On April 18, the path from Walton to McInnis was lined with tables where more than 50 employers stood to tell Eastern University students about available job and internship opportunities. This was all due to the hard work of the staff and student workers of the Talent and Career Development Office.

      The Cookout with Careers was created to be an intentionally casual job fair that would reduce the stress that could be generated by a more formal event. “I really wanted to make a fair that brought employers to students,” Director of The Office for Talent and Career Development, Sarah Todd said. Todd wanted the event to be informal to “allow for networking and get everyone opportunities to talk” she said.

      This was a particularly exciting event for the Talent and Career Office as it was the first time they held a fair through the new Handshake system. It was certainly a successful event, as students were continuously approaching the tables to seek information and meet potential employers from one to four p.m.

      “EU students are on [employers’] radar…Employers are interested and want to be on Eastern’s campus,” Todd said. There were employers from multiple fields, including Vanguard, America’s Grow-a-Row, CCRES Educational and Behavioral Health Services, Center for FaithJustice, Christian Academy of Guatemala, City Year, Main Line Day, JB Victor Financial, The Philadelphia Charter School for Arts and Sciences, The Salvation Army Eastern Pennsylvania & Delaware Division, The Shalom Project, Sodexo, T.W. Ponessa & Associates Counseling Services, Inc., TWR International, United States Liability Insurance Group, Values Into Action, and Verizon. In addition to these companies, there was actually a waitlist to attend the cookout as an employer, Todd said.

       The Cookout was a great opportunity for students to meet employers, and also receive a free hamburger or veggie burger if they spoke with two different companies. The event was held in front of Walton, all along the path, and then in front of McInnis, and fortunately it was a beautiful, sunny day. “It is a really great opportunity for students to come as they are,” student worker Molly Kulp said on the day of the event. “It seems to be going great. We have really great weather, and more than 50 different employers,” she said.

       The Career Cookout took a great deal of planning and coordination from the staff of the Talent and Career Development Office. “Without our student workers and staff volunteers, this event could not have happened,” Todd said. Many faculty members also played an important part in encouraging students to attend the event, as well as volunteering as staff. “Faculty and staff encouraged people to go…it was a great event for the entire community.”

       Todd was thrilled with how the event took place. Her ultimate goal was to help ease the job-seeking process for students. “Students are so busy, and don’t always have time to run back to their dorm and get their suit and their resume,” Todd said. By bringing the employers to Eastern’s campus, and making the job fair a cookout, the Talent and Career Office was able to remove some of the formality from the event and encourage students to stop by and meet recruiters on their way to class or instead of getting lunch in the dining hall. Students can often be intimidated by the job application process and the potential awkwardness of contacting employers for further information, but ideally the Career Cookout reduced the intimidation of the search for jobs or internships and gave students the confidence necessary to follow up with the companies. “The process doesn’t have to be scary!” Todd said.

      If you were unable to attend the Cookout with Careers, there are still many job and internships resources available to you. For more information, go to Eastern.edu, select Student Life, and then select Talent and Career Development for assistance with job searches, job applications, cover letters, and much more.

Alternative for Germany, or AfD, is a far-right political party that recently won 13 percent of the vote in national elections on September 24, 2017, and now holds 94 seats of the German parliament. The rise of this extremely conservative political party concerns some of the German population as this is the first time conservative politicians have been in parliament since World War II. Political analysts hypothesize that the AfD’s success is largely because of the voting population’s decreasing confidence in mainstream parties.

Germany has seen increasing amounts of conflict related to immigration policy and far-right concerns that the more liberal parliament has been threatening “Germanness.” Analysts claim that anxiety over identity and social change is what attracted voters to the far-right party. Supporters of the Alternative for Germany party claim that Germans have not been able to reflect national pride without it being misconstrued as the same sort of aggressive nationalism that led to Nazism. This claim of stifled national identity, combined with over a million refugees immigrating from the Middle East and Africa, seems to have resulted in a surge of populist nativism.

There is also a concerning degree of anti-Semitism amongst immigrants from the Middle East who practice blatantly anti-Israeli behavior and claim that the Holocaust was “a Jewish conspiracy.” After witnessing a group of Syrian refugees burning the Israeli flag underneath the Brandenburg Gate in December 2017, Sawsan Chebli, a Berlin state legislator of Palestinian descent, proposed that visits to Nazi concentration camp memorials should be mandatory for immigrants and new citizens.

Chebli’s proposal is receiving mixed responses, with some critics claiming it is too simplistic of a solution, and others describing visits to concentration camps as vital to understanding German history. The suggestion is partially a reaction against anti-Semitist behavior that has erupted in Germany after President Trump claimed that the United States officially considers Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

The success of the Alternative for Germany party and its rising to be the third largest German political party resulted in multiple protests in 2017, where anti-AfD protestors and pro-AfD supporters clashed together violently. Now in 2018, teachers are following Chebli’s lead and attempting to protest AfD and its beliefs by informing and educating their students about xenophobia and the Holocaust.

The New York Times interviewed Jakob Hetzelein, a history teacher in a working-class district of northeastern Berlin. Hetzelein decided to take his teenage students to Sachsenhausen, a Nazi concentration camp memorial in Orianenberg after witnessing troubling behavior from his students. Hetzelein’s history class recently held a mock election and multiple students supported the AfD party. Reportedly, Hetzelein’s students were greatly impacted by the trip to the concentration camp. About a week after the class’s visit, Hetzelein asked the students if they thought their own children should one day be made to visit the camp, and out of the 22, 21 said yes. Despite mixed responses to Chebli’s proposal of obligatory concentration camp visits for immigrants, it seems that if Chebli and educators like Hetzelein are correct, then the exposure to concrete evidence of Germany’s complicated history may be a very effective tool to combat the anti-Semitism that is being fostered by the rise of the Alternative for Germany party.

Sources: New York Times; DW News.

On March 2, Interim Assistant Dean of Residence and Student Life Ben Howard and fellow Resident Directors Krista Barnett, Lexi Dunbar, Heidi Birtwistle, Bryce Johnson, Courtney Johnson, and Theresa Noye announced the students who have been selected to work as resident assistants in the coming academic year of 2018-2019.

Resident assistants are students who are assigned to live on a specific floor and assist residents as they adjust to college life and grow academically, spiritually, and socially. Resident assistants, or RAs, work to foster community amongst students who live on their floor, and they also are an easily-accessible source of comfort and guidance. According to the Eastern University website, residents are trained in paraprofessional counseling skills, crisis intervention, and community building. RAs also enforce university policy and ensure that campus expectations are met.

RA selection is a long and arduous process that lasts for the majority of the spring semester. Many students apply every year, and the residence life spends a great deal of time and energy interviewing candidates and creating cohesive residence assistant staffs for each hall. Interim Assistant Dean Ben Howard describes the RA selection as “a robust process” that starts as soon as the spring semester starts.

The Resident Directors hold open informational meetings in a variety of locations and at a variety of times so that even students with the busiest schedules can attend. These meetings last between 45 minutes to an hour, and once at these meetings, potential RA candidates can hear about the different responsibilities required of a resident assistant, as well as the different requirements and expectations. The open meetings also have a time specifically for fielding questions, so candidates can ask about the application as well as the compensation for the position.

If candidates remain interested in the resident assistant position, then they have to submit an application consisting of multiple short essays and other relevant information detailing their interest in the position as well as their relevant skills and experience. Those who do not feel that writing is their strength do not need to fear, because the next parts of the application process consist of a group interview as well as an individual interview.

Howard says that the residence staff does as much as they can to “make as wide a field as possible; the process allows people to show their strengths in a variety of different ways with a lot of different assessment tools.”  Resident directors also tend to know candidates as residents before they apply; sometimes the best resumé can be a student’s good behavioral record along with an eagerness to participate in community events.

Through this series of assessments, the resident directors attempt to deduce “if candidates have leadership skills, are teachable, are responsible, are hard-working, and are kind,” Howard says, “We’re trying to figure out people who have an appreciation for who Eastern is, and to help us continue to foster the type of community that we want to build here.”

It is certainly not a simple task, as resident assistants must support and demonstrate a certain moral ethic, as well as contribute to a learning and living environment people enjoy being a part of, that allows them to grow spiritually, socially, and intellectually. However, Howard and the rest of his team are certainly aware that RAs have different strengths and weaknesses, and ultimately it is a developmental position.

“We would all love students who are capable of doing everything without being asked, but at the end of the day, our department is called ‘student development’ for a reason. As much as we want the RAs to shape community in the res halls, our jobs as RDs is to also shape those RAs,” Howard says. 

Sophomore Suzi Staherski certainly agrees that her current position as an RA in Sparrowk Hall has been an experience of growing and overcoming difficulty. Staherski will be returning as an RA next year (most likely in Gallup Hall as of the writing of this article), and she looks forward to how the RA position will stretch her in the future. “I’m hoping through another year of service that I can gain more experience being handed a lot of responsibility and grow in the confidence I have,” Staherski says.

Staherski eagerly anticipates welcoming a new class of freshman and helping them acclimate to the Eastern University community. “I hope to help the new first-year students that will come in the fall in order to ease their transitions into college life; this was my favorite part of being an RA this year. There’s so much excitement in getting the halls ready for residents to arrive, and I’m excited to build good relationships like the ones I have with my residents this year,” Staherski says.

The residence life staff met over spring break to review all the applications and then contacted those accepted for the position two weeks ago. Uniquely, resident assistants are hired for the entire campus before they are hired to work in a specific building. Thus, they attempt to reach a consensus on each candidate before they are accepted (although this is not always possible when dealing with seven resident directors). Now that the resident assistant staff for the entire campus has been selected and notified, the resident directors are meeting to discuss which new resident assistants will be placed where, with the announcement most likely being made at the end of this week, on March 16.

Howard says that the residence staff is extremely grateful to the students who apply for the resident assistant position, and regrets that there were only 32 spots open for new applicants. “There’s a lot of qualified people who don’t get hired every year; we don’t have that many res halls, or that many floors,” Howard says. Fortunately, there are many other leadership opportunities available for interested students. Howard is specifically passionate about the Student Activity Board and views it as a very valuable leadership experience. There are also many diverse student-led clubs, and organizations such as Student Government, the Inklings literary journal, the Multicultural Awareness Advisory Committee, and the Waltonian student-run newspaper. “There’s an abundance of leadership positions to help students develop and grow,” Howard says. Congratulations to the resident assistant staff of the 2018-2019 year, and for more information on potential leadership opportunities, go to eastern.edu/student-life.

       Monday, Feb. 19, has come and gone, and with it, the 138th official celebration of Presidents’ Day. We might all remember Presidents’ Day in elementary school— learning about George Washington, with his wooden teeth and cherry tree-felling abilities, but the truth is that the actual meaning and history of the historical holiday is rather convoluted.

         Presidents’ Day was originally a celebration of George Washington’s birthday, Feb. 22. Following his death in the December of 1799, Washington’s birthday became a day of remembrance. The beloved president was celebrated in many ways, including the 1832 centennial of his birth and the construction of the Washington Monument in 1848. Although the holiday was initially in celebration of the first United States president and took place on his birthday every year, it became popularly known as Presidents’ Day after it was moved to the third Monday of February. This movement was a part of the 1971 Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which was an attempt to create more three-day weekends for United States workers. This Act was proposed by Senator Robert McClory of Illinois, who wanted to shift the celebration of federal holidays from a specific numerical date to a predetermined Monday to give workers more time off and to reduce absenteeism. This change was encouraged by the private sector and was seen as a guaranteed way to bolster retail sales. Holidays such as Columbus Day, Memorial Day, and Veterans’ Day were also moved from their originally-designated dates, although Veterans’ Day was returned to its original date after widespread criticism.

      Senator Steven Wallace Dorsey of Arkansas was the first to propose that Washington’s birthday be a federal holiday in the late 1870s, and president Rutherford B. Hayes signed it into law in 1879. The holiday first applied to D.C., and then was expanded to the entire country in 1885. At the time, Washington’s birthday was the fifth nationally-recognized federal bank holiday, and the first holiday that celebrated the life of an individual American, with Martin Luther King Jr. Day becoming the second in 1983.

       The move away from February 22 led much of the general public to believe that the new date was intended to honor both Washington and Abraham Lincoln, as it fell between their two birthdays. As predicted by the enthusiasm from the retail sector, marketers soon began utilizing the three-day weekend as a sales opportunity, and the “Presidents’ Day” bargains began.

      Presidents’ Day is now viewed as a celebration of United States past and present presidents in general, although several states still have individual holidays honoring the birthdays of specific presidents. Now, Presidents’ Day never falls on the actual birthday of any United States president. Although many presidents were born in February, including George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, William Henry Harrison, and Ronald Reagan, their birthdays either come too early or too late in the month to coincide with the set date on the third Monday of the month.

      Some states use this holiday to focus on other historical figures specific to their individual histories. For example, Arkansas uses Presidents’ Day to celebrate Washington as well as civil rights activist Daisy Gatson Bates, while Alabama uses the holiday to commemorate Washington as well as Thomas Jefferson. The methods of celebrating Presidents’ Day have varied in general throughout the past century, with the holiday taking on special significance during the economic trials of the Great Depression. At this time, George Washington was often featured on the front of newspapers and magazines. In 1932, Presidents’ Day was used to reinstate the Purple Heart, a military award created by Washington to honor soldiers who were killed or wounded while serving in the armed forces. Various organizations, such as the Boy Scouts of America, hold special celebrations on the day, and 5,000 people attended a special mass at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City in honor of Washington in 1938.

      Today, Presidents’ Day is used by many different patriotic or historical groups to stage celebrations, reenactments, and other events. Certain states require that public schools spend the week leading up to Presidents’ Day learning about the accomplishments and contributions of the presidents, mainly Washington and Lincoln.

      Presidents’ Day is certainly a unique holiday, given the fact that there is no national agreement on the name of the holiday (Washington’s Birthday? Presidents’ Day? February 22?!), there is no national agreement on which presidents are being honored, and there is not even agreement on where the apostrophe goes, or if there should be an apostrophe!

     Despite this lack of consensus, we can certainly agree that in this tumultuous political climate, where people celebrated “Not My President’s Day” on Feb. 20, 2017 to protest the current U.S. president, there is something vital in taking a step back to reflect on the historical leaders who we all remember with respect and honor, as well as the presidential characteristics that result in such respect.

     Sources: History.com, Daily Mail, the Almanac, USA Today, the Washington Post

Eastern University President Bob Duffett submitted his resignation letter to the Board of Trustees on Jan. 25, effective Feb. 28. This news was shared with the Eastern University community on Feb. 6, via an email from Chairman of the Board, Steven Clemens; he simultaneously announced the new president-elect, music department chair, Dr. Ron Matthews. Matthews was voted in as the new university president at the board meeting on Feb. 2, and according to Clemens, the Board had been discussing what steps would be taken in the case of the president’s resignation.

The Board of Trustees has been examining Eastern’s management since last fall, as well as creating contingency plans to prepare for a potential presidential resignation. Matthews was approached over the last two months, according to Clemens, and then upon Duffett’s resignation the discussion of “what could happen” transitioned into “what is happening.”

On March 1, Matthews will officially be president of Eastern University, after the Board voted on Feb. 2. The hiring of a president depends on a ⅔ vote from the board, but the vote was unanimous, according to Clemens. The Board did not conduct the search for a new president in the traditional way, i.e., the process that resulted in the hiring of Duffett. Clemens described this process as more internal. “The view of the board was that at this point in time, the best person for Eastern was someone who knows Eastern,” Clemens said.

There was not a presidential search committee; instead, Clemens stated that the portion of the Board of Trustees that was conducting the examination of the Eastern management team functioned as a “quasi-search committee.” The members considered many candidates from within the university, as well as those who, according to Clemens, had “connections to the university.” However, the “quasi-search committee” quickly “coalesced around Ron,” Clemens said.

Clemens described Matthews as “a known consensus builder. He is able to bring together people with very disparate views, and get them all moving in a common direction. His organizational skills and his administration skills are beyond reproach. He’s a great cheerleader for Eastern and we are very optimistic that that trait will allow him to make connections which will benefit Eastern,” Clemens said.

Dr. Matthews’ qualifications aside, many members of the Eastern University community were surprised by the sudden presidential transition, as well as the apparent lack of faculty and student involvement in the hiring process.

Dr. Van Weigel, professor of Ethics and Economic Development made the statement that, “it was clear that the faculty – and perhaps even senior administrators- were more-or-less left in the dark through this important institutional process of selecting a new president. There are good reasons to believe that engaging the faculty would have been logistically quite difficult, but all parties have agreed that at least the Faculty Senate Moderator should have been consulted throughout this process.”

Not only are faculty members concerned with the way the board conducted this process, but they are urging future processes to be conducted with greater faculty involvement. “We need a change in university policy on this score, regardless of the good will of those who are in positions of leadership on the board. We need to secure permanent board representation from each of Eastern’s colleges,” Weigel said.

The official hiring of the university president is a responsibility of the board of trustees, however Eastern does operate in a system of shared governance. This system of shared governance means that “faculty, administration, staff, students, trustees, and alumni bring unique and valuable perspectives to the deliberative decision process. Shared governance signals our institutional commitment to create and follow policies and procedures that facilitate inclusive decision-making,” according to Protocol 1.1 in the Faculty Handbook.

Shared governance was not a factor in this recent decision. “This was not a typical process because of the short trigger between Duffett’s decision to resign and the need to get someone in place…The board is committed to shared governance, we’re very respectful of the role of the faculty in the university, but this was a situation where the board felt that it was critical to act and act decisively” Clemson said.

There is also concern surrounding the fact that Clemson was unable to disclose if any women or persons of color were considered for the presidential role. Dr. Drick Boyd, professor of Urban Studies, commented that “I am particularly concerned that our senior leadership of the university is almost totally white and that there was no opportunity to seek a candidate committed to racial diversity at the highest levels of the institution.”

In the future, the Board of Trustees hopes to prioritize a “unique, cohesive vision of what Eastern is, where we are today, [and] what it means to be Eastern University.” There is a belief among the board members that the university’s issues with fundraising and enrollment are symptoms of a greater issue; that issue being a lack of cohesion and direction among the university. “If you can get a clear, crisp vision of what the product is, then people will buy it,” Clemens said.

While the Eastern University community seems eager to embrace its identity and advertise its unique traits, one of those traits is a championing of diversity, and the process of selecting and hiring the new president did not include any diverse voices. Boyd is concerned that the university may be moving in a direction that will isolate it culturally. “Essentially four white males of the Board of Trustees decided to present another white male, Dr. Matthews, to the whole board as the next president, with no consideration of his commitments to racial and gender diversity in leadership, or his commitment to justice within the university or beyond it,” Boyd said.

The Board of Trustees is grateful to Dr. Duffett for his years of service, and is very excited to work with Ron as they take Eastern into “whatever exciting thing lies ahead of us. I won’t even pretend to predict what it is,” Clemens said.

Weigel agrees that the university is facing an exciting future. “We have a great opportunity at our doorstep. None of us should settle for business as usual. We need to birth a new era of institutional transparency, respect our diversity, and celebrate courage– beginning now,” Weigel said.