BY JULIA VARGAS
Each year, universities welcome new students with enthusiasm and a certain amount of fanfare. The orientation and welcome week activities are designed to encourage new students to meet others, learn the culture of the institution, and keep homesickness at bay. In the first weeks of the semester, students rush from one activity to another, find classrooms, conquer the dining hall, learn to navigate parking, and create a routine with time for employment, homework, and social commitments. When the dust settles after the first few weeks, students are faced with the challenge of making campus a home.
An opportunity presents itself for Jesuit college campuses to demonstrate their values during this time and accompany students, many of whom are creating a home of their own for the first time. Research suggests that a strong sense of belonging is crucial to student retention and success. Students who feel that campus is home will work hard to remain; whether that is to maintain their grades or to find employment that meets their financial needs. Sense of belonging is also a factor for faculty and staff retention and comfort. Elements of the sense of belonging that institutional culture impacts include accompaniment on the journey and creating opportunities to grow and learn.
Accompaniment. One factor in creating a sense of belonging is our connection to other individuals. As students go through their journey on our campus, they meet many individuals who contribute to their sense of belonging. Much of the effort of the orientation and welcome week experience is to allow students to connect with one another. Returning students offer advice for new students on college life. Residential students invite others to join them in the cafeteria. Commuter students make plans to carpool. University staff and faculty also make themselves known to students as a resource. These early interactions demonstrate the university’s commitment to accompanying its students throughout their time.
“When we strive for each person to come into their own, we open a space for a stranger to become a friend.”
Opportunities. Institutions of higher education provide opportunities to grow and learn. Students’ knowledge base in content areas increase. However, the campus can offer students the opportunity to grow and learn in leadership, personal and professional development. Participation in student organizations foster leadership skills. Community service projects invite students to consider their place in creating a more just world. Course work provides opportunities to think critically about their discipline and how we know truth. As a Jesuit institution, we encourage students to, in the words of former Superior General of the Jesuits Peter Hans Kolvenbach, “let the gritty reality of this world into their lives, so they can learn to feel it, think about it critically, respond to its suffering and engage it constructively.” The discovery of purpose happens in the safety of home.
Among the many meaningful opportunities to make a campus into a home is through community-engaged learning and service. Photo courtesy of Rockhurst University.
Hospitality. I have painted a rosy picture of the campus as home. Students enter the campus, find trusted individuals who support their growth and offer opportunities to discover their purpose within a bubble of care and support. We may strive for this to be each students’ experience. In striving for this ideal, we can practice a depth of hospitality that goes beyond an offer of a seat and snack. In hospitality, we recognize that it is not always up to us to dictate the path forward. If we pay attention and are open to the gifts that come from the campus, we may have the opportunity to learn a new way or discover a new truth. When we strive for each person to come into their own, we open a space for a stranger to become a friend.
Julia Vargas is director of the Center for Service Learning at Rockhurst University.