A new statue of Elizabeth Ann Seton has been erected in the lobby of Bethany Hall on Tuesday.
This is the second statue of Elizabeth Ann Seton on campus, but the new statue’s placement will attract many viewers being located at the campus’ main entrance. This means that the statue which stands about three feet in height will be one of the first things that visitors notice about the campus.
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Seton Hall will place a statue of Elizabeth Seton in Bethany Hall[/caption]
Father Brian Needles, director of campus ministry, said that the statue “shows that we take our
Catholic faith very seriously. It is part of our identity.”
The university reached out to the same artist who sculpted the original statue in order to reinforce the campus’ tradition.
According to a statement provided by Project Manager Victoria Pivovarnick, Sister Margaret Beaudette, the original sculptor had been working on a new Elizabeth Seton Statue for St. Paul’s Cathedral in New York City when she died in March of 2017.
Sister Kathleen Aucion, a close colleague of Beaudette’s, suggested that the university use a cast of that same statue. The likeness was installed exactly one year after her passing and stands partly in tribute to her work as an artist and a servant of the catholic church.
This particular likeness is unlike the original in many ways, according to Pivovarnick.
“The difference expresses both the growth of the artist and Seton Hall University,” Pivovarnick said.
The statue is a much older rendering of Elizabeth Ann Seton who has her arms outstretched in a welcoming position. The original statue which stands just outside Jubilee Hall depicts Seton as a young woman stepping forward with conviction.
William Moore Junior Accounting, IT Management, and Philosophy major attended the event as part of the campus acapella group Gentlemen of the Hall.
Moore said, “I think it is really beautiful and a great symbol of the giving nature of Elizabeth
Seton. She is sort of encouraging students to represent that in their daily lives.”
As this figure will be one of the first things to greet visitors to this campus Seton Hall is making its commitment to the teachings of the catholic faith loud and clear.
Moore said, “I think it is every university’s responsibility to instill some sort of ethic and a certain sort of moral code in their students and certainly our university chooses to do that through the catholic faith which I think is wonderful.”
Brynne Connolly can be reached at brynne.connolly@student.shu.edu
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