St. John's News
Accepted Ozanam Scholars Welcomed at Second Annual Luncheon
May 02, 2008
The Ozanam
Scholars Program celebrated its second annual Ozanam Scholars
Accepted Student Luncheon on April 5, 2008.
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With attendance of over 100 guests, the Ozanam Scholars Luncheon
is the official welcome and congratulations of the incoming class
of 2012. Ms. Karen Vahey, Director of Admissions hosted the
event.
Dr. James M. Keane, Assistant Provost and Director of the
Ozanam Scholars Program, welcomed the students on behalf of the
Ozanam staff and related the story of Blessed Frederic Ozanam and
his work to bring a group of college students together to serve the
poor in the 18th century. Dr. Keane further explained how the
Ozanam Scholars follow the charism of Blessed Ozanam very closely
and resemble much of what he set out to do.
John D. Carrion, Assistant Director of the Ozanam Scholars
Program, spoke about the incoming Class of 2012. “Now let’s talk
about the Class of 2012. You come from as near as Fresh Meadows and
Flushing, and as far away as the People’s Republic of China. The
class of 2012 will also study in all 5 colleges at St. John’s with
many different majors. Our class of 2012 also boasts class
presidents, student council presidents, National Honor Society
members, Boy Scouts of America, Girls Scouts of the USA,
athletes…you name it! You have worked in nursing homes, homeless
shelters, soup kitchens, schools, tutoring programs, fundraisers,
international service opportunities, Habitat for Humanity and are
attending World Youth Day, simply to name a few of your
accolades.”
Ozanam scholar Molly Cronin ’11P spoke about her experiences in
the Ozanam Scholars Program: “At the beginning of first semester,
we all went on a weekend retreat to learn about our program, to get
to know each other to start building a community and to begin our
journey of faith formation and self-discovery. I quickly realized
that if we couldn’t help and understand each other, then we would
never be able to effectively help those we would be serving. I
discovered that I had a family here at St. John’s – a newly-forming
family comprised of members of the lay Vincentian community working
to better our world.”
Fifty incoming students were offered admission to the class of
2012. Among them are students from all over the continental
United States and three international students. Incoming
students are required to decide by May 1, 2008 whether or not they
will enroll in the program for the 2008-2009 academic year.