Minerva Goals

What have you done at Union that is in keeping with the goals of the Minerva Houses OR, with other schools/groups in which you have participated?

One of the Minerva goals is to promote interaction between faculty/staff and students. I helped plan the Biology Club: Biology Student Faculty Jeopardy Mixer which was held at Beuth House last month. This particular event was an opportunity for students to meet many of the Biology teachers at Union. This event was very successful as the event fostered many conversations and interactions between students and faculty. Another one of the Minerva goals is to enrich intellectual and cultural life outside the classroom. I have sought to enrich cultural life outside the classroom through my participation

Because the Minervas and Union staff are so diverse in terms of ethnicity and origin, many desserts would be able to be represented. Students would be able to make the desserts in the Beuth kitchen. Then at the actual event, we could have each dessert set up at a table with either the person who made it to explain the food or a card that explains it. Through this, students and faculty will be able to learn about other cultures and their foods which will meet the Minerva goal of enriching intellectual and cultural life outside the classroom. In addition, this event will meet the Minerva goal of promoting interaction between faculty/staff and students. Furthermore, this would be an event open to all of community. By opening up the event to all of campus, we might even be able to promote interaction with non-Beuth students, promoting the campus-wide sense of community. I’m sure many people would show up to such an event because college kids love free food and almost everyone loves sweet food. Another event going off the idea of cultural activities that meet the Minerva goals is movies throughout the year from various cultures. So every once in a while, we could have a movie at Beuth in Mandarin or Spanish or Hindi or French or Zulu. Union has two key elements that makes it so unique to many other colleges in the area and within the country: our diversity and our Minerva system.

Despite how great West College is with its convenience to the freshmen dining hall, it is no Minerva House and especially no Beuth House. I want to live in a Minerva, especially Beuth, because of the sense of community Minerva Houses have. In West College, where there are around 170 residents, it was hard to have a sense of community in West, however, one of the reasons Minerva Houses are so imperative to the campus is because of their sense of community. With our society moving at a faster and more detached manner due to technology and busy schedules, it is becoming harder to feel any sense of community anywhere. And this is so concerning because a lack of sense of community has proven to have so many negative effects, especially health ones. However, a strong community, like that within Minerva, benefits the individual by building relationships and bonds that last a lifetime. And to think of the bigger picture, a strong community, like what I desire, also helps the the community as well as the greater society by creating a more stable and supportive