Join us on Saturday, March 13th from 12-3 PM in the LSC Conference Room for an afternoon of exploration, conversation, and action as we examine how to be academically resilient in the midst of the pandemic. There will be guided reflection exercises, opportunities to send positive messages to grade school children at our community partner sites, and sweet treats for all who attend.

This event is free and open to all students, but registration is required.

Thinking about a year of service? Register for this Spring's Post-Grad Volunteer Fest presented by Catholic Volunteer Network. The Volunteer Fest takes place on March 8-12, 8pm - Midnight! The events will be hosted virtually on Remo.co.

Register here. For more information, click here.

Eyes to See: An Anti-Racism Examen

The Examen, or Examination of Consciousness, is an anchor of Ignatian Spirituality, helping to instill in us a practice of daily reflection to be aware of our choices and make decisions that better the world. In response to the outrage of lives lost at the hands of the police, the AJCU developed this Anti-Racism Examen to engage in reflective practice to focus on issues of race and racism, especially at Jesuit colleges and universities. Jesuits all over are calling on us to connect our personal reflections through these Examens with institutional action – leading to our individual transformation and the transformation of our institutions.

The video above sets the tone for the Anti-Racism Examen, which you can find here. Please consider working through the Examen with your colleagues and peers, especially as we collectively seek to change our institutions and society for the better.

The DEI Division is encouraging ALL members of the JCU community to sign up for the 21-Day Racial Equity and Social Justice Challenge this March!

Join here, and donate here.

The Challenge is designed to create dedicated time and space to build more effective social justice habits, particularly those dealing with issues of race, power, privilege, and leadership. Each day of the challenge you will be presented with activities such as reading an article, listening to a podcast, reflecting on personal experience and more. Participation in an activity like this helps us to discover how racial injustice and social injustice impact our community, to connect with one another, and to identify ways to dismantle racism and other forms of discrimination. The Challenge starts on Monday, March 1st and continues (Monday–Friday) through March 29th. It is sponsored by the YWCA of Greater Cleveland.

The Beaudry Award is given to the graduating senior who has been elected by the senior class as most deserving of this honor. The award is the only student award presented at Commencement exercises in May.

More information about the history of the award and previous winners is available HERE.

Nominations are due Friday, March 12 at 5 pm. Click HERE to nominate a deserving senior!

"Plastic Warriors" Virtual Showing & Discussion

Environmental Issues Group (EIG), in collaboration with Student Government, is excited to invite you to a showing of the 10-minute documentary "Plastic Warriors" featuring Kristal "Ocean" Ambrose that explores how plastic waste affects our world by showcasing plastic clean-up in the Bahamas. The Campus Ministry Sustainability Interns hope to hold a showing and group discussion on Zoom on Mon., March 8 at 7 pm ET about plastic pollution and the efforts to combat it.

Watch for more details on the JCU Sustainability Instagram. Contact Caitlin Kenney with any questions.

To learn more about the Plastic Warriors, click here.

This conference is FREE of charge. To learn more, visit www.LUC.edu/climatechange, or click here to register.

Follow us on social media to get the latest news from CSSA, learn about upcoming opportunities, find ways to stay connected and engaged, read posts by featured students, and learn about all of the great things happening in the Center for Service and Social Action! We post frequent updates daily, so be sure to stay tuned in!

Instagram: @jcu_cssa

Facebook: @JCUCSSA

Twitter: @jcu_cssa

LinkedIn: JCU Center for Service and Social Action

Our #MyMagisMessage for the week comes from Caitlin Drake, a junior Early Childhood Education major and Spanish/Peace, Justice, & Human Rights minor from Stow, OH!

Caitlin has served as a liaison with served Esperanza, Youth for Justice at St. Thomas Aquinas and Fatima Family Center. Before becoming a liaison, she served at the Northeast Reintegration Center, Cleveland School for the Arts, and the Intergenerational School.

Living the Magis, to me means looking beyond myself and those directly around me and to seek those who need support or who are marginalized. Living the Magis is not just talking about the problem and how terrible it is, but it is stepping in to better understand not only the problem but to understand the people of who the problem impacts. To hear the stories of struggle, pain and oppression is difficult but we cannot do the Magis if we do not understand the realities and empathize with those whom we are serving in our communities.

I also think that we cannot serve others unless we have heard their stories, listened to their struggles and empathized with them. Without that key step of building a relationship with those we serve, it is hard to understand how that person or community would best benefit from our services. It is like just putting a band-aid on a wound. Yes, that band-aid will help the wound, but it also needs to be cleaned and needs Neosporin to help it heal faster and stronger. And with this, we are also finding the difference of service "for" others compared to service "with" others. That difference is that service with others is nurtured through a relationship and story sharing to better understand the situation at hand and how service can best be done to make a strong and even emotional impact.

Through my service at Esperanza last semester, I built that strong and emotional impact with the adults whom I was tutoring and helping learn English. It was the relationships that I built with our students and the time I took patiently to understand them, hear about where they were from and talk about their families. At the end of our time together we were sad that our weekly tutoring sessions were over, we wanted to stay connected and I was so proud of the progress that the students had made in the English speaking skills.

Service has undoubtedly been the motivation behind my career plans. After immersion experiences and service experiences, especially at Esperanza with people seeking to learn English in the United States and even right in our Cleveland neighborhood. I became passionate about the challenges that learners of the English language face. And because of that passion, I discovered that I want to teach English as a second language to those living in the United States. Specifically, I would love to work in an elementary school with a high population of English Language Learners or students who are immigrants or refugees. I want to help them better and more easily assimilate to life in the United States as their teacher. I am excited to continue to do the Magis in my community and to learn more stories about those whom I serve to really understand who they are so that I can best serve them. Building these relationships is almost more rewarding than the service itself which is why it is something that I will continue to do for as long as I can.