Undergraduate
25 Saint Michael's student leaders train at Social Justice Retreat
Workshops at St. Anne's Shrine of Isle LaMotte
Contact Information:
Buff Lindau, Public Relations
802.654.2536
blindau@smcvt.edu
Faculty and staff led a three-day retreat, followed by volunteer service activity, for 25 Saint Michael's College student leaders Friday, Aug. 21 through Sunday, Aug. 23, at beautiful Saint Anne's Shrine on Isle LaMotte in the middle of Lake Champlain. The Shrine is a spiritual and historical preserve, where Mass is held in the summer, that has been maintained for over 100 years by the priests of the Society of St. Edmund, the founders also of Saint Michael's College.
Moise St. Louis, assistant dean and director of multicultural student affairs, and Dr. Patricia Siplon, professor of political science, coordinated the training sessions, with support from Laurie Gagne, director of the Edmundite Center for Peace and Justice; Chris Clary, co-director of the Student Resource Center; Dr. Patricia Delaney, assistant professor of anthropology; Dr. Michael Bosia, assistant professor of political science, and Derek Souza '09.
"The retreat sought to help students draw the connections between social justice issues-from diversity and inclusion to global poverty to the environment-in order to work effectively and collaboratively in the coming academic year," Dr. Siplon said. "It also provided a hands-on opportunity for skills and relationship building," she said.
The group practiced their skills on Tuesday, Aug. 25, doing a community service gardening project at the Shelburne Museum, and again on Thursday, Aug. 27, when they collectively created a work plan and timeline for achieving their shared goals in the coming school year.
Workshops
The sessions students took part in at Isle LaMotte include Catholic Social Teaching (Gagne); Myers-Briggs self-knowledge testing (Clary); Skills Building (Siplon); Diversity Training (Delaney); Working Collaboratively across Social Justice Issues (Bosia), and Post-College Activism (Souza).
Participating students were Kate Bailey of Hooksett, N.H., Eun Yun Bee of New York City, Amicha Bemba of Bronx, N.Y., Lindsey Bessette of South Burlington, Vt., Anne-Christele Boigris of Miami, Fla., Kemi Brewster of Saint Michael, Barbados, Josh Britch of South Wheelock, Vt., Sory Coulibaly of New York City, Lauren Dunn of Rensselaer, N.Y., Catherine Hackett of Chevy Chase, Md., Joy-Ann Headley of Saint Thomas, Barbados, Meghan Jaird of Saint Albans, Vt., Heidi Lynch of Rutland, Vt., Karri Makinen of Walpole, N.H., Athena Matos of New York City, Anne-Marie McNeil of Germantown, Md., Alexsis Regan of Medford, Mass., Madison Reeve of Delaware, Ohio, Gisele Regalado of New York City, Hilary Richard of South Burlington, Vt., Lucia Suarez of Santa Domingo, Frantzy Suffrard of Hyde Park, N.Y., Caitlin Wilkins of Westminster Station, Vt., Josh Wronski of Slingerlands, N.Y., and Leah Ziegler of Stowe, Vt.
Saint Michael's College is a distinctive Catholic liberal arts college that provides an education with a social conscience, producing graduates with the intellectual tools they need to lead a successful, purposeful life that will contribute to peace and justice in our world. Founded in 1904 by the Society of St. Edmund and headed by President John J. Neuhauser, Saint Michael's is identified by the Princeton Review as one of the nation's Best 371 Colleges, ranking as 9th among institutions in Quality of Life and 2nd in Town-Gown Relations. It is one of only 270 colleges and universities nationwide, and one of only 20 Catholic colleges, with a Phi Beta Kappa chapter on campus. Saint Michael's has 1,900 undergraduate students, some 250 graduate students and 100 international students. In recent years Saint Michael's students and professors have received Rhodes, Woodrow Wilson, Pickering, Guggenheim, Fulbright, National Science Foundation and other grants, and its professors have been named Vermont Professor of the Year in four of the last nine years. The college is currently listed as one of the nation's Best Liberal Arts Colleges in the 2009 U.S. News & World Report rankings. Saint Michael's is located just outside of Burlington, Vermont, one of America's top college towns.
Buff Lindau, Public Relations
802.654.2536
blindau@smcvt.edu
Faculty and staff led a three-day retreat, followed by volunteer service activity, for 25 Saint Michael's College student leaders Friday, Aug. 21 through Sunday, Aug. 23, at beautiful Saint Anne's Shrine on Isle LaMotte in the middle of Lake Champlain. The Shrine is a spiritual and historical preserve, where Mass is held in the summer, that has been maintained for over 100 years by the priests of the Society of St. Edmund, the founders also of Saint Michael's College.
Moise St. Louis, assistant dean and director of multicultural student affairs, and Dr. Patricia Siplon, professor of political science, coordinated the training sessions, with support from Laurie Gagne, director of the Edmundite Center for Peace and Justice; Chris Clary, co-director of the Student Resource Center; Dr. Patricia Delaney, assistant professor of anthropology; Dr. Michael Bosia, assistant professor of political science, and Derek Souza '09.
"The retreat sought to help students draw the connections between social justice issues-from diversity and inclusion to global poverty to the environment-in order to work effectively and collaboratively in the coming academic year," Dr. Siplon said. "It also provided a hands-on opportunity for skills and relationship building," she said.
The group practiced their skills on Tuesday, Aug. 25, doing a community service gardening project at the Shelburne Museum, and again on Thursday, Aug. 27, when they collectively created a work plan and timeline for achieving their shared goals in the coming school year.
Workshops
The sessions students took part in at Isle LaMotte include Catholic Social Teaching (Gagne); Myers-Briggs self-knowledge testing (Clary); Skills Building (Siplon); Diversity Training (Delaney); Working Collaboratively across Social Justice Issues (Bosia), and Post-College Activism (Souza).
Participating students were Kate Bailey of Hooksett, N.H., Eun Yun Bee of New York City, Amicha Bemba of Bronx, N.Y., Lindsey Bessette of South Burlington, Vt., Anne-Christele Boigris of Miami, Fla., Kemi Brewster of Saint Michael, Barbados, Josh Britch of South Wheelock, Vt., Sory Coulibaly of New York City, Lauren Dunn of Rensselaer, N.Y., Catherine Hackett of Chevy Chase, Md., Joy-Ann Headley of Saint Thomas, Barbados, Meghan Jaird of Saint Albans, Vt., Heidi Lynch of Rutland, Vt., Karri Makinen of Walpole, N.H., Athena Matos of New York City, Anne-Marie McNeil of Germantown, Md., Alexsis Regan of Medford, Mass., Madison Reeve of Delaware, Ohio, Gisele Regalado of New York City, Hilary Richard of South Burlington, Vt., Lucia Suarez of Santa Domingo, Frantzy Suffrard of Hyde Park, N.Y., Caitlin Wilkins of Westminster Station, Vt., Josh Wronski of Slingerlands, N.Y., and Leah Ziegler of Stowe, Vt.
Saint Michael's College is a distinctive Catholic liberal arts college that provides an education with a social conscience, producing graduates with the intellectual tools they need to lead a successful, purposeful life that will contribute to peace and justice in our world. Founded in 1904 by the Society of St. Edmund and headed by President John J. Neuhauser, Saint Michael's is identified by the Princeton Review as one of the nation's Best 371 Colleges, ranking as 9th among institutions in Quality of Life and 2nd in Town-Gown Relations. It is one of only 270 colleges and universities nationwide, and one of only 20 Catholic colleges, with a Phi Beta Kappa chapter on campus. Saint Michael's has 1,900 undergraduate students, some 250 graduate students and 100 international students. In recent years Saint Michael's students and professors have received Rhodes, Woodrow Wilson, Pickering, Guggenheim, Fulbright, National Science Foundation and other grants, and its professors have been named Vermont Professor of the Year in four of the last nine years. The college is currently listed as one of the nation's Best Liberal Arts Colleges in the 2009 U.S. News & World Report rankings. Saint Michael's is located just outside of Burlington, Vermont, one of America's top college towns.
