For the fifth straight year, students, faculty and staff went to Louisiana as part of Union’s Community Service mini-term.
Part of the itinerary for the group, led by sociology lecturer Janet Grigsby, included a visit to the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program near Port Forchon, helping to replant native grasses in an effort to slow the erosion of vital wetlands.
In December 2005 and 2006, students spent part of their December break in New Orleans helping to rebuild parts of the city that were damaged or destroyed by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The course that grew out of those experiences, SOC 387, combines community service with the academic study of New Orleans and the hurricane disasters.
To read about the trip in the Daily Gazette, click here (registration is required).
Eleven Union students were selected to participate in a 10-day trip to Israel in December through Taglit-Birthright Israel: Hillel. They were selected by the College and Hillel International after a careful application and interview process.
They will leave from JFK International Airport in New York City Dec. 16. While in Israel, they will travel on a bus of 40 students, along with participants from Dickinson, Elon, Princeton, and Washington and Lee universities.
Union was designated a “Small & Mighty Campus of Excellence” by Hillel International over the summer, a distinction that offers a number of resources and privileges.
“In a year when the funding is down considerably, I am thrilled that we will be able to send 11 students for a peer immersion experience in Israel,” said Bonnie Cramer, director of Union College Hillel.
Union’s Taglit-Birthright group, the largest among the Small and Mighty cohort, includes: Alex Antonucci ’12, Jeffrey Brous ’11, Amy Cerini ’12, Rachel Feldman ’12, Andrea Grenadier ’12, Carly Orden ’13, Allison Seiler ’12, Hanna Squire ’12, Stuart Uffner 11, Elyse Van Pelt ’12 and Emily Zehngut ’13.
Among the cities and sites they will visit are the Dead Sea, Ein Gedi, Kfar Hanokdim, Jaffa, Jerusalem, Masada, Mt. Herzl, Tel Aviv, Tiberias and Yad Vashem.
Taglit-Birthright Israel provides the free gift of first-time, educational trips to Israel with peers for Jewish young adults ages 18 to 26. The gift is funded through private philanthropists, the Israeli government and local Jewish communities around the world.
“For many years I have watched the enthusiasm that returning students bring back to campus about both Israel and their Jewish identity,” Cramer said. “The philanthropists who fund this program are fully aware of its short-term positive effect on campus and long- term impact maintaining Jewish identity and values. I am grateful that our Hillel will be reaping these benefits.”
