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THELOQUITUR.COM
THURSDAY, SEPT. 17, 2015
VOL. LVII, ISSUE 2
Campus diversity grows rapidly The class of 2019 was reported to have 393 students and is currently the most diverse class to date.
AMERICAN INDIAN
ASIAN BIRACIAL AFRICAN AMERICAN HISPANIC NATIVE HAWAIIAN CAUCASIAN
GRAPHICS BY JILL NAWOYSKI
BY CECELIA HECKMAN Staff Writer Based on the current student records as of Sep. 4, 2015, the diversity of the class of 2019 increased by 42 percent over the class of 2018. “I think the campus diversity is evident. Everyone’s talking about it,” said Dr. Donald Taylor, president of Cabrini College. This year’s incoming class at Cabrini is more diverse than those of the past, in accordance with Taylor’s plan for the future. “The diversity is important because we are an inclusive community,” Taylor said. “It is part of our mission as a Cabrini institution, because the college was founded to serve immigrants and first-generation students. It’s like Mother Cabrini’s message living out.” Cabrini College’s mission statement reads, “The College welcomes learners of all faiths, cultures, and backgrounds and prepares them to become engaged citizens of the world.” Taylor strives not only to welcome a diverse group of students, but to celebrate them through inclusiveness. His Cabrini 2020 Roadmap to Growth explains that his goal is to eventually become a Hispanic-serving institution. Being recognized as a Hispanic-serving institution involves reaching 25 percent Hispanic enrollment. Cabrini’s admissions office was tasked with this mission to increase the diversity of the student body over the past year. Shannon Zottola, Executive Director of admissions, said, “We did have a plan in place. We hired two new multicultural recruiters in the start of the recruitment cycle for 2015.” Angie Martinez and Sandra Vasquez, Cabrini’s multicultural recruiters, were hired in September of 2014. “They were both charged with increasing our numbers within diversity, particularly with Hispanic recruitment,” Zottola said.
Along with the multicultural recruiter positions, a new position was created in the Office of Student Diversity Initiatives in order to stress the importance of diversity and promote acceptance throughout campus. “Everybody has a stake in developing community and respect, and so we all need to be talking and thinking about diversity,” Sarah Carter, assistant director of programming for the student diversity initiatives office, said. Carter’s job in the office involves working with students and coming up with programming that addresses diversity and acceptance throughout campus. The Office of Student Diversity Initiatives works with students from all backgrounds and strives for inclusion of all students. A junior psychology major, Cheyenne Irizarry, is one of the many students who works with the Student Diversity Office. This year, she is an Advisory Council for Inclusivity and Diversity, or ACID, leader on campus and represents the office through this position. On the increased diversity that took place this year, Carter said, “I think it’s a wonderful thing. I feel like with all the diversity everyone can come together as one and start to understand each other better.” Though the diversity of the student population throughout Cabrini has almost doubled since 2008, the college does not want to stop their efforts to increase diversity in enrollement. They hope to continue to grow in diversity each year moving forward. With such success in diversifying the student body, a movement will soon begin to diversify the rest of the campus, as well. “We have to continue to diversify our trustees, administration, faculty and staff, along with the students,” Taylor said. “Then, the students see role models for themselves in the classroom, in the offices, et cetera.” CECELIAHECKMAN@GMAIL.COM
Campus welcomes 12 new professors BY KATIE BRIANTE Staff Writer This year, the members of the class of 2019 are not the only ones who are starting their journey at Cabrini. The college has taken on 12 new faculty members, one of the largest group of new hires ever recorded. “There’s actually several reasons [for the new hires],” Dr. Mary Harris, the Dean for Academic Affairs, said. “We had quite a few faculty that have retired...so some of them are replacement for those faculty.” She also mentioned that a few of the new faculty were for the new Leadership and Organizational Development Department. This department contains the new doctoral program in organizational development, the masters of Science and Leadership program and the Leadership Studies minor and degree completion program. In addition to the new department’s programs, there’s also a new education doctoral program in Educational Leadership and a new masters in Religious Studies. To find the candidates for the new positions, each department head chairs the search and department faculty help review resumes and conduct interviews. Once they are down to two or three candidates, they are brought to campus to meet with Harris and Dr. Jeffrey Gingerich, the provost and vice president of academic affairs. This process was an extremely busy time for them. “We did have several weeks where we were meeting with candidates, because... for 12 positions, we probably met with 30 to 40 different candidates,” Harris said. According to Gingerich, when the candidates were brought to campus, they spent the entire day meeting with the search committee, who helped to find the candidates, with the deans, the provost, other faculty members and, most importantly, with students. “It’s kind of s grueling day for the candidates,” Gingerich said jokingly. CONTINUED ON PAGE 4