Building a Diverse and Inclusive Campus

Hello everybody, thanks for joining us will give you about another minute or so to make sure everybody gets a chance to get connected and then we'll go ahead and get started with our web and R and building a diverse and inclusive campus.

In the mean time, if you guys see that chat box down below, you can go ahead and introduce yourselves. Send us your name and where you're joining us from today, we'd love to see where everybody is coming from and how we're all staying connected during these times. Another thing to keep in mind with the chat box down there, you will be able to submit questions throughout the entire web. And are you may not see them pop up right away, but that is a OK. We're still getting the questions, we're just moderating them on our end and will be releasing them one at a time so we can make sure we can get to them all.

If you send a question that we don't get the time to get to during the webinar, again, that's OK. One of the members of our mission staff will be in touch with you to follow up and answer that question for you. But like I said, go ahead and feel free to introduce yourselves. Let us know where you're coming from and we'll get started in just a minute.

So we have some people joining us from New York. It looks like more folks for Maine.

And another thing I will throw out there just to keep in mind is if you do it start to experience some technology issues, go ahead and try to refresh the page we found that seems to be pretty successful and resetting the issues if you're having audio or visual video is she was at all like I said, just refresh. We will not be able to see or hear from you. That's why we have that chat box below but you will be able to see and hear from our presenters as we progress throughout the day.

Let's say we have folks joining us from Boston. Someone who's a little bit closer from Pittsburgh and someone from mean fell. So the very exact town we are located at right now.

It looks like people have gotten a chance to go ahead and join us. We have another person joining us from Los Angelus. Hello Amelia, more from Pitts Burg from Bronx, NY.

So we're going to go ahead and get started with building a diverse and inclusive campus where it really excited to have you all joining us here today. I'm super excited to have our Department that are joining us today with international education, spiritual, religious life in the idea center. They will all get a chance to introduce themselves here in just a minute, but I'm going to go ahead and introduce our first set up. Analysts listen dot Morgan an limit. Candles the director and assistant director of international education here Allegany College and will give them.

A second or two to go ahead and get popped up onto the screen.

Hello in there.

What?

Hello.

So for everyone, I'll go ahead and let listen and listen to introduce themselves a little bit further and go through the presentation. Feel free to send questions for them throughout their talkin. I'll be collecting them for the end for a quick little Q&A with them.

Great thanks Eric.

You're welcome.

Hello, I'm Lou Santa and director of International Education an with us.

Hi, I'm Leigh Mccanless. I'm the assistant director of international education.

So thanks for joining this afternoon. Uh, we thought we were just talk about the different programs and different services that are office offers on campus.

See.

There should be showing the sponsored study away programs now on your screen. Hopefully, um, this is one of the big items that are office works with is study away, which is normally a semester. Or it could be an academic year for some students, but our office work with students before you study away and thinking about it even during your first year or when you first arrive on campus, we start talking with students and meeting 1 on one to talk about different study away locations and what you think you might want to study when you stay away.

But depending on the program, so we have about 30 what we call sponsored programs. Those are located in different countries and as you see on the slide we also have those located in America two and some different cities in different locations that way. So when we call it a sponsored study away program, the important thing we want you to remember is that it's the same cost for tuition's going to Allegany to do one of these programs so it doesn't cost really that much extra to be able to study away, which is something special that alleghenys committed to doing. That way students have access to be able to study away.

You know, for a semester during your sophomore year or maybe during your junior year.

When anything else you want to add about, study away.

So our programs range from anything from general study to language, specific study, intern ships, direct enrollment at an institution, or smaller programs where you can do field work and service work. So there's a wide variety of different programs for students. Anything that you're interested in, we can find a location, but also a program for you.

Great.

Some of the other opportunities students do for getting out and about in the world. We have something special Allegany called else which are experiential learning seminars and these are either during spring break or in May after graduation for about two or three weeks. So these are programs for the Allegany Professors, the faculty members designed the course and designed the topic that you're going to study. When you go to another location. So you usually do some pre departure meetings an.

You know doing some work before you go up in the spring time and then you go for two or three weeks. Like I said as part of a group of students from Allegany altogether with the professors.

Oh, I'm anywhere in, you know, on site where you're going. So some of the locations you can see here listed for this current year. Hopefully a trip will be going to believe when working with a local community and community engagement and building houses in the local community. There we have some other trips going.

Sorry, um, going to see.

Sorry, it's small on my screen when I help me here. If you see that.

So this upcoming here we also will have trips to Germany. We will have an email, let's focus on environmental scientist in sustainability in Germany were also hoping the Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos wars in waterways. That's with a communication art professor who is focused on intercultural communication.

Then also with one of our biology professors.

Hopefully will also have the Rocky Mountains for our natural resource, um, controversies, and then a myriad of others like Italy, and they should be announced, hopefully in August. So that's something that you can all look forward to.

And those programs are those count towards out for Allegany credit. So you are in 2 or 4 credits towards your graduation plan. By participating in this program and it's connected directly to your financial aid package, so it's pretty easy. If you are interested in those to be able to apply to those. Basically the in the fall semester before you go in the spring semester and start to work on plans on going on those. Those locations change every year, so we usually offer five to Seven a year.

Um, usually one great Europe one or two, and then maybe the Asia or Africa usually went out to the West in the Rocky Mountains or in the Yellowstone area and also to South America or Central America.

We are.

Sorry.

They are eligible for else on the roster of students who attend. Each LEL is determined by the faculty in through the application process, but you could do an El every single year, even as a non degree student once you graduate. So there are a lot of opportunities to get abroad whether that's doing any L every year and then combining that with this semester as well.

Thanks we also offer international internships through our office and those are the four different locations in the summer time. Those are you do a course usually before you go in the spring semester and these also earn academic credit through Allegany. So those locations. We have a program that goes to India for sustainable development for Global Health and Madoba, one that goes to France for some translation work and in our cultural communication.

And then one that goes to Shenzhen in China for medical technology.

So a lot of studios. I'm sedan, you know, it sounds great to be able to study abroad, but how do you pay for it? So that's something we work with students a lot. We want students to know that we will really want to help them find a way financially. You know, even though it might be the same cost for tuition for study away for the semester, there's other expenses. So you need to get the flight to go there. Maybe it's your travel money for when you are there and you want to travel on the weekends. And things like this Allegany started a new program last year were giving away free passports to students.

That's one way to also kind of help cut down the cost for you to be able to go is by getting a free passport that way. So like I was just talking about, we do passport fairs a couple of times a year on campus where we actually apply on site with your documents and the passport. You know it gets sent back to you in the Mail. We some of the students are part of the Bonner Program, through the set of engagement office and they receive money to be able to do summer programs through the Bonner program that way, and then the honors program and the Global Citizen Scholars Program.

Arco work programs that we offered Allegany for new students. So if you're part of these programs, there are some money for each student. That's part of the program to be able to utilize it for an off campus experience. So it could be study away or one of the emails. That way our office gives about $35,000 a year in scholarships for students study away. There's also something called the Gilman Scholarship Program, which is a national scholarship. Our students we've had anywhere from 25 to 50% of our students that apply received the Gomez.

Dollar ship, um that's for up to 5 to $8000 for a semester program, so it's very helpful for helping students be able to afford those programs and summer programs to. And then if your study away program involves an internship, we can work with their career education office. That's part of the gateway at Alleghanian, located next to our office. To be able to look at getting funding for transportation and housing as part of the internship experience.

Yeah.

That

But the next slide there Lenny.

Next

OK.

so our office also works with international students that are coming to the United States for study. So we have verbally 118 plus international students from over 44 countries that come to Allegany. So we have a large international population that includes degree seeking students. It includes exchange visitors who may be at Allegany for one semester or we have professors that also come to Allegany to teach and teaching assistants.

And we also include global nomads, so we have a lot of students who we consider to be global nomads in the sense that maybe they lived most of their lives abroad or they were born abroad and they have a strong affiliation to another country or another culture and we love to have students that could benefis global nomads also work with our office so that we're here for you to assist you and anything that you may need as you may have different experiences than other students are office works with students on immigration cultural.

Academic advising were kind of your. We'd like to say your one stop shop if you are an international student or a global nomad and so were there to support you every step of the way. We have a really robust international orientation that any student is welcome to come to this usually the week before classes begin, and you're with our office. We do a lot of fun activities. We take trips and we also help you get acclimated to the campus and also the United States.

We also have many activities throughout the year from without our office. We do study away fares. We do International Education Week, which is a week sponsored by the Department of Education to celebrate all it means of international education, whether that in the curriculum, study away or international students and scholars visiting the US that week usually culminates in a huge international Bazaar where students from all over the world Cook for our campus community in the local community. It's usually attended by around 300.

Different individuals, so we spent a lot of time throughout the year, making sure that we have events that incorporate our students celebrate different cultures. Some of the more specific programs that we have throughout over office is the culture to culture peer mentoring program, so that program is a peer mentoring program where current Allegany students, whether domestic or international, will serve as a mentor. Anna guide to incoming international students. We recognize that many of our international students are global. Nomads may have not spent.

Anytime in the United States, or they may have some experiences, but we like to match our students with and a current student who has had some experience in the US and can guide you. Sorry about the dog, you can guide you through those first few weeks and that first semester when you're coming into the United States and it may be a little scary and confusing. We also have a class that grows with culture to culture that is taught by myself. It's a.

One credit class in the first Seven weeks of the fall semester to help you get acclimated to the academic system.

Got some what we wanted to share about the work that our office does were also happy to meet with students. It doesn't have to be, you know about study away or an international student concern, but anything else that could be related or any way that we could help students with international possibilities. Basically we work a lot with the different professors. And like I said, we always like doing 1 on one meetings with students to be able to answer your questions and learn more about what you're interested in doing.

And also now that the dogs hush little bit, we also offer English language support so we do have an instructor for English as a second language. So for students who may be international or dual language learners that feel they still need to improve on their English language skills, her name is Jennifer France. She's a faculty member that I work very closely with and she teaches both writing and speaking courses along with a few other courses on campus. So if you are a dual language learner

we do have that support in place as well.

Any Eric did you want us to take questions now or maybe later?

Yes, so this would be an excellent opportunity for anyone that has questions rather linear. The sender in the International Education Office to send in a few questions of anything you'd like to know. I do have one question we got in advance that you maybe also to speak on and that is how difficult is it for students to travel home for Holidays or breaks? And what kind of resources do we have available for those students who aren't able to make the trip home?

So for students who are unable to make the trip home over breaks students are eligible to stay on campus during our Thanksgiving. Brakes are fall break and then also our spring break for winter break. That's a little bit longer if you're an international student or someone traveling from very far. We do have the possibility of allowing you to stay on campus. That's typically arrange with our office and residence life were completely understanding that you may not be able to return home for those longer breaks. As far as summer break, there are many positions on campus that recruit students too.

Do research or internships or other type of on campus work that would also allow you to stay at an on campus for the summer?

Thank you any other questions for either lunate or Lucinda.

I'm I have another question for you as well, with the zeal experiences and with the study away experiences. How do you believe those skills and reverses you gain from this experience are going to translate to what you continue on post alligator, whether that be Graduate School work or medical school. Law school on entering directly into the workforce or into some type of long term service program.

That's a great question, Eric. Um study away experiences students find we for study away itself through the semester. We do a reflection course with students after they return. Actually, to look at an answer. Those questions and for them to kind of think about it themselves of like, am I the same person or did I experience things that maybe, you know, tested me about two or change my.

Outlook on the world. Uhm, so in general students, the feedback from the reflection sessions as they feel they are more flexible, more open minded, more confident because they've been in that place, maybe where they don't speak the language or they don't quite understand the little culture and they need to ask more questions and try to find out more information more independent that way. And when they travel on their own, if they get time to travel, like on the weekends or over a study break, they definitely find that they become much more adaptable.

And just more observant to another ways. So all good skills to be able to talk about in the future. You know for medical school, for law school, for Graduate School, or for a job interview that way.

And my other comment you hear from students.

I think you covered it. Uhm, I would say the transformation TLE experience of studying abroad during your four years in college. It's something that in my opinion everyone should do.

Um, your parents might not be too happy about you going away once you've already went to college, but we're very happy to send you away again. Not that we don't want you at Allegany, but we want you to have that wonderful experience.

Definitely.

And we have a few more questions coming through. One the next questions from Charlie and you should have seen that pop up below in the chat box. But can anyone, regardless of their major study abroad through the study away program?

Yes.

Um?

Right?

That's a question, we go, we get quite often. Honestly, especially with pre Med students. Privett students or students who might be doing a 2 + 3 or 3 + 3. Absolutely we've had pre many, many premed student study away. We've had students that were doing a 3 + 2 program study away for an entire semester. So we work very, very closely with you. Anne also with your academic advisors on campus to ensure that you'll still graduate on time you'll complete on time. If you're doing a 2 + 3 or 3 + 3.

Whether that's you go for a semester or you do a shorter El experience or a summer internship, absolutely any major can study away.

And we do. We kind of enjoyed it a little bit already, but it's just important. The sooner you want to start thinking about, study away and start talking with us. Um, it's never too early, so if it's in your first year that you want to start meeting with us, we love meeting with students. You know the first semester. Just that way you can start to clean it out in your schedule for time, for money in your own activities that you want to be doing. Or if you're on a sports team or something back at school so we do help you map it out. We work closely with the professors just to make sure it's a good fit.

For your major and what you want to be doing that way.

The next question is kind of switching back to our international support opportunities, so Gabriel says I didn't catch the name of the actual program, but at what point can a student become a mentor for a global nomad? Can freshman do it, or do they need to be have been a student for at least a year?

So the program is called culture to culture. Uhm, we shorten it to C2C. And so you do need to be at least a sophomore to serve as a mentor. But it's something that we're open to discussing in when you come in that first semester. If you want to just see how the program is Formatted, you want to maybe come into a class and see what we would discuss in our class work. We're happy to have those discussions earlier. As Lucinda mentioned. Just like with study away, the sooner that you plan, the better.

And the next question again from Charlie goes, what if you're involved in clubs or team sports and want to study abroad?

Great question Charlie. That's a excellent question there, and we work with students all the time that are involved. You know a lot on campus or in club sport. Something here in team sports. That way the best advice really is just to plan ahead and think about you know if it's a sport like an athletic team, is it more of a spring sport? Are all sport if you want to go for a semester and you might want to try to go this muster, you know when there's no not games or not many competitions and thinking about two when you are away. If you need to start out in condition for your support.

Uhm, you know making sure it's a good fit in the program that you'll still be able to condition for your support that way, whether it's swimming or basketball, just making sure that those facilities, if you want them available, can be available for you. That way. Like Lydia mentioned, it might be better for some athletes. They find that the Eagles are actually better for them because their short-term and they don't interfere with the competition schedule as much, so that could also be a good fit. Or you know athletes. That way we work with athletes every semester to study away, and definitely on most of the else, there's always.

Couple of athletes going on each of those per trips. That way. Good question.

Thank you and I do have a follow-up question with the emails. Is there a limit to the amount of deals you can do while you're in Allegany? Students are able to do every single one? Or are you limited to maybe one or two while you're a student here on campus?

No limit, uhm. Most students would only do maybe 1 a year just because of the overlap on the when they occur and there is of course it does cost extra to be able to do the El. So you just want to plan money wise. That's a good fit for you to do it more than once. That way we have had students like when I said graduate during 2, three or even four times and equals. You can do an email during your first year and then as you haven't graduated yet, it's fine to do an email like over spring break of your senior year.

A lot of students, that's really nice people eat after your first year. Just that way you kind of. If you haven't been to another country before, it's a good way to go to another country for not too long of a time. You know two or three weeks. That way, get to see you and get to know the area and you know what it feels like to be in another country, maybe here in another language and then looking maybe the study away during your sophomore or junior year. Person master is kind of a nice way to build on your international experience.

But no limit for the yells.

Thank you alright. Do we have any last minute questions for either Lucander Linate? Before we transition to our next set of questions?

Uh-huh

You see, when it came in about the student majoring in economics, there is opportunity to study away with other majors than the one mentioned. Um, so a lot of the programs of the great question. A lot of the programs.

Are flexible for majors, so you could take one or two courses in your major and then other courses may be in your minor or another elective area. There are a few programs that are sponsored that are very specific, maybe for environmental science or a heavy language focus that might not be so good for economics, but a lot of it can depend on you know what you're planning to major in and minor in and how that fits together, and then how many courses, what you're recording and looks like for graduation. Some students actually finish all the requirements.

Before they study away, basically so they can take any class they want when they study away or go beat. Almost any program other students don't plan ahead as much or they have a very set curriculum. They need to follow to graduate or they plan to study away later. And so we have to work with the more closely to make sure they are getting courses they need. You know, slotted into the programs they're choosing.

Thank you, I believe that is what we got for you guys. Do either of you have some parting words or anything else you would like to say in rap up before you get to head off?

Yeah.

I think it was nice to virtually meet you all. Can't wait to meet you in person or really, really excited. Will probably see you quite a bit. Hopefully come and see us early if you have questions over the summer or you just want to learn more about study away or the services that are office offers to students, please absolutely send us an email. We're more than happy to set up virtual appointments if you also check my Allegheny. We often have what we call study away Poppins.

So you should know about once a week or once every other week. We will have a virtual meeting where you can pop in and ask any questions and learn more about study away.

Thank you.

Yes, thanks for joining us this afternoon for the session.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And thank you for you, both for joining us today and taking time out of your evening and now we're getting close to the 5:00 PM mark, but we very much appreciate you both joining us and speaking just both for the opportunities to get off campus and have some international experience and also what it's like to be a student who is an international student our global nomad coming to Meadville, thank you.

And up next, we're going to start to transition to her next set of discussion for today, we're going to be inviting up a few folks from our spiritual religious life, so I'm very happy to be able to invite out doctor Jane Ellen nickel doctor, Sammy outcome, and doctor Adrian Cone, who all each be able to share with you a little bit more about spiritual and religious life here at Allegany.

Well.

How about now?

Can you hear me alright? Sorry, um, I am very glad to not see you, but to know that you all are out there and to be able to share some information about spiritual religious life at Allegany College.

We see spiritual life is an area for lifelong growth and so we try to offer opportunities to encourage that during your time at Allegany College, we work with students of different religions, but also those who don't claim a specific religious identity. They may be exploring or feel alienated from organized religion. So our office seeks to support students who were in any of these situations or any other situation. We're not just here for religious students, but really for any student at the college.

The religious community has become much more diverse in the 14 years that I've been here, we recently added directores of Jewish and Muslim life Sammy and Adrian who will be speaking with you in just a minute. And In addition to the programs that they're going to describe, we have resources on campus and or in the community for students who are Christian and includes Catholic, evangelical, mainline Protestant Orthodox students, but also those who are Hindu Pagan you, you LDS Jehovah's Witnesses.

We have a lovely Chapel on campus and our first slide will show you a picture of our prayer and meditation retreat. It's freestanding house on campus. It has designated rooms for Hindu and Muslim prayer as well As for individual and small group meditation. So we try to work closely with students and provide ways that they can connect with religious communities in the area and on campus, but also maintain their religious practice. At Allegany College, we offer service projects in mission trips and interreligious events for students to interact and learn.

About the differences between and within religions, I could give you more specifics about some of these things, but I really don't want to rattle off a list of clubs and services that you can find on our website, so I will encourage you to visit our website and then contact us with any specific questions that you have. I would rather use the rest of my time to tell you about a couple of program areas where we offer programs to the larger campus community to give you a sense of the scope of our programming, an also how we seek to deal with the whole student.

Whether those students are religious or not.

First of all, is our mindfulness programming and again on the first slide that comes up there, you'll see Claude inch and Thomas.

Who is a Zen Buddhist monk who has been actually the next slide?

There's claw tension he has visited campus every couple years for a week or two, sometimes up to an entire semester. He offers meditation workshops and classes. This picture is actually of a sit in. He does several students when he's here, which are seated meditation sessions in the center of our campus center lobby. This helps participants to tune out the busyness around them. It also brings a sense of calm to that space. It's usually a hub of activity.

And then that other slide that first slide that came up will show you a couple of other mindfulness programs that we've done in the last few years. We had Tibetan monks who visited campus and created a sand Mandala in art Gallery over the week that they were here, and the Yuval Ron Ensemble was a group of Jewish, Muslim and Christian musicians and dancers from the Middle East who visited campus for two days. They lead dance workshops, music workshops and also offered a public performance. So those are just a few of the programs that we've offered to help students.

Develop more of a sense of mindfulness and engaging some meditation training.

The other program area that I wanted to talk about briefly is religion and sexuality we recognize the deep connection between spirituality and sexuality but also the harmful religious messages that LGB tikku a persons may have experienced from religious communities so on that first slide you'll see speaker who is a dear friend of ours Nancy Wilson.

Nancy is one of several speakers that we have brought to campus. She's in Allegany alarm and was for 12 years. The global leader of the MCC. the Metropolitan Community Church, which is a fully inclusive denomination. Nancy visits campus about every other year an during her time, she does lectures, visits, classes, meets 1 on one with students, often offering them a safe place to talk about some of their own experiences in some of their own pain. Involved with that spiritual and religious.

Or that spiritual and religious and.

Sexual connection, so the next slide then shows a couple of other speakers that we have brought to campus. The Reverend Doctor Pamela Lightsey who talked about the intersection of race, religion and sexuality and then Peterson Toscano who describes himself as a quirky Queer Quaker. He again talks about his upbringing. Is it even jellicle Christian? And also is more recently talking more about climate change? So sort of again intersectionality but also connection too.

Issues of concern in the larger.

Larger world and then the final slide is a picture of our office and our staff. You'll see there we have a space of the campus centered, so we try to keep it cozy and friendly. Place where students can just stop in for a few minutes in the middle of a busy day. Say hi to any staff who are here and just hang out on our sofa. We have a library of books you can check out or just read while you're here and then our staff. We draw from students from across campus, not just those involved in religious life. We want students.

Who can tell us what students from a range of interest across campus might need or want, but also they help us to get the word to students about what our office is offering. So I am going to stop there an let one of my colleagues take over next and tell you about their areas.

So you see me.

I know I think Rachel is first, I'm sorry it.

Adrian Adrian you're up.

Sorry.

Well, I'd never got too far then.

Take it away, Sam E.

Thank you very much. Um, thank you very much, Adrian. So again, my name is Sammy off I am. I'm in assistant professor of Arabic studies at Allegheny am also affiliated.

Faculty with International Studies um and also I'm the director of Muslim student life on campus as both my colleague Genelyn and Adrian Adrian mentioned earlier that this officer, this specific position. Basically the museum director position has been created recently and campus as a matter of fact, this is our first year to basically have a director who runs the student life in campus.

Uh, again to order and reiterate with Adrian has just mentioned about the percentage of our community. We are also a small portion, small community and the number of students who identify as Muslims and Allegheny are.

Less than 30 students and um, I've been told that there are some students who do not identify as Muslims, but you can probably tell from the names, or you know, like that they they are. You know that somewhere from the Muslim world, right?

So.

Let me just build and what my colleagues have mentioned in just give you a sense of what is. What is it that our office is built on and I always tell my students that our whether it's Muslim students or non Muslim students who come to our events. I said look our office is built on three major. When I call foundational pillars.

And these are the spiritual transformation the community building and education resources.

The first is reserved as my colleague Adrian mentioned, reserved to the Muslim students in campus which is this is, you know, like the time. This is the place where you basically get to, um, literally explore your.

Your spiritual life, right as a Muslim.

In one of the things that I'm going to read to you literally, you know a short message that I share with my students. the Muslim student specifically in our first meeting. This is something that I did last year. I'm planning to do I. I start by saying it, reminding them of what spiritual transformation is, and I'm going to read this. I did specifically writing.

In Islam, spiritual transformation is the core objective. Our purpose in what it means to be human. This is because the human being is more than just a material substance, right?

We are spiritual beings who must learn how to cultivate our spiritual well being as well.

Two half off and we tend to neglect the well being of our spiritual Life, which contribute to contribute to existential crises, unwanted anxiety, feelings of emptiness, and loss of purpose and etc. Right? So what should I tell? My students are the people that I work with, specifically students who who identify as Muslims. I say that spiritual transformation is slam occurs through basically four stages. The first is.

Certainty, certainty, certainty, in percent certainty and faith, and the 2nd is ethical practice in all spheres of behavior. And the third is the liberation of liberation and discipline of the conscience, and the 4th is demonstrating the best of most virtuous action for a given moment, right? So the idea is.

Um?

If if you know if if you are most students who identify as a Muslim, you will find all these kind of activities. Events of a sense of support that you might need. Here it is my hope that through these basically events that we offer in this belief that we have in our minds of what it means to be, you know, like a Muslim specifically an in a college or a liberal arts college.

It is my hope that these three pillars, as I said, would probably help you to find your own way of kind of building your spiritual or advance in depth. Hoping enhancing your spiritual life right?

So just to give you a sense of as I said, I don't know how much time I have. I have, um, one of the things out of some of the things that we do here, you know, regarding?

Some events we do have the Gemini gathering go to the gym at prayer, where Muslim students and non Muslims and as a matter fact gather in the Muslim or the prayer house. In you know some more often than not they eat lunch together, the product colleges.

Generous enough to have given us, uhm, you know, some fun for that in the Muslims pray jummah and talk about his lamb and things that they basically want to talk about. We have and this is something we have done last year and we are planning to continue. We have what we call Wednesdays happy hour T from 4:00 to 5:00 every Wednesday. Granted that we only get four or five students you know like to each one of these events that we've had.

Uh, with three of them last year because of what happened, so I had stop. We had a month. I was called the black Muslim awareness month. Um, the the goal that literally month and workshops and events that we basically ran during that month was too kind of, you know, like educate Muslims and non Muslims of what it means to be black but it also for Muslims specifically what it means to be black and Muslim in America.

Right?

Um, and also we were lucky enough to have a good religious studies program. As Adrian mentioned. As a matter of fact, she was the one who coordinated the visit of you know, leading scholar in Islamic studies unfortunately did not happen again because of what happened, but he was scheduled to be here on meet Suomi Cafi and we were eager to meet with him.

The Religious Studies Department, or uh and colleagues basically gave us the chance to meet with him and we we were scheduled to. But as I said, but these are the things that you expect. Basically, if you're Muslim or you know someone who who might consider consider coming to college, or if you are considering coming to college and you thinking of you know what would happen to me in this small liberal arts College in the middle of the north and part of set Pennsylvania.

Right?

And I'll stop here.

I'll just pop in and do. We have rescheduled Omid Snuffy for next year pending.

Ability to my Homie Tapi on campus.

Map.

Yeah.

I'm looking forward to see him again after see him campus.

Thank you.

Thank you, an endless is going to be a good time for folks to sending questions for any of our panelists who joined us today from spectrum digits life, I do have a beginning question for you all that was touched on a little bit throughout the presentation, but it's still believe you can speak on it a little bit more. What religious the opportunities are offered to algae need that can help with student explore a potential future sent around faith so a future in faith when that's you may not have that foundation entering Allegany.

We have a number of groups any of our groups are open to anyone. We have students who have come to faith when they have arrived at college have come in as one religion and convert it to something else while there. Here we have staff in our office. We never Catholic priest and Deacon who conduct classes.

Adrian are Sammy getting the one I'm sure handle instruction and their respective religions. We work closely with congregations in the community as well and pastors. I'm ordained, so I've worked with students who are have questions and certainly our goods are very welcome anyone at whatever level if they think I'm in eager to help them grow from whatever point they start at.

Thank you any other questions for our panel members.

Another question I have for you all is what kind of involvement might students have within the local Greenville community that might impact their faith experience.

Other happening today, so um.

Where the Jewish community is basically one community. So the Allegany community and the Meadville Jewish community are one entity, and we do everything together. So at our events we have, like I said, faculty and their families. We also have community members at those events and students, and anybody else needs to go. So there's not really.

I just, you know, down to using the same building, so there's not really any distinguishing between an Allegany Jewish community, enemy Ville Jewish community were also connected to the Jewish community up in Erie, where there are two synagogue communities. There are reform community in the conservative community, so we're connected. Figure into the rabbis and to the leadership there as well.

Yeah, the same thing with the Muslim community. Unfortunately, as I mentioned about the Jewish community here, we do not really have Muslim community outside of College of course in Meadville there is one in Erie simply because there are a lot of good number of basically.

A Muslim specifically, I know like immigrants from the from Phil Avanton, Iraq area in the Middle East, but other than that we really do not have, you know, like.

In the same community in Meadville.

In terms of Christian congregations, we have a number of students. Most of our students go to church off campus. We do have Catholic mass on campus in the evening, but some community members come to that because they prefer that you can mass. So most of our Christian students worship with community members as well, either on campus or off.

I did that leads into our next question. Well from Charlie. What classes and clubs are available to those who are Catholic?

So we have a woman club which meets once a week and as I mentioned, Catholic mass on Sunday evening, we do have a Catholic Deacon who serves as the adviser to that club. Ann also holds office hours and meets with our staff on a regular basis. We have a Catholic Campus Minister as well who's a local priest who serves mass on Sunday evening. So and that's a very active group. They do have a mission trip every year over winter break. They do a number of events. I always tell Catholic students they can get it.

So.

Involved it almost any level they can go to mass on Sunday evening go home. That can be it. They can be involved in leadership of mass. They can become to Newman meetings. They can take involvement in new in leadership so that that's the club, but most of our Catholic students are involved in although some of them also go to the other group Fellowship of Christian cleats, or sojourners or Allegany Christian Outreach, where they are interacting with students who are not Catholic but in a good way to learn some of the differences between Protestants and Catholics is involvement in those groups.

As far as classes, um, like I said, we have religious studies, major and minor. We actually have a new professor who's going to be joining us, coming in the fall.

My.

So she'll be teaching most of our Christianity correct? And of course, is our New Testament. She's teaching a course on religion in American life.

Geography courses, but we we offer the range of studies courses including Christianity studies courses.

So.

Thank you and it looks like we have one last question. How do you engage students in the activities you have in spiritual religious life? And how do you inform them of all the activities and clubs that over there? and I will chat so you can see that as well. Reread.

Probably the same way lots of groups were going to campus. We all have email lists, so there's a couple involvement fairs at the beginning of the year where every clobbering happens will have a table when you'll be able to go around and sign up for email list.

So getting on to email which is a good way to get information but also social media posters on campus, student to student word of mouth? Uh, there's there's all sorts of opportunities to learn what's going on.

Minutes.

Hello.

Hello Yes go ahead.

Yeah, I just wanted to say. I mean it's the blessing basically of being in a liberal arts College in a small college where you know it's not. It's really hard to connect with people. It's not hard to reach out to them. As Adrian mentioned, you know, like the classical way of reaching people via email is more than enough to you know.

Publicize or talk about or, you know, announce anything that you want to an end that you planning to have on campus, but you would see most of the time. It's really a word of mouth. Basically, you know, like you, just you know you have a friend. You talk to a friend, you have to tell them that there is this club or this event and then you will find that within an hour, then use a circulating around the whole college.

There is an opportunity with you enter to indicate a religious affiliation. We're working on that right now to to make it so. If you have more than one identity that you want to identify, you can do that. That way, if you want to make sure you hear what hell is doing if you wanna make sure you hear about Catholic programs, we will start with a list of students who identified by your particular religion. But then we always reach out.

As more widely through all of the things that my colleagues have mentioned.

Alright, thank you to you all on. I believe that is the remainder of the questions we have, but I thought you all to pass on any final words to our audience before you guys go on with the rest of your night.

Excited to meet you all.

Yes, we look forward to when we can do this in person, but we are always available. Our email addresses are on our website in any students. Welcome to reach out with questions at any point.

Thank you.

Alright, thank you all. That's going to bring us to a air. Our next set of panelists and our final setup analyst. So I'm very happy to invite Doctor Angelica Perez Johnston icon from the idea center to join us. So idea center is inclusion diversity equity access into the Social Justice Center on campus. So welcome doctor Johnson.

Yep.

OK.

And I'm Micah hunt. I also work in the idea center as the program coordinator in my pronouns or she, her hers.

The involvement fair.

There is always something going on, absolutely.

Sure, Yeah.

So, like we said there's a lot, that goes on. One of the things that's actually just like a physical part of the center is the mutual aid closet and that will it's free to use you can just come in pop in and take what it is that you need? Maybe it's laundry soap or toothpaste or whatever it is that you're running short on we've been super thankful to get some pretty good funding for this and so it's going to be. It's going to be stopped and available to whoever whenever you need it, you don't have to.

Not going to ask if you can take something, it's just there and it's for everyone to use, uhm?

And then, oh, Jason Fellows so.

One of the things that goes on in the centre is we have student workers and they're called the Jason Fellows and the short version is that they essentially help run the center. UM, and I think that what I really like about having student workers is that I can.

Really poor a lot into intentionally developing leaders are making sure that they're receiving like quality.

Like training and mentorship, and so it's just, I think what I think or least what I would hope that Jason doesn't say is that they they get a lot from it and that.

It's it's a great place to hang out and be so if you have to be at work, may as well be in the center and get it being a cool space where there's going to be lots of people coming by might have to feel the question or two, but uhm, I think it's. I think it's really awesome that they get to have such intentional mentorship and just like access sometimes first hand they get the first. They get to be in the know first I guess like there right there, helping us run the center so they might wanna have a new event that's going to happen 1st and get to help spread the word.

And things like that so.

I don't know. It's pretty powerful, great.

Ah.

I think so. Did we talk about cultural heritage month?

Sweet girls yeah everything.

Search

Wonderful, I'm so this again is going to be a great opportunity for you all to start submitting your questions now. I do have a couple of that word set in ahead of time for you all as well. So the first question is coming from India. Will they be are welcoming students event for the incoming freshman to help everybody feel welcomed?

Yeah.

Queue up the next question I have comes from Adeline and what kind of program do you have in place for support for people, minorities and what percentage of minorities attend Allegany college. So you did touch about this a little bit but not sure if you had anything else you wanted to share.

Maps

awareness.

Yes.

Next question I have is as we see lots of students who come into Allegany that have been very active in their high school or be me at their home charger home community in diversity and inclusion initiatives. Whether it's doing programs and holding events, creating their own types of programs, what kind of opportunities would students have to kind of bring their own personal passions on? Diversity, inclusion, social justice to alleghanian? How can they share that with others? Whether it be an opportunity to help create a program or leader, program or other opportunities like that.

Yeah.

The man behind the scenes and paperwork and figuring out like what form do we need to accomplish this goal? I'm I'm I'm, I'm your person for that, but I think like.

I think that there is not a single. If you were to choose to join a club there, I don't think there's a single club that would turn away help and passion and desires to really help with like figuring out programming and planning programming and getting speakers on campus in those things. They're always excited for that kind of individual to jump on and helping that, even if even as a first year they loved, have leadership like that. But I also like from what I know and understand like.

As long as you are passionate and willing to put in the work.

There is always a space to see like there's not a club that's meeting my needs, and I have a group of friends and we want to make a board and take all the steps that it takes to become recognized as a club. That's absolutely something that we would be happy to help walk you through.

Yeah.

Thank you can either view speakup on some of the resources. Students who identify under the LGB Tikku Plus umbrella may find support when it comes time for things like roommate pairings and finding appropriate housing.

Thank you, um, in another question we had was the earlier question with the travel back and forth between like New York and, say, Meadville.

I think.

Yes it was.

Alright, thank you very much. I believe that is the questions we collected, but do either of you have parting words or something else you would like to share with us before you sign of.-?

Yeah.

All of us on social media.

Alright, thank you both have a great rest of your day.

Thank you everyone see you soon.

Alright, so that brings us to the end of our web and R for today. Thank you so much for everybody who joined us and everyone who join us. You know past the end of their working day, for the panelists were very excited to see you all still engaging with us. During these times we have another great web and are coming up here pretty soon on May 20th at 6:00 PM. It's going to be a Q&A with President links of the president of Allegany College who will be collecting questions in a very similar format for you all with updates.

On the college and once again for me, you can always reach out to me if any questions or any of the other missions counselors on staff I'm Eric Stoler. I'm emissions counseling. The coordinator Multiculture recruitment. You can always go on our website allegheny.edu/admissions and find out who your specific admissions counselor is. But if you ask the question that we didn't get to or if you want to reach out at any point, you should get a message from your missions counselor after today just to check in and see how you're doing with that. I hope you all have a great rest of your day.

Thank you again for joining us today.