Kathryn Rosenbaum
Editor-in-Chief
The Xavier Newswire 3800 Victory Parkway Cincinnati, Ohio 45207-2129 On-campus location: The Publications House, 3739 Ledgewood Dr. Telephone: 513.745.3607 Advertising: 513.745.3561 Fax: 513.745.2898 Email: Kathryn Rosenbaum
Editor-in-Chief Nathan Sergio
Advertising Manager Full list of staff contacts www.xu.edu/newswire
Graham introduces Eigel Center
State of the University address centers on engagement, touches on financial crisis
John LaFollette
Editor-in-Chief
Jess Thimons
Fr. Graham said the Eigel Center would serve as a “hub” for the university’s engagement with the larger community.
In his State of the University address at the conclusion of Academic Day, Xavier President Fr. Michael Graham, S.J., announced the creation of the James and Delrose Eigel Center for Community-Engaged Learning.
The Eigel Center, Fr. Graham said, would continue the process of Xavier’s increased community involvement.
“It will be a catalyst for the involvement of faculty, students, administrators and staff and community partnerships that advance learning and pursue social justice,” Fr. Graham said.
In addition to housing the Community Building Institute and the Evanston-Norwood-Xavier Community partnership, the Eigel Center will also oversee student and faculty-led community-engagement initiatives.
The newly renamed and reorganized Community-Engaged Fellowship (formerly the Service Fellowship) will operate out of the Eigel Center, as will the Peace and Justice Programs.
“What will make the Eigel Center distinct will be the partnerships,” said Associate Vice President for Community Engagement Byron White.
“The community will be an equal partner in any and all initiatives; we will all be learning from each other,” White said.
Xavier’s role in the community was the central theme to this year’s State of the University address.
Fr. Graham recalled an “invitation” that he issued on the day of his inauguration as Xavier president in 2001, encouraging the university to consider the ways in which it could be more engaged with its neighbors.
“What is the great conversation that might occur between us if we found ourselves around a common table?” he asked then.
In his address at Academic Day, Fr. Graham detailed a broad sample of ways in which the university “responded to that invitation,” touching on examples that ranged from the Institute for Politics and Public Life sponsoring a recent political panel presentation, to the creation of Alternative Breaks, to the Academic Service Learning Semesters.
His examples of university involvement in a larger community consumed much of his speech. Fr. Graham used the beginning of this year’s speech to address issues particularly relevant to the university.
He said that now is the time for “you and me to live through” the nation’s current economic crisis, saying that there will be time “down the road” to consider its causes.
“I would prefer to take actions now that I will not need next fall,” he said.
Fr. Graham also said that university staff are involved in weekly early-morning conference calls with members of the Board of Trustees’ Finance Committee to monitor and evaluate the nation’s credit markets.
The group, in consultation with Barclay’s bank, has “several bridging strategies either in place or that we are developing that should allow us to…bring the projects in on time,” he said.
Smaller, Shantytown built on mall
This year’s theme: plight of homeless war veterans
Emily Hoferer
Managing Editor
Erika Bresee
Sophomore Joey Reinstatler checks out one of the wood and plastic shanties that has been built on the academic mall.
The annual event of Shantytown has come to Xavier this year with several changes, both in participation and within its organization.
Shantytown is a week at Xavier where a cluster of cardboard shanties constructed and habitated by students throughout the week appears on the academic mall. In the evenings there are reflections and educational events that include a movie and a panel discussion.
The emphasis on Shantytown this year is homeless veterans. The motto is the simple statistic “1 in 3,” referring to the fact that according to the national Department of Veteran Affairs, one in three homeless adults is a veteran.
Senior Kaitlyn Kramer, chair for Shantytown, said that last year there were eight more shanties than this year, but last year was an exception to previous years. “I would not say that it’s less than usual,” said Kramer. Groups participating in Shantytown this year include Alternative Breaks, Habitat for Humanity, the FYLTers Urban Plunge team and the Learning Assistance Center.
The Shantytown board had to refocus their mission because of early growing pains.
“There are board members coming from different spaces on campus so we had to spend a little more time at the beginning sorting out our mission and our goals,” said Kramer. “The mission [has been] reworded, [and is now a] more accessible product of this Shantytown board.”
This year the Shantytown board had students from other groups on campus, including Labre, a group that ministers to the homeless by distributing food on Sundays.
There was also a change in advertising for Shantytown this year and there were not as many flyers and signs for it. “Campus is covered in paper that no one notices,” said Kramer. Therefore the Shantytown board decided to put an emphasis on e-mail communication. Some students received emails with information about Shantytown events and the week’s overall mission from senior co-chair Meghan Snyder.
The mission of Shantytown states that they are to “challenge students’ comfort zone, to educate issues of homelessness, to inspire Xavier to take action, to support homeless organizations through fundraising.”
Shantytown does not always meet with favor from other students. Kramer noted that some students dislike Shantytown for mocking the homeless. She also referred to instances in the past of the Newswire expressing dissatisfaction. “I can understand why it might be controversial,” said Kramer. “But when you look at our mission it puts it into perspective why we do what we do.”
Groups still participate in Shantytown despite the controversy. “It is true that we are not directly helping the homeless population through our participation in Shanytown,” said sophomore Haley Bartz, a peer minister for the Urban Plunge group. “However, education and awareness are vital parts of the solution.”
“We specifically participate in Shantytown because we want to show the rest of campus we are dedicated to this cause,” said senior Jamie Hummer from Habitat for Humanity. “Also, the Xavier community needs to be made aware of the issues that surround our XU bubble so more people may be moved to act.”