Hilbert’s Counseling and Wellness Center will host a virtual informational session on covid-19.

The session, held over Zoom at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, will offer information on symptoms, impacts, vaccines and treatment of the disease and an opportunity to ask questions of health professionals, including Kalieda Health’s Dr. Kenneth Snyder.

Hilbert’s Allison Chatley said the session is open to all members of the Hilbert community.

“The goal of this collaboration with Kaleida Health Services is to give Hilbert’s community first-hand information about the current state of COVID, the development of the vaccine and allow a space for students and staff to voice concerns or fears they may be having,” Chatley said.

Community members can access the session with the link below:

https://hilbert-edu.zoom.us/j/82579257220?pwd=ZUVnOWp3R1hFbUFmRXI4MlZ0TmlCUT09

In an effort to promote unity Hilbert College launched the monthlong Unity Within Our Community drive earlier this week.

The campaign is aimed at providing students service opportunities while also promoting discussions around social and racial justice. Covid protocols will make for things a little different this year, but the college has daily events, programs and information sharing opportunities, with many of them being conducted over Zoom or through other digital means.

Rachel Wozniak, Hilbert’s director of service learning and community engagement, said her office is hoping to provide learning opportunities for students through service, while also fostering conversations around some of the big issues being discussed, particularly how the school community can apply Franciscan values to try to help solve problems.

“Since the pandemic began, our nation has witnessed its disproportionate and overwhelming effects felt by our communities of color,” Wozniak said. “The underlying inequities that are present in our communities became clearer than ever. As a Franciscan college, we must continue to educate, inform, and take the necessary steps to eliminate systemic racism and oppression.”

The events this week include a Stand Up to Bias information session Thursday beginning at 11:30 a.m. via Zoom. Students can learn about ways to stand up to discrimination within the Hilbert community. Sign up through Purple Briefcase.

Wozniak said the programs are designed to help students and community members recognize issues of racial inequity, understand the value of diversity and connect to God’s call for justice in the world.

“To quote Dr. Martin Luther King, ‘injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,'” Wozniak said. “As a Catholic, Franciscan institution, lets us learn from the lessons 2020 has taught us and continue to commemorate Dr. King’s legacy as we move forward in creating a more just community, devoted to compassion, empathy and dignity for all.”

Students can find schedules for programming on signage throughout campus, the can reach Wozniak at rwozniak@hilbert.edu or they can reach out to the Center for Student Involvement and Leadership.

This week Hilbert students and staff have been showing off their Hawk pride by participating in Spirit Week.

While the events are not the same as a typical year, school administration has worked to make things as festive as ever, offering prizes to students who participate in at least four of the five spirit day events and tag photos of themselves in their outfits to @Hawktivities on Instagram, long with a hashtag identifying their class year; i.e. #classof2021 for seniors. Students can also certify their participation by showing up to the student activities office in Franciscan Hall to show off their gear.

Dan Heims, the interim director of student activities, said that his office is hoping to make important events like Spirit Week as engaging as possible while also following all safety protocols.

“We have adjusted how we do programming,” Heims said. “Rather than in person interactive programming, we have had to adjust to running ‘take and makes’ as well as more virtual programming.”

Heims said his office are trying to keep these events play out as they would in a normal year, but with a twist to keep them safe.

“We hope that it brings some fun for students, as well as some friendly competition between the different class years,” Heims said. “The students that participate in four out of the five days and are in the class year that earns the most points will win a prize.”

Spirit Week continues through Friday. The themes for each day are as follows:

Monday – comfy pajama day

Tuesday – meme day. Dress up like your favorite meme

Wednesday – flannel day

Thursday – Disney day

Friday – Hawks Pride Day

As the semester begins to wrap up, college students are finding themselves more stressed than usual due to the ongoing pandemic and current presidential election.

The fall semester of 2020 has been a semester like no other. With students transitioning to online classes, and some already fully online, it has been a challenging semester. Before there was even talk about the presidential election, students were already beginning to stress about the changes in their learning. “Since the beginning of the semester in August, things have been so different from last Fall”, Forensic major, Claudia Wrate, said.

Since March, the corona virus pandemic has continued to change almost every element of a college students’ life. In March, students were abruptly moved to virtual learning, where they would struggle to finish the semester as they had no idea how to learn completely online. “My grades dropped significantly towards the end of March because my professors and I were not used to online learning, and struggled to adapt”, Criminal Justice major, Mia Sanchez, said. “The professors and students were hardly given any notice, and professors had no time to create an effective learning platform online”.

Along with COVID-19 adding stress to an already busy semester, there has been a lot of political controversy regarding the presidential election. Whether you choose to follow politics or not, there is no way to completely avoid the stress of the election.

The presidential election has created many more divisions when compared to previous elections. The controversy between the candidates and their supporters seems to be increasing, especially right now, while it looks like Joe Biden won, but it isn’t indefinite. Most students attending Hilbert College experienced this election as their first and it brought a lot of stress upon them, considering the importance of this election.

As Erie county moves into yellow zone, and chances going back into lockdown, most college students resort to panic mode. Finals will be coming soon, a new president, and students may have to return to virtual learning at any time. This semester has definitely been one for the books.

“Beginning move heavily around the middle of October, wherever you looked, there was something pertaining to the election,” Wrate said. “Personally, I do not share my political views with anyone, because I understand that most people struggle to see others’ views. I continually noticed people openly sharing their political views and opinions on social medias, which seemed like it was just asking for an argument”.

Cori Shearing, a cybersecurity major at Hilbert College, passed away unexpectedly on April 14, 2020.

Everyone at Hilbert College can agree on one thing:  Cori was a fun, loving and outgoing person, who was never afraid to be herself.  Cori touched so many people in the short time she was with us, and we all miss her dearly.

I first met Cori during my freshman year of college. I remember the first time she sat behind me in class and introduced herself. She talked about longboarding and some of her other interests. The minute I heard her speak, I wanted to get to know her better. The way she talked and carried herself made her different from everyone else, in the best way possible.

My sophomore year of college, my roommates and I were looking for another roommate to fill our suite. One of my roommates, Claudia Wrate, a forensics major at Hilbert College, was very close with Cori and immediately thought of her. We began talking with Cori about dorming with us, and although it never happened, it helped bring all of us closer.

Cori always had a smile on her face and it was completely genuine. “Cori just always wanted to make the world a better place and everyone around her happy”, Wrate said.  “She was very interested in cyber security and wanted to help people that way”.

Former Hilbert student, Reta Savory, also met Cori freshman year. The first night Savory met Cori, it made a lasting impression on her. “Hanging out with Cori that first night was enlightening for me because I learned about myself as a person and how to be a friend to someone from a different world than me” Savory said. “She taught me that life is hard but you smile through it and that’s all you can do”.

Cori was also very proud of her family, especially her mom. Savory and Wrate both vividly remember Cori sharing stories about her family. “Cori was proud of her family for sure” Wrate said. “Her mother and her were very close, and she talked about her so highly”.

“I think Cori was most proud of the people in her life” Savory said. “From the moment I met her, I could see that. She loved her mom”.

Hilbert College is an institution known for three major factors: the Criminal Justice Program that helps to teach the next generation of Police, Security and Federal Officers;. the Forensic Science program; the small student to faculty ratio that creates an engaging and person experience allowing the student to feel like an individual not like a number. 

Unlike some colleges that have giant class sizes where the professor does not know your name, at Hilbert the faculty cares about each and every student, and how to make the learning easier for that student in particular. 

While Hilbert is known for its Criminal Justice and Forensic Science Program there is other majors on campus beside these which are the obvious ones, one of the great major programs on campus in the Political Science program.  Political Science is the study of how people form together to change the situations in which they live to make those situations equitable and how those systems fight against or work with these movements of people. 

While not as popular as the Criminal Justice major, the study of Political Science should matter to students studying Crimal Justice.  

“CJ and other disciplines are inter-related , so how people are treated  is a political question,” Dr. Andrew Kolin said. 

Politics effect each and every one of us in some way matter shape or form, it is what creates each and every situation in the world, he added.  

“If one is to understand decision making and ‘who gets what?  Political science is essential’ meaning that while things may seem dismal and dark there is ways to change the matter of who gets what,’” Kolin said. 

Kolin, is an academic who has taught and studied Political Science for many decades and takes a lot of pride in giving his students as much detail as possible, allowing them to strive and succeed. 

John Brandle, a Political science major at Hilbert College, said he is a political science major because he wants to help solve problems.

“I chose to study political science because I wanted to help my community,” Brandle said. “I thought that pursuing a degree in the field would help educate me on the ins and outs of our society and how we function both on a legal and political level. My personal end goal is to get involved in the field of politics, and try to make a change through that.” 

That is what many Political Science majors want to accomplish is to better the world they live in. However, to gain that perspective one doesn’t have to be a Political Science Major. They can merely take a course or two as part of an elective.

Brandle said he believes that Political Science matters on campus.

“I think political science should matter because we are becoming more and more of a society that refuses to look at our flaws,”Brandle said. “In doing so we also forget the accomplishments we have made fixing those flaws.”