Monthly Archives: May 2021

Welcome Home, Class of 2025!

Each year, a special introduction is written for our blog to extend a warm welcome to the incoming class and your families as you enter not only a new school but also a new chapter of your lives. There’s a certain quality that attracts students to become Siena Saints, and in four years, you may know exactly what I mean. As I recognize the impact of my time here and all of the knowledge I have gathered, I think what makes a Saint a Saint is resilience.

My senior year unfolded in the midst of a pandemic. Each of us is uniquely aware of the uncertainty, loneliness, challenge, and loss of this past year. During my final year at Siena, I watched the school I have grown to love struggle socially, having to skip many major events in order to prioritize the health and safety of our close community. It is during the Spring 2021 semester that I watched and played a role in the resurgence of our living and breathing campus with the onset of spring and New York’s swift rollout of the COVID-19 Vaccine. In this way, I witnessed and practiced Siena’s resilience; a school that rose from a long and dark winter stronger than it was when it entered it.

Is there anything prettier than Plassmann Hall in the Fall? Photo courtesy of Siena College.

As you become a Saint, you will recognize that Siena’s resilience will find a home in you, just as you will find a home in it. In light of our school’s Franciscan heritage, we glean an important and formative example of resilience in the Prayer of Saint Francis, in which we ask to become instruments of peace. Surrounded by the noise and indifference of the world, Saints strive to be voices of peace with and for others. We seek to sow love where there is hate, planting acts of kindness in the places and in the hearts of those who have been dulled by the world. Where there is darkness, Saints bring light, our optimism and commitment to change remaining unshaken. While observing Francis’ example, we come to know that it is in giving that we receive and in our resilience that we continue to grow stronger.

Saint Francis is the patron saint of ecology and an integral aspect of the Franciscan tradition is reverence for nature. At this point, you may or may not know that Siena’s campus has recently been named one of the top 50 Most Beautiful in the country by Conde Nast Traveler, and while this rings true, I am delighted to share that at Siena, you will encounter beauty in more than just your surroundings.

You’ll find beauty in the little things. Like the way your fellow Saints will hold doors open for one another, the way the light shines off the dome of Siena Hall, the way the leaves are tracked throughout your residence hall during the fall, the way you forget how you met your closest friends but are forever grateful for them anyway, the ways you will come to serve others, the way you’ll get to know the friars and their stories, the way everything will take shape for you over the course of your time here, and so many more small details that will hold a big place in your heart. 

There’s a pot of green and gold at each end of the rainbow! Photo courtesy of Siena College.

In sharing intentions for you as you enter the Siena Community, I hope that you find all of the ways to love this school. Afterall, through all of the peaks and valleys that you have encountered in the past year alone, you found your way here. We couldn’t be happier to have you. This is what makes you resilient. This is what makes you a Saint. As you set your sights on the future, I hope that you carry this inherent courage while you continue to pave your path here on Loudon Road and beyond. 

As you move in this August, the columns of Siena Hall will welcome you to your new home! Photo courtesy of Siena College.

Go Green, Live Gold: Siena College Earth Week 2021

By: Kiera Mitru

The phrase “go green, live gold” become more and more common around campus. Its bold letters are printed on the new Ozzi machine, on the free canvas bags sponsored by the Franciscan Center and the Environmental Club, and lived through the actions of Siena’s community. Through campus cleanups and outreach to students and faculty, Saints have started to adopt more sustainable habits and take steps toward climate justice. During Earth Week, April 19th-April 24th, students and faculty alike rallied in support of Earth Day, the momentum of which is intended to be carried forward for years to come. With joined efforts from the Environmental Club, the Franciscan Center, Habitat for Humanity, Student Senate, and more, each event was a resounding success.

Caution: Wet paint! Students grabbed the rollers and got to work on the Thompson trail. Image Courtesy of Abigail Sheridan.

“Lend a hand to save the land” was the theme of the Environmental Club’s 2021 Earth Week events, thoughtfully scheduled throughout the week to bring climate justice awareness and activism to students campuswide. Some of the activities included chalk drawing, outdoor yoga with Dr. K, a free succulent giveaway, a free canvas bag and Fair Trade product sample table, a virtual movie night, and a fashion show highlighting students’ sustainable steez. 

The Environmental Science Department’s Dr. Kolozsvary leads students in an outdoor yoga class in front of Roger Bacon Hall. Image Courtesy of Jessica Dupont.

For those that have adopted plant-based lifestyles in honor of the Earth, the Lonnstrom dining hall featured vegan and vegetarian options throughout the week, including quinoa veggie burgers, kale, beet, and sweet potato chips, as well as “worms n’ dirt” cupcakes and vegan mint “mulch” chocolate chunk blondies. Siena Fresh has also recently invested in an Ozzi machine, which collects and sorts reusable takeout containers for guests of the Lonnstrom dining hall. Before the introduction of this sustainability effort on campus, the Lonnstrom dining hall alone would dispose of around 112,000 single-use containers per week (Siena Fresh). Since introducing reusable containers, Siena has significantly reduced the amount of waste sent to landfills, working to keep the Earth cleaner!

Good things come in sustainable packages! Image courtesy of @sienafresh on Instagram.

The week’s grand finale was Saturday’s Community Service Day, dedicated to the stewardship of the land we call home. This event celebrated and put into action the care for the planet that the Environmental Club vocalized throughout the week, as well as the Franciscan tradition that takes root and grows on our campus. In reflection of the example set by Saint Francis many years ago, Environmental Club Events Coordinator, Jessica Dupont shares that, “St. Francis is the patron saint of ecology, and we don’t really reflect that enough in the ways that students approach the environment. By having a week dedicated to celebrating the Earth and its connection to our Franciscan heritage, we take time to reflect on what makes our community’s Franciscan tradition special.” The Community Service Day commenced with a reflection from Frather Tito Serrano, who shared that Francis’ work was centered in service to the Earth. Mentioning Francis’ timeless Canticle of the Creatures, Father Tito urged participants to view features of nature and the Earth as brother and sister, just as Francis did. 

After receiving this reflection, Community Service Day participants dispersed in small groups across campus, completing projects out of reverence and service to the Earth. Some of these activities included building additional raised plant beds for the Rosetti gardens, painting and maintenance of the Thompson Trail, uprooting patches of the invasive Japanese Knotweed species, collecting recyclable bottles and cans at different stations in residential areas, bird house and bench building, as well as general trash pickup around campus. 

We Francis”CAN” find a way to make recycling more accessible to students! Image courtesy of Abigail Sheridan.

Jessica Dupont shares further that, “People smiled so much when interacting with us and you could tell that students and staff really believed in what we were doing and were excited to get involved. Many expressed excitement that we were holding a whole week to celebrate the earth.” By organizing a series of events, the Environmental Club is hopeful to maintain a powerful campus-wide momentum toward achieving climate justice. Looking closer at the projects they completed, the four-person team working on the general trash pickup mission shares that, “We retrieved 9 full bags of plastic, glass, cans, and a variety of other materials out of the wetlands on campus. These materials don’t break down, and if they did, would release toxins into our protected wetlands.” In the spirit of Francis’ example, students across campus are acting in reverence and respect for the spaces that we call home, as well as that of the wildlife at Siena. 

The closing lines of Francis’ famed Canticle share, “Praise and bless my Lord / and give Him thanks / and serve Him with great humility” (Saint Francis). In these final lines, we can observe the deep connection Francis fosters with not only his faith but also the natural world, making it only apt to name him the patron saint of ecology. It is in the final line that Francis calls us to action as Siena Saints. He asks us to serve the Earth with good care and forward-looking intention; aiming to harvest hope, dedication, and optimism among those that follow in his footsteps.

Katherine Arsenault dug deep to uproot climate destruction and the campus’ growing patches of Japanese Knotweed. Image courtesy of Anne Larsen.