“As a pioneer class you carved out your own paths, accepted in a fine spirit the sacrifices that pioneers must make, and now hand down to your followers a fine tradition for scholarship, school spirit-well-let me say your class has lived up to our highest expectations and we are very proud of you.”

— The Most Reverend James E. Kearney, D.D., Bishop of Rochester. Jo Roffs, Pioneer Class (1955).

The St. John Fisher University’s Pioneer Class of 1955 Oral History project was inspired to honor and preserve the history of the first graduating class. Students researched the class and conducted the alumni interviews. This project was a campus collaborative project that included the Office of Institutional Advancement, the Department of History, Media Services in the Department of Communications and Journalism and Lavery Library.

“We found ourselves thinking over and over again: “This is the last time.” But our story is not finished. We dreamed dreams, and we saw visions. Noble dreams of sound principles, precious visions of truth possessed…this is our college.”

— Jo Roffs, Pioneer Class (1955).