawrence E. Brandt, bishop of Greensburg, blessed the construction site and presided over a prayer service for guests.

“It is especially fitting that we celebrate the start of construction on August 28, the birthday of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first American-born saint and the founder of the Sisters of Charity,” said Seton Hill President Dr. JoAnne Boyle. “Elizabeth Ann Seton, like the Sisters of Charity who founded Seton Hill, was always looking ahead, always seeking the next challenge, the next new opportunity. We believe this facility will help Seton Hill create a downtown campus vibrant with the voices and music of students and stimulated by the presence of faculty and community members working to create a new future for our City and our University.”

“The University Center for the Performing Arts provides the University with a venue for students to showcase their talents better and offers a complementary space for new and unique cultural activities for the public,” said Michele Ridge, a Seton Hill alumna, chair of Seton Hill University’s Board of Trustees, and co-chair of the University Center for the Performing Arts Campaign. “It is indeed a pleasure for me to share with you that we have received tremendous enthusiasm for the project. We continue to receive leadership support from alumni, friends, foundations and corporations. Almost $19 million has been achieved in gifts and pledges to date toward our $21 million goal. Thank you for your help in bringing us to this wonderful moment for Seton Hill and for Greensburg.”

City of Greensburg Mayor, Karl Eisaman commented, “Seton Hill’s project continues to be used as a model of the way universities can expand their impact by getting involved in the civic and economic life of their communities.” He continued, “Mullin & Lonergan Associates completed an Economic Impact Study for Seton Hill that projects that the University Center for the Performing Arts will generate at least $1 million per year in visitor spending in Greensburg.”

The Seton Hill University Center for the Performing Arts will bring two of Seton Hill’s most vibrant programs – theatre and music – into the heart of the city of Greensburg, Pa. The Center - designed by MacLachlan Cornelius & Filoni Architects, Inc. to complement the historic architecture of the surrounding buildings - will also serve as the completing piece of Greensburg’s Cultural District, with the Westmoreland Museum of American Art at one corner and Seton Hill University at the other, linked by the historic Palace Theatre, the restored Greensburg Train Station, cafes, restaurants and bookstores. Once completed, the 73,000 square foot center will include a flexible theatre, music hall, rehearsal spaces, set and costume design rooms, classrooms, and faculty offices for Seton Hill’s programs in music and theatre. The University Center project is the result of a collaboration among the City of Greensburg, the Redevelopment Authority of Westmoreland County, the Greensburg Salem School District, local legislators, and the Westmoreland Cultural Trust. As of August 2007, the University Center for the Performing Arts Campaign, chaired by Michele and Tom Ridge and Anne and Jack Robertshaw, has achieved almost $19 million toward its projected $21 million goal. Massaro Corporation will begin construction in August 2007, with a projected completion date of spring 2009.

Seton Hill University, founded by the Sisters of Charity, is a coeducational Catholic liberal arts university in Greensburg, Pa. Chartered in 1918, Seton Hill offers more than 30 undergraduate programs and nine graduate programs, including an MBA. Seton Hill brings the world to its students through its distinguished lecturers and nationally and internationally renowned centers. Recognized three times by Entrepreneur magazine as one of the nation’s Top 100 Entrepreneurial Universities, Seton Hill has also been named a Best Baccalaureate College by U.S. News & World Report, one of the Best in the Northeast by The Princeton Review, and one of Pennsylvania’s Top 100 Businesses by Pennsylvania Business Central. In addition, Seton Hill has been named a University of Distinction by Colleges of Distinction, an organization founded by a group of concerned parents, educators and admissions professionals. For more information on Seton Hill please visit www.setonhill.edu or call 1-800-826-6234.

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Media Contact:

Becca Baker, Associate Director of Media Relations
724-830-1069 / 724-689-3599 (cell) / bbaker@setonhill.edu