I hope students enjoyed spring break. Dozens of students participated in Habitat for Humanity projects across the nation, while others went on international service learning trips to support a variety of nonprofit organizations. Great work, all. I hope you have settled back in nicely.
Wednesday a couple hundred students, faculty and staff joined students and others around the country in a walkout in support of measures to stop gun violence. The walkout lasted 17 minutes in memory of the lives lost in Parkland. As always, it was wonderful to see our community come together to stand up for our beliefs—in this case the right to feel safe on campus. Thanks again to Brian Stiltner and Jerry Reid for their support to the student organizers.
This week we celebrated and honored faculty and staff at our annual Founder’s Day celebration. The event started with a service in the Chapel before the presentation of awards in the Edgerton Center. The celebration ended with a reception in University Commons. It was nice to take the opportunity to thank our dedicated faculty and staff – some who have been with us for 45 years.
Members of the community met again this week for the SHU mission and vision discussion. In case you missed this last session, there are two more on March 22 from noon to 1 p.m. and 2 to 3 p.m. The discussions have been lively and informative. Thank you to those who already shared their thoughts.
Even with some wintry weather, we hosted our share of lectures and events this week. On Monday, the Center for Healthcare Education hosted Lisa Stump, vice president of Yale New Haven Health System. Her lecture was about leveraging technology and the internet to empower good health. Kimberly Phillips-Fein, author and professor of history at New York University, talked about her book, Fear City, which explores the effect the 1970s fiscal crisis had on New York City. Wednesday night, professor Brent Little hosted Theology on Tap at Red’s. His discussion focused on Catholic perspectives on the dignity of work.
Celebrity chef Jet Tila taught free cooking classes at Linda’s on Thursday. Students learned how to make a delicious Asian dish from his cookbook.
We saw some great performances this week as well. Guest pianist Christopher Bakriges and music faculty member and bassist Jeff Fuller put on a great show on Wednesday, as did our Irish Dance Ensemble. With St. Patrick’s Day on Saturday, it was great to see our Claddagh Dancers wow us with their talents in the Edgerton. Music faculty member and flutist Ali Ryerson and guest pianist Joyce DiCamillo performed in a Women in Jazz event yesterday. Our theatre arts program put on their first performance of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof last night – be sure to catch the show this weekend or next.
I was pleased to see so many students, staff and faculty show up to Student Government’s Hunger Project initiative, a fundraising campaign that raised hunger awareness and provided meals for the local needy. The group worked with the non-profit organization Meals of Hope to make the event possible. Thank you to everyone who took time during the day to help out this great cause or supported the event with a T-shirt purchase.
College of Nursing faculty were in Ghana recently teaching the faculty at the Holy Family College of Nursing and Midwifery. The group was eager, grateful and enthusiastic to learn from our nursing experts.
In case you missed it, be sure to check out the graduate students TV news magazine program, Pulse Plus. It is a great roundup of current events.
Please give a warm Pioneer welcome to our incoming College of Arts & Sciences students on Sunday as we kick off our first Admitted Students Day of the year.
Good luck to our student-athletes playing this weekend. Go Pioneers!
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Have a great weekend.