January 31, 2009
Members of St. John’s University’s prestigious Ozanam
Scholars Program shared their recent service-learning activities
with students, faculty, staff and administrators during a Founder’s
Week luncheon on January 30.
Photo Gallery
Video Presentation
After an opening prayer offered by Rev. James J. Maher, C.M.,
Vice President of Student Affairs, and a brief introduction by
Deanne Southwell, Director of Student Development, several scholars
described their recent service projects and learning experiences in
which they modeled St. Vincent de Paul, who devoted his life to
serving the needs of the poor in 17th-century France.
Several of the students’ described their 10-day trip to
Puerto Rico, where they were housed on the Rio Piedras campus of
University of Puerto Rico in San Juan. There, they also studied
“Select Topics in Poverty,” a social justice course that was taught
collaboratively by Associate Dean for Student Development James
Salnave, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs Darren
Morton, and Director Southwell. Two days of classes on the Queens
campus were also part of the course work.
As part of their service, the students taught literacy, math
games and robotics to children in the third through seventh grades
at Colegio Sagrado Corazón (Sacred Heart), a bi-lingual grammar
school. Freshman Janice Kwon, who taught the math games, called the
entire experience “unforgettable” and Danielle Swan, who taught
robotics, expressed her gratitude at being able “to serve on the
national level and have the opportunities of the Ozanam Scholars
program.” Classmate Joanna Smykowski was a literacy teacher in
Puerto Rico. She summed up her experience saying, “Not only was I
to educate them, they were able to educate me!”
Another freshman, Michael Panico, described one of the classes
in which they learned about the cycle of socialization and the
cycle of liberation, “in which you leave socialization and begin to
fight the oppression of ageism, classism and sexism.” The
experience, he said, brought the students closer to one another and
they “became a true community of scholars.”
Gabriella Bonventre added that “the diversity of the Scholars
and the service has changed us for the better.”
Jamarr Mills spoke about the cultural immersion they experienced
while on the tropical island. He described the picture-perfect
Puerto Rico they toured—El Yunque Rainforest, Ponce and Old San
Juan—and contrasted that with the “unpublished, impoverished areas”
they saw, “the homeless, the drug and alcohol problems” evidenced
by the syringes and bottles they saw on the beach. “It taught us to
look past first appearances to realize the tragic reality of what
is hidden,” he reported.
Scholar Caitlin Conklin, also in her first year as an Ozanam
Scholar, reported on a service project that took place last fall.
She described how disappointed she was when she arrived as a
freshman at St. John’s and discovered that no Midnight Runs had
been scheduled for her first semester. She asked for and
received permission to organize a Midnight Run, and organized an
accessory and clothing drive.
Placing collection bins around the Queens campus and in the
residence halls, she was astounded at the results. In four weeks,
she said, “we were buried in clothes, coats and other donations” as
well as toothbrushes, combs, shirts, etc. The response “not only
increased my passion to serve,” she added, “but convinced me that
St. John’s is the right place for me.”
Bread and Life Civic Engagement
Project
One of the many ways in which St. Vincent de Paul served the poor
was to create soup kitchens, where the impoverished could obtain
physical nourishment as well as spiritual sustenance. So it is
fitting that a second group of Ozanam Scholars has been involved in
a two-pronged, year-long civic engagement project with guests at St. John’s
Bread and Life soup kitchen in Brooklyn.
One component of that project—a voter registration
initiative—began in the fall with a group of Ozanam Scholars
researching the issues involved in casting a vote, and the
requirements for and obstacles to voting. They then created two
detailed PowerPoint presentations on ”Why Your Vote Counts” and
“What Will Be on the Ballot” and then, according to Eugenia
Soldatos, “circulated around the dining room with our laptops,
providing information and answering questions”; both presentations
were also run on the plasma screens in the lobby and were viewed by
guests waiting in line.
Soldatos, a freshman, reported that about 75 guests did register
to vote in the 2008 Presidential Election and called her work at
Bread and Life “motivational and eye-opening.” This semester,
she added, John Wilson will begin the second half of the project,
in which the students will create an identification project for the
Bread and Life guests.
Although not at the luncheon, Wilson has previously said that
"Bread and Life has helped me create a program that I know will
impact the life of someone who seeks it services. Through Bread and
Life's great services and resources, Project Identity is sure to
give the underprivileged clients a real hand up…towards
independence and self-sufficiency."
The Project Discussions came to a close with Fr. Maher recalling
an answer provided the previous day by Vincentian Leader Patricia
de Nava in response to a question rendered after the Vincentian
Chair of Social Justice lecture. De Nava, Liaison from the
Association of International Charity to the Vincentian Family, was
asked what separates Vincentian projects from being effective and
exceptional.
“She answered this way,” Fr. Maher said. “Those projects which
involve the poor in the developing stages, who seek their input and
life experience, are the ones who are most exceptional.” He then
challenged the Scholars to “allow your scholarship, your very lives
to be challenged by the impoverished people you serve.”
About Ozanam Scholars
Students in the Ozanam Scholars program enroll at St. John’s
University specifically committed to helping solve the real-world
problems of poverty and social injustice across the globe. In fact,
aspiring high school seniors must apply directly to the program,
outside of St. John’s usual admission process. Once accepted they
are expected to become involved in identifying issues of poverty at
the local, national and international levels and providing
solutions to them. Corresponding coursework and leadership
development are also critical components of the program.
Named for Frederic Ozanam, a 19th Century French scholar,
reformer and disciple of St. Vincent de Paul who espoused the
“Vincentian preference” for humble charity rather than “the
emptiness of materialism,” the Ozanam Scholars program is now its
second year and continues to evolve. Currently 25 freshmen,
including the program’s first international students, and 40
sophomores are enrolled in the program.