Semester Wind Down

This semester's BuBeat blog has been an exciting adventure. Being able to inform students, faculty, staff, alumni and prospective students has be great! Over the semester we've published many blogs about activities on and off campus. These have included study abroad opportunities, RSO happenings and events held at Bellarmine. We hope you enjoyed our weekly postings and we hope you continue to read the next BuBeat blogger's entries! Have a great break!

2006 December Graduation

Graduation can be an exciting time for students. Embarking on the real world allows for great career opportunities and an exciting adventure. More than 230 students will experience this in just a few weeks.

Bellarmine will have commencement on December 20th for its 2006 December graduates. The university will award more than 235 diplomas. The ceremony wil begin at 5 p.m. in Knights Hall. Helen Prejean will deliever the commencement address.

Bellarmine will award 27 doctorates, 121 master's degrees, and 90 undergraduate degrees. Other awards include the Archbishop's Medal of Scholastic Excellence which is awarded to the graduates haveing the highest cumulative grade point average.

How do you spend the holidays?

After protesters rallied outside of a Sacramento Wal-Mart, the retailer decided to change the usual “Happy Holidays” slogan used by employees. Wal-Mart is now encouraging all employees to greet customers with their choice of holiday cheer. This change in holiday tradition allows employees to express their religious and holiday celebrations. All people celebrate the holidays in their own special way and Wal-Mart is attempting to acknowledge this. According to Aledda Jackson, freshmen economics major, “I think the change in Wal-Mart's policy allows for equal treatment of all religions. Now people who celebrate holidays such as Hanukkah and Kwanzaa will be recognized.”

Students on campus are excited about the holidays and sharing the special time with their family. LaShayna Thomas, junior business major, says “for my family Christmas is the only time my family gets to see each other since we're always separated. We spend the time enjoying each other's company, eating, and catching up. We also celebrate Christmas by not only giving, but by celebrating the true reason for the season, the birth of Christ.” According to McKenzie Cox, sophomore history major, “we all go to my Grandma's house on Christmas Eve and eat dinner then spend the night and wake up the next morning at the crack of dawn, open presents and eat breakfast.” In the end, if you greet friends with “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Hanukkah,” it doesn't matter. The season is about giving, being with family, and remembering “your” true meaning of the holidays.

The Guatemala Group

Each year, a select group of Bellarmine students are chosen to participate in a spring break trip to Guatemala. This is not a typical spring break trip; it is not about having fun, relaxing, or partying. This trip is about service, it is a chance for students to broaden their world view, to see first hand what the term “third world country” means and what life there is like. It is a chance to try and effect change, even if only within yourself.

This year thirty-five students, led by Bob and Dotti Lockhart, will travel to Guatemala where they will work in a community by building, repairing, painting, distributing food and clothing, and getting to know the people of the community. The group, though Bellarmine associated, will travel and work under Hearts In Motion (H.I.M.). H.I.M. is an organization that has worked to provide care and medical treatment for communities, and opportunities for individuals to participate in mission experiences throughout Guatemala for more than ten years. However, this does not men that H.I.M. covers the cost of the trip for participants, as travel, transportation, and lodging for the ten day experience will cost about $1500 dollars per person.

Since this is a service learning experience though, participants are not asked to pay the cost themselves, but rather to raise it. This year, each group member is asked to raise about $850 each by themselves and then the remainder by participating in group fundraisers. The individual funds will be raised by sending letters to family and friends, and the group funds raised through events held at and around Bellarmine.

Right now, the group is collecting donations of clothes, toys, furniture, books, and knick-knacks for their annual garage sale. This is their biggest fundraiser, and always promises an abundance of good deals for Bellarmine students and community members alike. This year the sale will be held in Frazier Hall on January 27, from 6:00am until about 1:00pm. If you can’t make it to the yard sale, make an effort to contribute to attend one of their other events next semester. If you are too busy to attend an event, find a group member and give them a donation – every bit helps. More than that though, it lets the group, and the university, know that the Bellarmine community supports the group, the trip, and all that they represent.