SLU Staff Members Come Together for Cannonball Picnic

10/22/2019

As SLU staff members gathered under clear fall skies at the annual Cannonball Staff Appreciation Picnic, University President Fred P. Pestello, Ph.D., had a surprise in store for them.

As employees enjoyed hotdogs, cupcakes and lemonade together, they received an email message from Pestello announcing three bonus holidays in December. Pestello, who was traveling on University business, thanked the staff for their many contributions to SLU life in the video included in the email.

“On behalf of the University, I want to thank all our staff members for your belief in the University,” Pestello said. “I hope that these extra days allow you to spend more time re-energizing, reflecting, relaxing in the company of your loved ones.”

The University will now officially close as of the end of business on Friday, Dec. 20, and will re-open at the start of business on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2020. The extra holidays will be Monday, Dec. 23, Friday, Dec. 27, and Monday, Dec. 30.

SLUCare and other select employees will be able to bank the extra holidays without impacting their vacation time totals. This brings the fiscal year total for holidays to 18 days off.

Mickey Luna, vice president for human resources, echoed Pestello’s words of thanks and lauded SLU staff members for creating a culture of service and kindness to others in a host of ways.

“Even a single act can have a huge impact on the people we serve,” Luna told the crowded Quad.

Sr. Virginia Herbers, ASCJ, of the Office of Mission and Identity, offered the picnic’s invocation and the celebration continued with some lucky staff members receiving prizes.

Cannonball Picnic is named in honor of a pivotal moment in the life of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus. In 1521, at the Battle of Pamplona, St. Ignatius was struck by a French cannonball. The blow shattered his leg and during his recovery, the Spanish knight immersed himself in the study of the lives of the saints and the Bible. The experience put him on a path that would lead to the founding of the Jesuit order and to eventual sainthood.