Canisius University is strengthening its support for women entrepreneurs with the appointment of Buffalo resident Lauren C. Jenkins as executive director of its Women’s Business Center (WBC). Jenkins brings to the position more than 15 years of experience in marketing, business development and program strategy across entrepreneurial, nonprofit and corporate settings, along with firsthand insight as a woman business owner.
As executive director, Jenkins will lead all aspects of the WBC, which provides training, advising and resources to women-owned businesses across Western New York. She will oversee business advising and training, expand accelerator programs, strengthen community partnerships and broaden access to resources for women-owned businesses across the center’s eight-county service area.
Jenkins most recently served as head of marketing at StoreCash, a fintech startup within the 43North portfolio, where she led cross-functional strategy that supported seed funding and boosted engagement among underserved users. She has also held senior marketing and communication roles at VMware and Ingram Micro, and is founder of Flower Studio Co. Jenkins built the direct-to-consumer subscription business from the ground up, developing its operations, marketing and customer engagement systems. She will use that entrepreneurial expertise to guide WBC clients in launching, sustaining and growing their own businesses.
Canisius Giving Day is fast approaching on Wednesday, March 25 and we are looking for submissions from our campus partners for initiatives. If your department or group would like to have a fundraising page on Giving Day you can submit your information through a simple google form. Department Chairs and Program Directors can work with their deans and/or members of the SLT to develop ideas and fundraising priorities.
Submit your initiative through our Google formby Friday, February 13
If you have any questions about the submission process please don’t hesitate to reach out to Canisius Fund Director Jessica Mitrovits at 716-888-2711 or mitrovij@canisius.edu. Our team is looking forward to working with you!
Bridget Niland, JD, PhD, discussed the recent federal indictment involving an alleged NCAA point-shaving scheme during interviews with WBEN-AM Radio 930 and WKBW-TV Channel 7 on January 16. Niland, whose expertise includes NCAA governance and student-athlete vulnerabilities in the sports betting era, explained how mid-major athletes with limited NIL opportunities are particularly susceptible to these schemes and how integrity management software is helping detect suspicious betting patterns.
AgFarm News and New York Ag Connection reported on Biology Professor Robert Grebenok, PhD, who is part of an interdisciplinary team awarded a three-year, $750k grant from the United States Department of Agriculture. The research aims to help crop plants naturally defend against herbivorous insects by manipulating plant sterols and reducing their reliance on chemical pesticides while preserving the ecosystem.
America Magazine published an essay by President Emeritus John J. Hurley in its January 16 edition. In the essay, Hurley reflects on his experience volunteering with Justice for Migrant Families and the New York Immigration Coalition, accompanying migrants through deportation hearings in Buffalo’s federal immigration court. Drawing on the late Jesuit superior general Father Peter Hans Kolvenbach’s call to “let the gritty reality of the world into their lives,” Hurley describes how personal involvement with the suffering becomes the catalyst for solidarity and moral reflection Click here to read the essay.
The Canisius Earning Excellence Program awards students with funding for intellectually demanding projects that create opportunities for applied learning outside the classroom. The work completed through this program is closely related to a career or scholarly field and directly related to faculty scholarship. By working alongside faculty on research-focused projects, students are able to achieve a high level of preparedness for maintaining professional working relationships and for continued studies at the graduate level.
Canisius University undergraduates in any major may apply for a CEEP award if they have a 3.2 or higher overall GPA and if they have a faculty or university administrator sponsor with an appropriate CEEP project. Please note: Students with an overall GPA below 3.2 may apply for a CEEP award, but awards will only be granted if the student’s overall GPA is higher than 3.2 at the end of the spring semester and/or if their semester GPA was 3.4 or higher in the past two semesters.
CEEP students receive stipend payments deposited into their accounts with student records at the end of each semester. This allows students to receive federal work-study (if eligible) in addition to their CEEP project.
More information and current online applications (opening on Monday, January 26) are available on the Academic Affairs CEEP Information Page on the myCanisius portal. Students will also receive an email notification with details regarding the application process. Please note, current CEEP award recipients interested in continuing their project next year will need to fill out new applications for the 2026-27 award. Renewal is not automatic.
If you have any questions regarding the award and application process, contact Amy Beiter (beiter5@canisius.edu) or Yvonne Widenor (widenory@canisius.edu).
Please share with everyone the exciting new CALLI (Canisius Adult Lifelong Learning Institute) course being offered by Professor Johanna Fisher. Entitled “Exploring the Magic of Fairy Tales – Past and Present,” this course will introduce participants to a wide range of fairy tales and discuss the characters and relationships they depict. As Prof. Fisher notes, “In some ways fairy tales are built upon certain tropes, however, the tropes of these fairy tales are mostly in the archetypes—the beautiful princess, the three brothers, the good-natured, but troublemaking strongman [in the German tradition he is often known as Hans], etc- or else we see these tropes in plots themselves [i.e. Jack and The Beanstalk as overreaching]. At times, they are beautiful princesses or handsome princes turned into animals or monsters, [Beauty and The Beast]. In their retellings for a contemporary audience [i.e. Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories], we see that these tales can inform us about such human concerns as gender roles, power, and identity.”
