宾州州立大学白兰地酒's 2019 Social Justice Fair featured various events and activities centered around "belonging."
媒体,爸爸. -宾州州立白兰地酒 伦理与公民参与中心 最近在校园举办了为期五天的社会正义博览会, featuring various events and activities throughout the week centered around the theme of this year’s event: belonging.
自成立以来, the center’s mission has been to develop pathways for students to become socially responsible leaders and citizens who are equipped with the self-awareness and skills to effectively create positive change in the world. Many of the students involved with the center also complete a 辅修公民和社区参与.
“I knew that I wanted to focus on issues of belonging on this campus and in the larger community,Vippy Yee说, Rosenberg Director of the 伦理与公民参与中心. “I felt like this was a theme that all members of our community could relate to and that there would be many opportunities and ways in which we could bring the campus and community together to discuss issues of belonging, reflect upon our sense of belonging and envision ways in which we could create a sense of belonging at 宾州州立大学白兰地酒.”
为为期一周的博览会拉开序幕, students were encouraged to share what belonging means to them through a mural located in the campus’ Student Union. Throughout the day, they wrote messages on the mural that described how they felt like they belonged.
白兰地酒学生Duc Luong, who works as an intern for the 伦理与公民参与中心, shares what belonging means to him on the Social Justice Fair mural.
第二天, students presented projects at a poster session for the campus community and outside guests that highlighted how they’ve created a sense of belonging on campus and within the local community.
白兰地酒学生Duc Luong, who works as an intern for the 伦理与公民参与中心 and helped organize several of the fair’s events, said this year’s theme was very fitting because “your sense of belonging can affect how you perform in college. If you don’t connect with the campus community, it becomes harder to succeed.”
第三天的主题是全球对话午餐, which is a Brandywine discussion series where students of diverse cultural backgrounds share their global experiences and perspectives on different life topics. 在活动中, students talked about how their cultural backgrounds influence their sense of belonging. That evening offered a dinner and screening of the movie “The Hate U Give,，然后是小组讨论.
第四天的活动, 叫做“通过对话建立联系”," allowed students to connect with each other through structured conversations about identity and belonging. 这次活动向学生们展示了如何相互联系, respect and connect with others regardless of their differences. 第四天还有“归属感之声”活动, where students listened to recordings of their peers discussing what it means to belong at Penn State and within society.
Brandywine的学生Chloe和Claudia Przybylski, who both played an integral role in planning "连接ing through Conversations" and presented at day two’s poster session, valued having a forum where discussions about belonging could take place.
Brandywine students Chloe (left) and Claudia Przybylski played an integral role in planning 连接ing through Conversations and also presented at the fair's poster session.
“Belonging isn’t something students actually get the chance to openly talk about in a normal setting,克劳迪娅说。. “我们都知道这很重要, but it was nice to have the opportunity to discuss it with our peers, 以及教职员工.”
“Some students might shy away from conversations like this because they don’t want to feel judged,克洛伊说。. “This event gave them an opportunity to safely express their feelings and beliefs.”
在集市的最后一天, students connected with one another at the Community Day event, which featured Penn State Berkey Creamery ice cream and games outside of the Student Union.
“One of my goals was to bring people together and create opportunities for people to learn more about each other and build upon or find new connections,Yee说。. “I believe that each of the programs met that goal and often brought people together who wouldn't normally be in the same spaces.”
