Saint Anselm Monks Take Part in Pope’s Visit

Four monks from Saint Anselm took part in the visit of Pope Benedict XVI when he came to the United States for six days in mid-April. Read more

SIFE Advances to National Competition

The Saint Anselm College SIFE Chapter (Students in Free Enterprise) won the SIFE Northeast Regional Championship on April 1 in Providence, Rhode Island. Read more

Debate Team Wins Northeast Regional Championships

The Saint Anselm College Thomas More Debate Society won the Northeast Regional Championship Tournament Saturday, March 15 at Suffolk University, for the third year in a row. Saint Anselm received the first place Team Sweepstakes for Lincoln-Douglas debate and edged out Emerson College, Ithaca College, and Bristol Community College for the award.

Ryan Ollis ’08, politics major, went 4-0 in the preliminary rounds and defeated an Emerson student in the final round to take first place. Fellow teammates placed third, fourth, and sixth.

The debate team also received four Speaker Awards, based on speaker points. Nicole Thorspecken ’09 and Ryan Ollis ’08 placed first and second respectively.

Next up for the debate team is Nationals, which they have been preparing for all year. The whole debate season is based around this National Tournament. While the team attends 8 Invitational Tournaments throughout the year, the real teamwork and focus is aimed at the national competition, which will pit Saint Anselm against every school in the league, not just those in the local geographical area.

To prepare, students write both affirmative and negative briefs on their issue, which can easily add up to the length and work of a thesis. The team will hold practice nights in the upcoming weeks in which alumni debaters will return to campus to help the team before they head off to Tennessee State University in Nashville for the competition April 18-21. The team has had a history of success at nationals and hopes to continue that streak this year.

EuroChoir Sings Its Way Across the Continent

The Saint Anselm College EuroChoir, consisting of 34 students, spent the week of spring break performing in three European cities: Budapest, Salzburg, and Zurich.  The students, along with choir director, Fr. Bede and four chaperones, left February 29 for a whirlwind week around the continent.

The group touched down in Budapest and spent time exploring the historic city. They gave three performances at various churches, often becoming a tourist attraction themselves while posing for pictures in their formal concert attire prior to performances.

The group experienced some familiar weather while in Salzburg, where a snowstorm covered the city streets. Many students cite watching The Sound of Music while driving through the Alps after seeing the movie setting as one of the highlights of the trip. While in Austria, the EuroChoir sang in Salzburg Cathedral where Mozart was baptized. They also visited smaller venues where they used their voices to raise money in a benefit concert to support local music programs.

Then it was another six hour bus ride to Zurich where they gave two performances and attended a memorable farewell dinner on their last night in Europe–filled with reminiscing about the past and looking forward to future choir trips.

The trip was full of reconnecting with familiar faces, chance encounters, and happy surprises. Matt St. John, a junior Politics major, said that there were instances of people meeting relatives whom they had never had the chance to meet before. The group was also surprised by Saint Anselm students currently studying abroad in Europe—and for one student, by parents who surprised their daughter by showing up for a concert in Zurich.

Despite motion sickness, canceled flights, and sprained ankles, the trip was one to remember by all who attended.  St, John called the week a “phenomenal experience” and said that he came home with a deeper appreciation for both Europe and America.

Always Remember

Thursday was tour day for the group.

Loading into the Re-Member bus, the team had high spirits after two days of service, and five days of learning on the Pine Ridge Reservation. The family dinners, group seminars and months of preparation on campus had prepared individuals as best as could be expected…but being on the ground, connecting faces to the stories, and seeing life here first hand brings new context to the experience.

This week, students went outside their comfort zone; they experienced anger, hope, disbelief and pride. They saw things, heard things, and did things for which no one could prepare. Yet, they leave with an overwhelming sense of hope, diminished only by the desire that they could have done more while they were here.

Someone who had never picked up a power tool was sanding square edges on plywood minutes later. Drywall repair became a trade skill. Building, and installing an outhouse door became possible. The group learned about themselves, their peers, their understanding of American history, and their ability to make a difference. They will always remember.

Driving through Pine Ridge on Thursday and looking down side streets with windowless homes, junked cars, and trash-strewn sidewalks, it was easy to forget we were in the middle of the United States. In fact, this experience was set in the middle of Pine Ridge, the service center of the reservation, where the only hospital, the only supermarket, and many of the only public services are available for an area roughly the size of Connecticut.

We will all remember the names, the faces, and the stories that have been relayed to us while we were here. We will remember the work that was done, and the hope of the Lakota people. We will remember the family in Porcupine with a new door for their outhouse, and we will remember Kevin, and his overwhelming perseverance to do whatever it took to feed his family.

We will remember the staff here: Tom, Phil, Jerry, Jerome, Theresa, Abby and Vicki - all of whom went out of their way to make our time here memorable and comfortable. Whether it was waiting up until after 1 a.m. to welcome the group upon it’s arrival, to boiling another pot of water for hot chocolate, or offering personal reflections and stories during times of emotional unrest…we will never forget their antics, their companionship and the empowerment they offered.

Today we depart Pine Ridge, but we will always have a piece of this reservation with us. From the incredible panoramic views at the Badlands, to the incredible stories we were told, we will always carry these pictures and words with us; we will always remember.

On Friday, the group will depart the Pine Ridge Reservation en route to Mount Rushmore, before returning to Rapid City in advance of their return to Saint Anselm College on Saturday.

Follow Spring Break Alternative from South Dakota

Welcome to the Spring Break Alternative (SBA) “SoDak” Blog. In the coming week, I will travel with, and report on a group of Saint Anselm College students who are volunteering with “Re-Member,” a group based in Pine Ridge, South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

Each year, Saint Anselm College, through the office of Campus Ministry, has been sending students to sites across the United States, and abroad to spend their spring break in an alternative fashion from the traditional warm and sunny beaches.

Students work with host organizations at each site, doing everything from building bunk beds to serving in soup kitchens. This year, groups are traveling to locations ranging from Costa Rica, to Maine, Louisiana and South Dakota. In full, some 200 Saint Anselm students will be participating in the program this year.

So sit back, and enjoy the experience of being an extended part of SBA: SoDak!

*****

An introduction to your reporter: A member of the Class of 2009 and a Politics major from Augusta, Maine, Cory True is a new media reporter for the Saint Anselm College Office of College Communications and Marketing.

In a first for Saint Anselm College, Cory will report on this SBA trip as an “embedded reporter.” Loaded down with eight bags of equipment, Cory will feature the day-to-day work of the group while capturing the broader experience via audio, video, photography and extensive blogging.

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