Misericordia University faculty, staff and students will celebrate the Sisters of Mercy founding and sponsoring the university, discuss health care from a global perspective, recognize the 10th anniversary of the Mary Kintz Bevevino Library and perform community service as part of Mercy Week, beginning Sept. 21.
The week-long series of events is a collaborative effort involving student groups, campus ministry, staff council and staff members. It is designed to introduce and educate students to the charisms of mercy, service, justice and hospitality, and the founding of the university in 1924 by the Religious Sisters of Mercy.
Monday, Sept 21st
“Got Mercy?” T-shirts go on sale in the lobby of the Banks Student Life Center. That evening, students are invited to help feed the homeless as volunteers of the VISION program at the Second Presbyterian Church in Pittston.
Tuesday, Sept. 22
Fair Trade teas, coffee and items from Peru will be on sale in the lobby of the Banks Center from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The fair trade sale is designed to promote awareness about unfair trade practices and offers items for sale at cost with the proceeds going back to the people who produced the merchandise. The campus will also celebrate employee service at a Service Awards dinner that evening, beginning at 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 23
A Service Fair will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the lobby of the Banks Center. Students will be able to sign-up to help at more than 20 area agencies.
Dr. Karen Schneider, RSM, assistant professor in the department of Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University, will be the guest speaker for the presentation, “Health Care in Developing Countries — Reaching Across Borders with Mercy,” also on Sept. 23 at 5 p.m. in the Huntzinger Room of Sandy and Marlene Insalaco Hall. Dr. Schneider is a former clinical instructor in the division of pediatric emergency medicine at Johns Hopkins. She holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics education from Molloy College, Rockville Center, N.Y., and earned her medical degree from SUNY HSC at Brooklyn in Brooklyn, N.Y. Dr. Schneider has done extensive work providing medical services to children in underdeveloped countries and has orchestrated trips to Haiti, Guyana and Peru for pediatric residents to perform surgeries on critically ill children. Her efforts for creating the pediatric tropical medicine elective at Johns Hopkins earned her the Cunningham Award, which is presented to only one of the 7,000 Sisters of Mercy each year for outstanding ministry to the economically disadvantaged.
Thursday, Sept. 24
Mercy Day will be celebrated. Under the direction of the university’s staff council, students, faculty and staff will collect non-perishable items for the Back Mountain Food Pantry as part of the annual “Stuff the Bus” project. A campus bus will be parked near the Banks Center and donations will be accepted from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Campus Ministry will host a Kids Care Club Service Project from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the lobby of the Banks Center. Working in cooperation with Jewish Family Service of Greater Wilkes-Barre, Misericordia students will collect personal hygiene items and toiletries and fill and decorate bags with personal messages and words of inspiration. The students will deliver the packages to the Catherine McAuley House, Ruth’s Place, and St. Vincent DePaul Kitchen for distribution to needy residents.
Beginning at 3 p.m., students, staff and faculty are invited to walk the newly installed Circle of Pride, where the names of the Sisters of Mercy who have served Misericordia University are engraved in bricks in front of the new Sandy and Marlene Insalaco Hall. Participants are also invited to view the Mercy charism murals created by Misericordia University graphic designer John Clark that are hanging in the Max and Tillie Rosenn Concourse on the second floor of Insalaco Hall and tour the “Guiding Light” exhibit by glass artist Christopher Ries in the Pauly Friedman Art Gallery.
At 4 p.m., Misericordia University will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Mary Kintz Bevevino Library. A ceremony will be held in front of the building and will include remarks by University President Michael MacDowell. A reception will follow in the Catherine Evans McGowan Conference Room.
Founded and Sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy in 1924, Misericordia University is Luzerne County’s first four-year college and offers 32 academic majors on the graduate and undergraduate levels in full and part-time formats.
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