St. John’s University: Celebrating 50 Years with the Chamber

By Danielle Wiseman, the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce

When most New Yorkers hear the name St. John’s University, they think of the 100-acre campus located right in the middle of Queens, New York. However, Staten Islanders have an entirely different, and far prettier, view of St. John’s University: the private gem atop Grymes Hill, which overlooks the scenic New York Harbor. 

St. John’s University was founded in 1870 by the Congregation of the Mission, also known as the Vincentian Fathers, to provide the community with the option for a quality moral and intellectual education. Following decades of success, St. John’s began expanding in the 1950s by increasing enrollment, creating new academic programs, and moving its flagship campus from Brooklyn to Queens. 

The Staten Island campus was established years later when St. John’s University decided to expand even further. “My story first starts back in 1970 when St. John’s was encountering the possibility of closing its Brooklyn campus and moving to another location,” says Joseph Sciame, Vice President of Community Relations at St. John’s University. “Cardinal Cooke, the former Archbishop of the Archdiocese of New York, was insistent on the creation of a co-ed Catholic college or university on Staten Island. Coincidentally, Notre Dame College for Women was struggling to maintain enrollment. Of course, it was then announced that St. John’s would be taking over Notre Dame.”  

Notre Dame College opened in 1934 as an affiliate of Fordham University and served the Staten Island community as a Catholic women’s college for over 30 years. By the early 1970s, small colleges like Notre Dame found it very difficult to compete with larger institutions. Rather than close entirely, Notre Dame College merged with St. John’s University, and St. John’s started its journey creating a presence on Staten Island. 

Since its inception on Howard Avenue, St. John’s University has been inundated with students eager to attend Staten Island’s only 4-year Catholic university. St. John’s allows students to choose from 6 different schools within the university: The School of Education, St. John’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, School of Law, The Peter J. Tobin School of Business, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, and The Lesley H. and William L. Collins College of Professional Studies. Additionally, St. John’s has campuses in Rome, Paris, and Limerick. The Staten Island campus boasts over 40 student-led organizations and multiple Division One athletic teams. At its peak, St. John’s University had a total of 3,000 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled at the Staten Island campus. To date, the Staten Island campus has awarded over 10,000 degrees to students of SJU.  

St. John’s University very quickly made it a priority to become an active and engaged community member, since Staten Island was an entirely new location in which St. John’s was not yet established. “When we first opened the campus and needed to build enrollment, we immediately thought that it was important to create relationships within the community and join local organizations,” adds Sciame. Among those organizations was the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce, of which St. John’s University has now been a member for 50 years. 

Since joining the Chamber, St. John’s University has been an avid and universally loved member among Staten Islanders. Every year, St. John’s hosts an island-wide career fair, aptly named CareerCon,  partnership between the Chamber, St. John’s University, Wagner College, and the College of Staten Island, that invites local high school students to connect with Staten Island professionals, learn about local job prospects, and meet and engage directly with business owners and hiring managers.  

In 1994, Joseph Sciame headed the Staten Island-St. John’s University Community Dialogue Group, a roundtable at which community members had a platform to voice their concerns over changes happening within the university. The Community Dialogue Group is a perfect example of St. John’s University engaging with the Staten Islanders that call SJU home. 

Over the years, Joe Sciame has also served on the board of the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce Foundation, a separate entity that provides the Chamber with the ability to seek grant opportunities and raise funds as a not-for-profit. Sciame, on behalf of St. John’s University, has been involved with the Foundation since 2004. 

The Staten Island Chamber of Commerce has always been at SJU’s side throughout the years. “I think that it’s important for St. John’s University, and other institutions of higher ed, to be a member of the Chamber because the Chamber can be such a resource,” says Sciame. “The Chamber recognized us; it's like a well in the middle of the desert filled with learning, education, and experience.”  

The beauty in the Chamber’s relationship with St. John’s University lies within the reciprocity: “We gain from it, but we also feel like we’re giving the Chamber a good name to espouse and say ‘Hey, we have among our members St. John’s University, which has been around for 152 years,’” remarks Sciame. “We’re always doing collaborative work with the Chamber. We’re partners.” 

St. John’s is an invaluable member of the Chamber, and we are honored to celebrate their 50th year with us!  

In August 2022, St. John’s University announced that they will be closing their Staten Island campus in Spring 2024 after serving the community for over 50 years. While this chapter may be coming to a close, the impact that the campus has made on Staten Islanders and the local business community will live on for many more years to come.