Tag: Kyle Burgess ’21
Delicious Dishes from Around the World: PC Cultural Clubs Celebrate Diversity
by The Cowl Editor on December 6, 2018
Campus
by Kyle Burgess ’21
News Staff
In keeping with a week full of themed cuisine nights sponsored by Providence College’s numerous student-run cultural clubs, Friartown’s Circolo Italiano brought the flavors of the Bel Paese to McPhail’s this past Tuesday. Students had a wide array of traditional Italian dishes to choose from, such as chicken and eggplant parmesan, gnocchi, penne and broccoli, and desserts like cannolis and cheesecake.
Mangia Night continues to be a fan-favorite of students at PC as it has been for the past eight years. “What first inspired it was the traditional Sunday dinner which a lot of Italians do at home,” explained Felicia Lopez ’19, vice president of the club. “We wanted a way to bring our Friar Family and Italian culture together, hence why we invented Mangia as a means of keeping this tradition alive here on campus.”
Il Circolo also has several functions in the works to continue sharing and showcasing their Italian heritage with the student body. On Thursday, December 6, for example, the club plans to collaborate with the College’s Italian department to host a day of celebration of Italian heritage in Sullivan 212.
Additionally, the club hopes to ring in St. Joseph’s Day with zeppoles and other Italian pastries this coming March, along with a wine tasting event next semester for those 21 and older.
Alongside PC’s Italian club, other student organizations such as Campus Ministry, the Gaelic Society in partnership with Students Obtaining the Meaning of Spanish (SOMOS), and the Board of Multicultural Student Affairs (BMSA) also held food-related events this past week.
Campus Ministry held a beignet run on Thursday, November 29 that helped raise funds for their upcoming NOLA immersion trip in 2019. This trip allows students to take part in working alongside the New Orleans community that is still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
BMSA hosted Cheesefest in ’64 Hall on Monday, November 26, to share cheese-themed dishes from around the world with the student body. BMSA holds this event every year, making it a fun-filled and delicious event the PC student body always looks forward to.
“Cheesefest is an annual opportunity for PC to come together to celebrate the glory of cheese as well as eleborate culture and explore the tradition of food in various cultures and places around the world,” Hannah Mackie ’19, vice president of BMSA.
Other on-campus events included a potato mash co-sponsored by PC’s Gaelic Society and SOMOS, which showcased traditional dishes of Irish and hispanic cultures. “We really loved the opportunity to co-sponsor with SOMOS because there are so many fantastic cultures represented on this campus and BMSA gives us a chance to show them to the greater PC community,” explained Camille Greaney ’19, vice president of Gaelic Society. “I have always found that sharing food is a great way to come together and what better food to share than potatoes!”
With the semester coming to a close and finals just around the corner, these clubs have helped students take a break from the workload to enjoy some good food and learn more about the cultures at PC.
Delicious Dishes from Around the World: PC Cultural Clubs Celebrate Diversity
by The Cowl Editor on December 6, 2018
Campus
by Kyle Burgess ’21
News Staff
In keeping with a week full of themed cuisine nights sponsored by Providence College’s numerous student-run cultural clubs, Friartown’s Circolo Italiano brought the flavors of the Bel Paese to McPhail’s this past Tuesday. Students had a wide array of traditional Italian dishes to choose from, such as chicken and eggplant parmesan, gnocchi, penne and broccoli, and desserts like cannolis and cheesecake.
Mangia Night continues to be a fan-favorite of students at PC as it has been for the past eight years. “What first inspired it was the traditional Sunday dinner which a lot of Italians do at home,” explained Felicia Lopez ’19, vice president of the club. “We wanted a way to bring our Friar Family and Italian culture together, hence why we invented Mangia as a means of keeping this tradition alive here on campus.”
Il Circolo also has several functions in the works to continue sharing and showcasing their Italian heritage with the student body. On Thursday, December 6, for example, the club plans to collaborate with the College’s Italian department to host a day of celebration of Italian heritage in Sullivan 212.
Additionally, the club hopes to ring in St. Joseph’s Day with zeppoles and other Italian pastries this coming March, along with a wine tasting event next semester for those 21 and older.
Alongside PC’s Italian club, other student organizations such as Campus Ministry, the Gaelic Society in partnership with Students Obtaining the Meaning of Spanish (SOMOS), and the Board of Multicultural Student Affairs (BMSA) also held food-related events this past week.
Campus Ministry held a beignet run on Thursday, November 29 that helped raise funds for their upcoming NOLA immersion trip in 2019. This trip allows students to take part in working alongside the New Orleans community that is still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
BMSA hosted Cheesefest in ’64 Hall on Monday, November 26, to share cheese-themed dishes from around the world with the student body. BMSA holds this event every year, making it a fun-filled and delicious event the PC student body always looks forward to.
“Cheesefest is an annual opportunity for PC to come together to celebrate the glory of cheese as well as eleborate culture and explore the tradition of food in various cultures and places around the world,” Hannah Mackie ’19, vice president of BMSA.
Other on-campus events included a potato mash co-sponsored by PC’s Gaelic Society and SOMOS, which showcased traditional dishes of Irish and hispanic cultures. “We really loved the opportunity to co-sponsor with SOMOS because there are so many fantastic cultures represented on this campus and BMSA gives us a chance to show them to the greater PC community,” explained Camille Greaney ’19, vice president of Gaelic Society. “I have always found that sharing food is a great way to come together and what better food to share than potatoes!”
With the semester coming to a close and finals just around the corner, these clubs have helped students take a break from the workload to enjoy some good food and learn more about the cultures at PC.
PC Administration Addresses Ongoing Church Scandals
by The Cowl Editor on November 29, 2018
Campus
by Kyle Burgess ’21
News Staff
In an email addressed to the Providence College family back in August, the College’s Acting President Father Kenneth Sicard, O.P., along with Vice President Father James Cuddy, O.P., brought up the growing turmoil within the Roman Catholic Church regarding instances of abuse towards minors and young adults by clergymen, along with their various cover-ups.
These cases have sparked a widespread sense of indignation for the lack of justice for victims and their families, with many Catholics actively questioning the credibility of the Church and its moral authority as it seemingly turns a blind eye to the issue.
This resentment echoed across campus here at PC with many community members expressing their anger and sense of betrayal at those who are in charge of their spiritual nurturing, so much so that the College’s Catholic and Dominican identities have been called into question.
In an effort to reach a common ground on this complex issue as well as identify how to resolve it here on campus, Fr. Sicard and Fr. Cuddy urged the entire community, including Dominicans, faculty, staff, alumni, and students, “to work together toward rebuilding a Church which, in many ways, has been deeply wounded.”
On Nov. 19, Fr. Sicard and Fr. Cuddy provided the school with an update to their original note, detailing the measures that have been incorporated by the community to address this traumatic experience within the Church.
In the months that have followed that first letter, the Office of Mission and Ministry held various meetings regarding the steps which could be taken to provide an adequate response to the recent scandals.
These “brainstorming sessions,” spearheaded by Mr. Bob Pfunder, associate vice president for mission and ministry, along with Dr. Aurelie Hagstrom, Christie chair in Catholic and Dominican studies, united faculty and staff members in sharing their own experiences regarding the scandal and how it should be addressed by the College.
One solution put forward by the committee was the institution of three listening sessions within the next few weeks encouraging the participation of all members of the PC community.
Additionally, lectures and discussions will be held next semester with the intentions of “contemplating the scourge of abuse in the Church so as to work together to rebuild our wounded Church.”
There will even be a scheduled lunchtime Advent retreat series called Waiting on God, which is designed to reiterate the coming of Jesus Christ, in a time of darkness and uncertainty within the Catholic and PC communities.
The email concluded by re-emphasizing the Dominican commitment to appropriately address allegations of sexual misconduct experienced by members of the PC community and providing resources for victims of such behavior, including Title IX Coordinator Dr. James Campbell (james.campbell@providence.edu; 401-865-2676), or the Victims’ Assistance Coordinator for the Dominican Province of St. Joseph, Ms. Theresa Rodriguez (vac@opeast.org; 518-573-8254).
“Oh, the Leader You Are!”: Orientation and Residence Life Staffs Hold Information Sessions
by The Cowl Editor on November 15, 2018
Campus
by Kyle Burgess ’21
News Staff
While their classmates and peers were busy soaking up the summer sun beachside and unwinding from a demanding academic school year, the members of Residence Life and orientation leadership staffs set out to help welcome Providence College’s largest class to date as the newest residents of Friartown.
Over the course of June advising and registration days, in addition to fall orientation, Orientation Leaders (OL) and Resident Assistants (RA) alike took part in various team-building activities. These activities allowed them to make friendships to last the course of their tenure at PC and beyond as they assisted the class of 2022 in adjusting to college life.
In the blink of an eye, those dog days of summer have transformed into the crisp, autumn months, and with the change in seasons comes the return of the application process for potential members of the 2019 orientation and Residence Life staff.
To acquaint returning staff members and potential rookies to the changes made in the process of this year, as well as what to expect in the year to come, both departments held information sessions marketing their respective positions.
“We’re not looking for leaders to fit into a specific mold,” explained Leslie Heller ’02, director of Orientation, Transitions and Leadership at PC. “We seek applicants from different class years, majors, backgrounds, and personal experiences.”
Heller also shared the College’s intentions to field their most diverse staff yet as they look to fill all 175 leadership roles of the orientation and Residence Life staff.
Additionally, one does not need leadership experience to apply as an OL or RA as candidates are selected to complement the strengths of one another.
While participants in summer and fall orientation leadership take on many responsibilities in acting as ambassadors of the College, the perks to joining this talented and inclusive organization are also numerous.
“Orientation has been the greatest experience that I’ve had while at PC,” recalled Orientation Coordinator Allison Schmidt ’19. “Not only did it help me to develop my leadership skills, but it has also given me friends for a lifetime. It is something I already miss very dearly!”
Work as an RA is equally rewarding, as Evan Mastroianni ’21 puts it. “This position makes you feel as though you are truly connected to the school more intimately than normal students are,” Mastroianni noted. “It gives you the opportunity to act as a resource and model for the student body to help others succeed at every level in college life.”
Applications and recommendation forms can be found on the MyPC Portal and are due Friday, November 30 by 4:30 p.m.
Electric Scooters Appear at PC
by The Cowl Editor on November 9, 2018
Campus
By Kyle Burgess ’21
Over the course of Providence College history, the preferred methods of transportation available to PC students have been a leisurely walk across campus or the occasional golf cart ride for those fortunate enough to hitch one.
This has all changed, however, with the recent addition of electric scooters. These scooters have been added to the traveling repertoire of many students, who have been seen whizzing around Friartown on their new sets of wheels both on and off campus.
The scooters are part of the vision laid out by the creators of JUMP Bikes to create on-demand electric bikes and scooters to help customers “take you farther, get there faster, and make every ride fun” as stated on the company’s website.
JUMP services are provided through its parent company, Uber, the well-known technology platform allowing users to request rides from on-demand private drivers.
Since Uber’s takeover of JUMP in early 2018, electric bikes and scooters have burst onto the transportation scene across the country in cities like Sacramento, Los Angeles, Austin, Chicago, New York, and now Providence.
JUMP clients are charged $2 for the first half hour of usage and then $0.07 afterwards for the chance to cruise in the slick-painted scooters with a top speed of 20 mph.
Despite peaked interest in the eco-friendly platform amongst students, PC has urged community members to adhere to its policies regarding motorized vehicles.
In an email from the Office of Public Safety sent out to the PC community on Nov. 5, students were reminded that the use of motorized forms of transportation on campus is prohibited, which includes JUMP’s e-scooters.
As such, it is likely that we will experience a gradual drop in scooter sightings at PC as the school year progresses.
BELIEVE in Equality: New Club Advocates for Students with Disabilities
by The Cowl Editor on November 1, 2018
Campus
By Kyle Burgess ’21
As Providence College students usher in a new school year, many new student organizations have burst onto the social scene on campus.
One organization is BELIEVE, which aims to advocate f-or PC students with disabilities. Members seek to “Be Educated, Live with Inspiration, and Evaluate Equity” (BELIEVE) through their meetings and campaign events, thereby helping spread their message of equality to members of the College community.
“The name of the club came to me when I was thinking of words I most closely strongly relate to,” explained Jacquie Kelley ’20, president of BELIEVE.
“I have always believed that my disability would not stand in the way of what I wanted to do with my life.”
Upon a visit to Boston Children’s Hospital during her senior year of high school, Kelley learned that she would completely lose the capability to walk due to her disability. She revealed that she struggled with this news, but eventually the word “believe” repeated over and over in her head as she set out to overcome the hurdle placed before her.
“I wanted ‘believe’ to be an acronym for the club, one that demonstrates the importance of being educated in the changes you want to see be made,” Kelley elaborated. “Evaluating equity is important as well because what one person needs in order to succeed is not necessarily what another needs.”
To Kelley and other members of BELIEVE, it is essential that PC students and staff where students may feel the campus is not accesible to them, and that this new club be used as a channel to vocalize these desires to the community at large.
Although she’s been campaigning for such an organization since her freshman year, Kelley was finally able to make her dream a reality this year as many current freshmen empathized with her struggles and wanted to see BELIEVE succeed at PC.
The club is currently waiting to present their vision to Student Congress after having met success with the Clubs and Organizations Committee. No disabilities are required to join the organization and all are welcome in becoming fellow believers here at PC.
Featured Friar: Korey Lord ’21
by The Cowl Editor on October 25, 2018
Features
by Kyle Burgess ’21
From overseeing fundraisers, to meeting with event committees made up of their peers in order to formulate ideas for student functions, class presidents often find themselves faced with a wide array of responsibilities.
As president of the class of 2021, Windham, New Hampshire native Korey Lord ’21 is no stranger to sitting in the hot seat.
Despite the daunting illustration of work behind the political scene at Providence College, Lord was not dissuaded from running for office.
“I realized that many students, myself included, were unaware of what Student Congress really did here at PC, who our leaders actually were,” Lord recalled. “I wanted to change the culture of congress by stepping into an active role and creating a friendly environment between students and their representatives.”
Over the course of his personal involvement in Student Congress, Lord has gotten to connect more deeply with his 100 fellow members of Student Congress here at PC.
Lord explained that, despite their different paths to congress, every representative shares a common desire to be the voice of their classmates and they all care for their peers. “Each member shares a different story and it motivates me to think that what we’re doing is special,” Lord added.
In keeping with the unique identities represented throughout Congress, Lord prides himself in his unique genetic makeup.
Lord not only boasts having red hair and blue eyes, but is also a leftie, which makes him part of a 1.7 percent segment of the world’s population with these three qualities. “I did a lot of research for fun facts in the weeks leading up to freshman orientation,” Lord admitted.
He was able to turn the tables this past summer and act as an Orientation Leader for the incoming freshman class and ask his group members to share their own fun facts to the group.
In addition to juggling the many duties that come with being class president, Lord also hopes to add a political science major to his current accounting major.
Following life in Friartown, he hopes to relocate to the D.C. area and enter the political arena there.
He explained, “I want to continue to see myself helping out others like I’m doing here. I’m not in it for the money, just for the opportunity to give back to the community.”
For now, however, Lord is content with being the friendly face of Student Congress and an ambassador for the class of 2021.
“I’ve been able to make 100 new friends through my involvement and find an outlet to share my compassion for my classmates,” he remarked.
“I definitely recommend congress to anyone who wants to be a voice for their peers and meet students who share this passion.”
Lord is looking forward to enjoying his next several years at PC.