Providing Opportunities While Strengthening the Community
By Stella Sarefield | Observer Contributor
On Thursday, February 2 2023, President Jim Vander Hooven was seen talking to both students and colleagues during the ‘Pizza with the President’ event in the student center.
When asked what this event is and why it is important to the college and student life, the Dean of Students, Jason Zelesky explained, “’Pizza with the President’ is a very informal event designed for students to get an opportunity to get to know the President.” Zelesky also shared that there are other events held by the Office of Student Life where students can speak with the President, “There were a couple each semester, one casual and one formal.”
A good reason why, the Office of Student Life’s Dean Zelesky is adamant about holding ‘Pizza with the President’ is that it provides an opportunity to “get into the mind of students, in order to understand how the Mount can help students come back to school after the COVID-19 experience.”
The last ‘Pizza with the President’ event was held near finals. Not only did this event provide students a chance to relax and step away from studying for exams, but it also provided students the opportunity to enjoy the company of other students, meet the President, and of course, have free pizza.
President Vander Hooven stated, “Social community development was just as important as the academics, meaning that a more active community will encourage students to come to school and enjoy their classes on a better level.”
A graduate from the University of Maine, President Vander Hooven uses his own experience and knowledge to get involved with student life at the Mount. He shared that his prominent goal is, “Giving any student the opportunity to reach their academic goals.”
Vander Hooven went on to explain that he has been working with the Office of the President to “create an overarching approach of equity and opportunity, with the aim of providing support resources to students of color, as well as all students that do not have resources or presentation, through holding activities such as ‘Pizza with the President’ events.”
For example, the President even went on to describe how he is working to create a much more inclusive and equitable environment at the Mount, describing the addition of all gender bathrooms to the campuses.
The Office of the President is also making sure that all branches of the Mount are community centers for the faculty, staff, and students in Gardner, Leominster, as well as Fitchburg.
President Vander Hooven briefly mentioned that the Mount was the largest employer for the City of Gardner, and that the Mount can use this to help create their community-based environment.
Considering the COVID-19 pandemic, Vander Hooven shared, “The students are what makes the Mount. The online learning environment was a double-edged sword. It is awesome to be around this many students with no panic and without worries about masks or vaccine policies.” He went on to highlight that, “This was a sign of hope for the Mount Wachusett community.”
The next Pizza with the President event is scheduled for Wednesday, March 29 2023 at 12:30 PM in the Student Center.
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