Lisa Slavovsky raises a call for justice at SPU’s Day of Common Learning.
Students serve internationally on SPRINT trips
This summer, through the Seattle Pacific Reachout International (SPRINT) program, students and instructors journeyed to serve all over the world. In Guatemala, they served in education and orphan care; in the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Southeast Asia, in community engagement; and in Uganda, in sports programs and education.
Student leaders support refugee aid efforts
This past year, Associated Students of Seattle Pacific chose to focus on activism and awareness of the global refugee crisis. During a February 16 panel, six professors from a variety of disciplines gathered to discuss “Our Response to the Refugee Crisis.” Speaking from the fields of psychology, engineering, theology, geography, literature, and political science, each shared facts, personal photos and interactions with refugees, and encouraged students to take action.
Discussions around race, diversity, and inclusion continue
As with many campuses around the nation, SPU students, faculty, and staff engaged in a series of ongoing discussions regarding issues of race, diversity, and inclusion. Several forums were held around campus, and task forces have been working towards change, particularly in light of the growth of a more diverse student body at SPU.
Industrial-organizational psychology students travel to India
Rob McKenna, chair and associate professor of industrial-organizational psychology, led graduate students to Hyderabad, India, with a team from the Center for Leadership Research and Development. This is the second time SPU has sent teams of professors, business people, and graduate students to India to partner with one of the first universities to offer graduate education to individuals from the tribal areas of India and the “untouchable population” in the caste system. On the ground in India, these teams worked with faculty establishing effective pedagogy, coaching nearly 50 students on presentation and interviewing skills, and helping the university establish its own foundation for fundraising and scholarships.
International Justice Mission specialist speaks at Day of Common Learning
Lisa Slavovsky, International Justice Mission’s aftercare specialist for commercial sexual exploitation casework, gave the keynote address at SPU’s 14th annual Day of Common Learning on October 21. She began a day full of lectures and presentations for SPU and the community with a lecture called “Who is My Neighbor?” She challenged the audience to embrace justice as more than an abstract ethical principle, but as the pursuit of relationships and the right use of power and authority, and as an embrace of the oppressed, the excluded, and the marginalized.
New Study Abroad programs set to launch
During the many study abroad programs scheduled for this next year, some students will be the first to venture on four new programs. This fall, a group of students will travel to China with Zhiguo Ye, assistant professor of history, and Doug Downing, associate professor of economics, to study “The Emergence of the Modern Global System,” and others will travel to Prague for a study of the holocaust with the History Department’s Rebecca Hughes. A winter 2017 study, “Climate Change: Chemical Basis and Financial Accountability,” will take place in New Zealand with Ross Stewart, dean of SBGE, and Daniel Schofield, assistant professor of chemistry, while another study led by Randy Franz, professor of management, will take students to Rome, Prague, and Paris to study “International Business in Europe.”
Students win top honors at Oxford program
SPU students Rebecca Wolfe and Katelyn Cobb were among the winners of the de Jager prizes for the Scholars’ Semester in Oxford during the fall of 2015, awarded by SCIO (Scholarship and Christianity in Oxford). The de Jager prizes are funded by a generous donation to SCIO from Geoffrey and Caroline de Jager who have a longstanding commitment to encouraging excellence in education and scholarship. Of her time in Oxford, Wolfe said, “My time with SCIO was personally and academically transformative. I learned so much about the world, and about myself, during my 14 weeks in Oxford that I consider myself deeply changed by the place, people, and program.”