Student Engagement
Class of 2026 gets a Red Oak
Photos by Lee Ferris
Enthusiastic students recently planted a tree on campus – representing the class of 2026 – as the culmination of a semester-long Natural Sciences project.
The venture gave the students an opportunity to learn through hands-on, real world experience. They worked collaboratively with the college’s grounds crew, studied the type of trees appropriate for the campus, and raised money to purchase the tree and an accompanying dedication plaque via a popcorn fundraiser.
The new Red Oak is now located in front of the college’s Dominican Center.
The project involved students from the classes of Suparna Bhalla, associate professor of Biology, and Lynn Maelia, professor of Chemistry.
“There’s a cohesion between Biology and Chemistry and we are constantly making connections” between the two subjects, Bhalla explained. “The students, they get a lot out of it.”
She added, “Our hope is, when they come for their reunions, they’ll come to visit their tree. We hope to do this every year.”
Fr. Gregoire Fluet, the Mount’s director of Campus Ministry and Chaplain, was on-hand to give a blessing before the students and the grounds crew completed the planting.
Love thy neighbor
Left to right, Anel Diaz, Fr. Gregoire Fluet, and Loraine Cruz.
Campus Ministry’s Care Closet got a late semester boost thanks to the efforts of two Nursing majors and Nursing Workforce Diversity (NWD) grant recipients, Anel Diaz and Loraine Cruz.
For students who need extra support on any given day, the Care Closet provides personal items like food, toothpaste, toilet paper, and more. The initiative is spearheaded by Fr. Gregoire Fluet, director of Campus Ministry and Chaplain. The motto is simple, said Fr. Fluet: “Need one? Take one.”
The project was tied to the $1.6 million, three-year NWD grant, which was awarded to the School of Nursing by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The NWD program focuses on the recruitment, support, retention, and graduation of nursing students from underrepresented groups. It increases nursing education opportunities and assists students from disadvantaged backgrounds to become baccalaureate-prepared nurses.
The end of the Spring 2023 semester marked the conclusion of the program’s inaugural year. The nursing students in this program benefitted from a multitude of support services. They also served their community, both on-campus and off.
In a butterfly garden in the shade
Photos by Lee Ferris
It was like a scene straight out of a fairytale.
Athalia Jack-Richards, a Healthcare Management major from Brooklyn, stood smiling and covered with butterflies outside of Hudson Hall.
It wasn’t a storybook, though: Students like Jack-Richards had fluttered their way to the on-campus, pop-up Painted Lady Butterfly Garden. The popular event welcomed the warm weather to campus just a few weeks before Commencement.
Catwalk charm
Photos by Lee Ferris
Nearly two dozen students strutted down the runway at the Mount’s fashion show this spring, modeling a variety of cutting-edge outfits.
The show, held in the Fluet Family Auditorium in Hudson Hall, was spearheaded by Mount student Nyla Pichardo, a Visual Communication and Graphic Design major. In addition to being president of the college’s Knights Fashion Club, she will also serve as this upcoming year’s Student Body President after serving as Junior Class Senator.
“I wanted to give students the chance to have creative freedom through fashion,” Pichardo said. “I felt that a fashion show is exactly what we needed on campus to help bring more life and get students together.”
Pichardo noted that the show has “been something that I have been looking forward to all semester…I’m glad that my vision came to life.” She added that she plans to make the fashion show an annual event at the college.
