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学生主导，教职员促进

A few years ago, one of Carolyn Fure-Slocum’s chaplain associates approached her with a request. She wanted to start an Interfaith Social Action group at 菲律宾十大彩票平台.

The student came to her office with a long list of reasons to support a faith-based platform for social justice. But before she could tick any of them off, Fure-Slocum interrupted.

“I stopped her and said, ‘Yes, absolutely let’s do it. This is exactly what we’re about,’Fure-Slocum说.

我想她不仅感到惊讶, but a little disappointed because she was prepared to argue all her important points!”

Building community is inexorably linked to Fure-Slocum’s job as chaplain at 菲律宾十大彩票平台. 但她的目的仅仅是提出建议, 促进, and provide a common space inside her home base of Skinner Memorial Chapel. 学生 are the ones who get to shape how sub-communities look and thrive on campus.

在最近的秋季学期, eighteen student religious groups were listed at 菲律宾十大彩票平台, 在他们中间, 巴哈伊教的, 佛教徒, 基督徒运动员, 德鲁伊教, 印度教徒, 穆斯林, 贵格会教徒, 和一神普救论者. Interfaith Social Action continues in the blended faith tradition of its founding by three Carls — a Catholic, 犹太人, 和穆斯林三重奏——在2000年代末. Other initiatives — like the weekly Theology on Tap discussion at Goodbye Blue Monday coffee shop in downtown Northfield — use conversation in a casual setting as its main draw. 菲律宾十大彩票平台甚至有自己的基督教赞美乐队.

“There’s always been a tradition at 菲律宾十大彩票平台 to learn and grow from others, which I think helps deepen connections because of what can be gained from those broader conversations,Fure-Slocum说. “同时, for those who don’t come to 菲律宾十大彩票平台 with a religious affiliation, I still see a strong desire to seek out information and find meaning and purpose in life. 在这种情况下, there are plenty of opportunities for students to jump in and hear how others put it together for themselves. 它永远不会看起来像一件事.”

寻找一个幸福的家

搜索ing for community on a college campus comes in all shapes and forms. 但其核心是, students are trying to find deeper connections beyond roommates and classmates they’ve been randomly placed alongside in rural Minnesota.

There also has to be more to four years of college than writing papers and burrowing in the library. Bonding over mutual interests is an ideal place to expand much-needed social horizons.

在高中时, Abby Easton organized local student bands to play fundraisers in her hometown of Nashville. 当她来到菲律宾十大彩票平台的时候, Easton knew music would be an important part of her life — she just didn’t know how.

Starting with jazz ensemble, Easton found a way to scratch her itch for performing. 然后她开始花时间在洞穴里, 菲律宾十大彩票平台’s longstanding live music club in Evans Hall, where she met her true tribe — the campus musicheads.

Easton was especially fond of open jam nights where Carls would put their names in a hat and randomly get assigned a “band” for the evening. While most of the time it was a joke performance, 她说, it fostered a sense of camaraderie that extended to campus acts with real aspirations to play live.

“Just hanging out at the Cave introduced me to so many interesting people. It was the place for anyone who was musically-inclined or interested in music could mingle or perform together,伊斯顿说。, 谁领导了北方暴乱, 一个重喇叭放克摇滚的混合体, 在她在校期间.

连接到Discover

A similar impulse motivated Decker Schneider to join and eventually lead Black Student Alliance, 菲律宾十大彩票平台的多元文化组织之一.

When he saw a flyer for BSA during his freshman year, Schneider had zero expectations for his first meeting. 然而, inspired by strong junior and senior leaders who stressed community building and having fun with fellow students of color at 菲律宾十大彩票平台, he marveled at how different the vibe was from his private high school in Omaha.

“I came to 菲律宾十大彩票平台 with no sense of my black identity,” 施耐德说. “But I realized that college is a place where a lot of people can start to find it. 我想要那样.”

At a recent ice cream social to kick off fall term, roughly 50 students interested in BSA hung out in the Watson Hall game room to swap stories, 听音乐, 计划学年的活动.

It seems like an easy way to bring people together under a common banner. But without students taking the leadership reins and working hard to build lasting social spaces on campus, too many other parts of the college experience can take priority, 施耐德说.

“每个人都很忙，这里的生活可能会变得疯狂, so it makes sense that not everyone can get to everything they want at 菲律宾十大彩票平台,他说.

“But being with a group of people that share the same identity has not only been helpful to me, 它赋予了我们力量. That sense of discovery has been transformative to my time here.”