DWC - Alma Mater Splash Bash 3 Summer Project Summary 5 This Past Sunday, the President of Emmaus Bible College, Dr
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
August 17 2021 Vol. 41 No. 1 In This Issue: THE PRESIDENT Fr. Tom Ascheman, SVD COVID Dashboard 2 DWC - Alma Mater Splash Bash 3 Summer Project summary 5 This past Sunday, the President of Emmaus Bible College, Dr. Phil Boom published an opinion column in the Telegraph Herald. He New Alumni website 6 stressed the importance of faith-based college education. Sometimes Article - Dr. Phil Boom addendum people think of education only in terms of skills needed for a job or for economic success. We also need to think about the “life-long values” that an institution promotes. In an email chain, the presidents of the other Dubuque area colleges agreed. DWC is mentioned in President Boom’s essay, and I heartily endorse his position. Birthday Corner An education at DWC includes greater familiarity with many facts, and it helps develop skills needed for employment as religious- workers and missionaries. However, DWC also seeks to instill values August rooted in Jesus’ call to share the good news of the dawning Reign of 17 Elizabeth Winter God. We are a missionary college. 18 Quoc Dinh Nguyen 20 Fr. Sam Cunningham The values DWC fosters are evident in five core competencies that 22 Amy Hartman flow directly from our mission statement. Frankly, they express the qualities that Divine Word Missionaries are looking for in candidates considering a life-long commitment of missionary service. DWC’s five core competencies are: • Critical Thinking Acuity: Proficiency in the intellectual skills necessary to explore issues, ideas, artifacts, and events, before making a decision, accepting or formulating an opinion, or reaching a conclusion. • Communication Effectiveness: Effective written and oral communication skills to express oneself appropriately while presenting to or interacting with widely diverse audiences. • Intercultural Competence: Knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are necessary to interact effectively with people who are culturally different from oneself. • Social & Global Responsibility: Knowing about the world’s most pressing issues, especially those affecting the poor and marginalized, applying knowledge and skills continued next page Address: 102 Jacoby Dr SW, Epworth, IA 52045 Phone: (563) 876-3353 or [email protected] 1 to develop solutions in accord with Catholic Social Teaching. • Missionary Discipleship: Knowledge, skills, and attitudes for practicing prophetic dialogue in the tradition of SVD missionaries with faith-seekers; with the poor and marginalized; with people of different cultures; and followers of other faith traditions. Divine Word College aspires to be a mother of souls – to be our alma mater. The College did help form my soul when I was a student at DWC from the fall of 1972 until the spring of 1977. That was a time of rapid culture change in the USA, marked by the civil rights movement and the ending of the war in Vietnam. I was thrilled by the challenge of living with people of other cultures; roused to a deeper thirst for justice, peace and integrity of creation; and summoned to a more prayerful following of the call I had felt since childhood. We used different words then, but the fundamental values were the same. They are rooted in a faith-filled following of Jesus. President Boom’s article is appended to the DWC Log. DWC COVID-19 Dashboard Number of Tested Number Number Vaccination Tests Positive Self-Isolated Recovered Completed 2020-2021 913 101 101 101 129 August 1- 14 165 0 0 0 1 Dubuque County is now 53% fully vaccinated! Divine Word Community is now 96% fully vaccinated. Four more members have received their first dose. 2 VICE PRESIDENT FOR FORMATION DEAN OF STUDENTS Fr. Long Phi Nguyen, SVD Welcome home, DWC students! It is good to see you back safe and sound. Wish you a successful academic and formation year. Many thanks to kitchen staff, DWC uber drivers, especially the Student Senate for organizing the annual opening school picnic. We all enjoyed a day of fun, food, and friendship. Formation Meetings will begin Wednesday, August 18, at 7:30 pm in designated rooms. Community service, federal work-study and other college activities also resume, so please check the Student Board for any further information. Student Recollection Day There will be a day of recollection for all students, on Saturday August 21, beginning from 9:00AM to 5:00PM in the main chapel, led by Fr. Michael Quang Nguyen, SVD, a missionary from Central Australia. The theme is “the One We Follow.” 3 VICE PRESIDENT FOR ADMISSIONS Mr. Len Uhal Welcome Students While being excited to see all our returning students back at on campus, we warmly welcome our new students to our Divine Word College community. We have 13 new students this semester: SVD Candidates Kentory Philippe Haiti Hai Ho Nguyen Vietnam Son Hoang Vu Garden Grove, CA Diocesan Seminarian Thuc Tri Nguyen Vietnam Divine Word Missionary Fr. Laurensius Huller Luli Yan, SVD Indonesia Religious Sisters Sr. Jesca Lucy Alitubeera, IHMR Uganda Sr. Hiep Thi Tran, CDM Vietnam Sr. Nhu Nguyen Quynh Phan, CDM Vietnam Sr. Comfort Nguyongu, SON Nigeria Sr. Ozioma Maurine Okpara, SST Nigeria Diocesan Priests Fr. Serdieu Jean Haiti Fr. Telesphore Dusabe Rwanda Lay Student Allison Efferding Dubuque All New Students All new students need to visit the Admissions Office to see both Ms. Carolyn Waechter and Ms. Patti McDermott. Carolyn will assistall new international students with visa information. She needs to make sure all your immigration documents are in order and make copies for our records. Carolyn will also assist all new domestic students with financial aid questions and paperwork. Patti will work with all new students to make sure we have original copies of your educational documents and baptismal and confirmation certificates (for SVD candidates).ALL NEW STUDENTS, PLEASE VISIT THE ADMISSIONS OFFICE BEFORE THE END OF AUGUST! Returning Domestic Students All returning students who are U.S. citizens or Lawful Permanent Residents in the USA (green card holders), please visit the Admissions Office to meet with Ms. Carolyn Waechter. She will assist you with updating your financial aid information. Please visit the office before the end of August. 4 VICE PRESIDENT FOR OPERATIONS Mr. Steve Winger It has been a very busy summer at Divine Word College. Our Maintenance, Housekeeping and IS departments were hard at work getting ready for the school year. Bro. Vinh and his crew had a lot of projects that they completed. Here are just some of the projects and maintenance work that they completed: Megan Hall flooring and trim upgrades New boiler installed Upgraded classroom and hallway doors with veneer Installed concrete curb near parking lot Installed concrete trail/sidewalk Landscaping/tree trimming Mowing & weed trimming Many thanks to all of the students that helped make these projects possible. Housekeeping was busy getting rooms ready for the school year this summer. You may have noticed many of the classrooms have been upgraded with new carpet, paint and smart televisions. The rooms were cleared of furniture and the old carpet removed. Housekeeping, along with many students, were able to prepare these rooms for remodeling. In particular, you will see that Room 107 and the Library had carpet removed and replaced. The transformation was amazing! Many thanks go out to our dedicated employees and students. The Information Systems Department had the big task of installing smart televisions in five classrooms this summer. The smart televisions are a big leap forward for faculty and students as they are much more user friendly, and the images are much clearer. Many thanks to Brad and Fr. Son Le for installing the televisions, pulling cables and hiding all of the electrical wires in conduit. The classrooms look fantastic! 5 Sr. Nhi Thao Thi Nguyen, LHC was selected as the second place winner of the Student Essays for the MIDTESOL Organization for 2021. Her essay, titled “Lessons from Virtual Communication,” explored the ways that social media and other forms of online communication helped people combat feelings of isolation and loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic. Congratulations on your accomplishment, Sr. Nhi! DIVINE WORD ALUMNI ASSOCIATION HAVE YOU HEARD? We have a NEW website! www.svdalumni.org It’s true! Please visit the new site and take a look around. You will find information on former minor seminaries and memories of alumni members days studying at places like Perrysburg, Ohio, Girard, Pennsylvania and even DWC! One of the most exciting features is the Alumni Directory. It lists names, email address and dates of attendance at Divine Word schools. We continue to add names to the directory as we receive updated information. Note to SVD members -- if your information is not currently listed in the directory, please go to the Contact Us section and complete the form. It’s a great way to connect with other Divine Word Alumni. 6 A: Main https://dubuquetelegraphherald-ia.newsmemory.com/ee/_nmum/_default_bb_include_inframe.... Appreciate value of faith-based higher education other view BY PHILIP BOOM pre-eminent educational intuitions of our nation were initially founded for the furtherance of Christian teaching. For example, Princeton Emmaus Bible College, Dubuque University, founded in 1636; Harvard University in 1746; and the University of Notre Dame in 1842. The founders and leaders of these The push for jobs. institutions had a deep-seated belief in the integration of faith and learning. Career readiness. Faith was the driving force for establishing these institutions. These are critical factors in higher education. It’s receiving more and more attention each passing year. The greater Dubuque area is rich in faith-based institutions of higher learning. Clarke University, Divine Word College, Emmaus Bible The most recent version of the U.S. Department of Education’s College, Loras College, University of Dubuque, Wartburg Seminary — “Colleges Scorecard” website provides colleges and universities the a noble group of regionally and fully accredited institutions of higher opportunity to present not only their average annual cost of attendance, learning, right here at our doorsteps.