Memory Wall Created During the Founder’s Day Celebration on the Quad.
@MC_CMSA / INSTAGRAM
By Elizabeth Kalaj, Web Editor
Campus Ministry and Social Action (CMSA) hosted its annual Mission Week as a way to honor and celebrate Manhattan College’s founder, St. John Baptist de La Salle.
The campus organization hosted a variety of events from April 7 to April 14 hoping to engage the Manhattan College community in embracing their Lasallian roots. These events included Sunday mass, tabling on the quadrangle, student and faculty seminars, various service opportunities and more.
While the CMSA partakes in Lasallian affairs throughout the year, Mission Week is an opportunity to concentrate all these different missions and values into one large event. The Quadrangle spoke with Br. Daniel Gardner, executive director of CMSA, about the true importance and reasoning behind the tradition of Mission Week.
“This is one chosen moment to use as a ‘wow’ moment about what we do all year long, which boils down to the principles of faith, service, and community which is just part of our DNA,” Gardner said. “We try to do it [Mission Week] around the feast day of St. John Baptist de La Salle which is the significance of April, but it is really a symbolic week of just who we are as Jaspers and what we are animated by.”
Mission Week has been celebrated at Manhattan College in a variety of ways, including Mission Month, for about 30 years. This year, CMSA focused on condensing the event, along with taking the forefront in sponsoring their core activities, while still welcoming any collaborations with other organizations. These activities were carefully culminated to create a well-rounded itinerary.
“We looked at it [Mission Week schedule] through two different lenses: a balanced faith, service and community along with the five points of the Lasallian star,” Gardner said. “We really started service week ‘off paper’ with the LOVE trip which is faith-based, followed by some academic and communal things for students and faculty, then ended the week with service-based projects. These projects highlight the inclusion of all people, concern for the poor, and social justice.”
The events during Mission Week touched many people across campus. Individuals were able to locate an activity that resonated with them, and then be active participants in the activities. One of the events hosted was an Agape Latte event with guest speaker Karen Vahey on April 11.
The Quadrangle spoke to Christopher Osorio, senior adolescent education major at Manhattan College, about the purpose of the Agape Latte event and the experience he had when attending this event.
“The stories that are presented at this event contain elements of faith and a love for oneself and the community while acting as a wonderful atmosphere where we gather to hear and discuss the role of our own faith, experience and how it shapes us,” Osorio said. “My takeaway from this event is that sometimes we do not know what our calling is right off the bat. Our wonderful speaker [Dr. Karen Vahey] is a true testament of that through her story and experience as a first-generation college student, which led to finding her calling of wanting to have a lasting impact on others and doing good for the community with the same looks that helped her.”
Members of the Black Student Union (BSU) had come together to volunteer for the final event of mission week, God’s Love We Deliver. The Quadrangle spoke to Cleanna Cardoza, events coordinator of BSU, about the idea of getting involved in these service events as a Manhattan College student.
“I guess this just shows how involved college students are,” Cardoza said. “Growing up, I was always given the impression that college students are in their own bubble or selfish. However, when these opportunities are brought to college students, we love to go and help out while learning about people that may have different needs or ways of living than ourselves. It kind of defies that stereotype that I used to hear in my life.”
Mission Week 2024 created many opportunities for students to get involved on and off campus while connecting with the Lasallian origins of Manhattan College. Manhattan College students can anticipate this series of events again next April, as Mission Week remains at the heart of Manhattan College.