Public Dedication Ceremony with SLU President Morris for Honorees and Their Families

"Portraying St. Lawrence" honors the lives and contributions of three St. Lawrence community members, Margaret Kent Bass, Ernest M. Benedict, and Rev. Kathleen Buckley. The interactive exhibition is the culmination of an arts-based project focused on documenting who is represented in official portraiture and expanding representations of women and people of color in campus portraiture and other forms of public commemoration.

Honorees were selected based on nominations in a process designed to engage the campus community. Artists were chosen in collaboration with the nominees or their families. The exhibition features work by acclaimed Akwesasne Mohawk artist Dave Kanietakeron Fadden and two recent SLU graduates, Nadirah Croft and Mikayla Quinn.

Portraying St. Lawrence draws attention to who is commemorated in official campus portraiture, how portraits act as a form of public memory for an institution or community, and how we can expand both whom we remember and how we remember those important to our community through culturally responsive commemoration. The exhibition was made possible by a grant from St. Lawrence University's Arts Collaborative.

Ernest M. Kaientaronkwen Benedict, 1918-2011

In 1941, Ernest Benedict from the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation was the first Indigenous student to graduate from St. Lawrence University. In the years following, he went on to become a venerated chief of the Akwesasne Mohawk Council. He was a renowned activist and educator, having started one of the first Mohawk newspapers, Akwesasne Notes, and leading it to become one of the largest and most influential native newspapers in the world. He worked tirelessly against Indigenous oppression.

The Benedict and Fadden family connections go back generations. As a teenager, Benedict came into contact with the great teacher Ray Tehanetorens Fadden, and as partners they sought to change the course of history by reviving the national identity of the Mohawk Nation. Dave Kanietakeron Fadden, who was commissioned to paint Benedict's portrait, is Ray's grandson. More about Benedict's legacy can be found at indianz.com.

Dr. Margaret Kent Bass

Dr. Margaret Kent Bass was St. Lawrence University's Director of Multicultural Affairs in 1993 and joined the English department in 2000. Bass was appointed Associate Dean for Faculty in 2004 and Interim VP and Dean of Students in 2005-06.

Reverend Kathleen Buckley, 1953-2020

Rev. Buckley served as chaplain of St. Lawrence University from 2001 until her death in 2020. As a long-standing member of the St. Lawrence University Diversity Committee, she was deeply involved in intergroup dialogue, restorative justice trainings, fostering interfaith dialogue and space, and various diversity working groups throughout her time here.