Hilbert’s Lenten project raised nearly $500 through a Krispy Kreme donut sale early this month.

The fundraiser was to contribute towards helping families that are served by the Family Help Center this Lenten season.

The Director of Service Learning & Community Engagement Rachel Wozniak said the donut sale went a long way toward helping the project achieve its goal.

“The Krispy Kreme Fundraiser for the Lenten Project was very successful,” Wozniak said. “The donut fundraiser generated nearly $500 in proceeds”.

This event was one of many fundraisers for the Lenten Project; there was also the Pie-O-Mine Fundraising Night Amazon Gift Card Raffle and the Easter Egg toss. Be on the lookout for other fundraising events to help those in need.

Hilbert students recently received a campus safety alert email about potential car break ins.

In spring, as the weather gets warmer, there is a rise in property crime. The email goes into detail about what the criminals might be after and ways to reduce the chance your car is targeted.

How to prevent and deter a break in:

1. Always lock your doors and roll up your windows when you park.
2. Know where you’re going and plan routes that avoid high crime areas whenever possible
3. Park in well-lit areas
4. Never leave your car unattended if it’s running
5. Activate your security system if you have one.
6. Use after-market measures, like mechanisms that lock the steering wheel to protect your car and alert thieves that you’ve taken extra security measures.
7. Don’t use the console or glove box as mobile lock boxes. These are obvious to thieves, too.
8. Don’t hand them the keys

What they might be after:

1. Phone
2. Purse or wallet
3. Laptop (or its bag)
4. A briefcase or backpack
5. Shopping bags
6. An MP3 player or other small electronics
7. Cash – yes, even loose change/coins
8. Your keys – it actually happens!

Director of Campus Safety Vito Czyz said that while the Hilbert Campus does not see property crimes like this often, it’s worth keeping these precautions in mind.

“Since my arrival here in Fall of 2017, I have not investigated any forced entry vehicle break ins. There has been reported thefts from vehicles that were either attributed to the vehicle being left open or someone having used a key,” Czyz said.

Last year there were no cars stolen, no car break ins and only a few items found missing from cars on campus, according to figures provided by Czyz.

The college is planning to invest in new cameras for the parking lots to help prevent theft and other crimes, he added.

With Hilbert’s Unity Within Our Community month kicked off, things look different, but many events are available for the Hilbert College community.  

The Stand Up to Bias information session was hosted by Jeff Papia, Vice President of Mission Integration and Campus Ministry, via Zoom last month. Here students learned how to repair and restore the Hilbert College community by responding and standing up to bias.

Through the collaboration of faculty and staff Stand Up To Bias was revived with an intent to provide the community with a reliable source to strive and build unity. 

“We want to have a process by which to address these things because at Hilbert, and by being Franciscan we care about our community, we care about relationships and we want to make sure that everybody is happy, healthy and successful here at Hilbert and these harmful actions can prevent that from being so,” Papia said.

The event explained the procedure to fill out the Bias Incident Reporting Form, which can be completed by any individual at the Hilbert website. The event also educated students that this may be an ongoing process, but with the guidance and resources provided they will be able to reflect and grow despite the circumstances. By walking through the procedure students were made aware of the importance of their safety and how closely each investigation will be monitored. “I want to see numbers. We know there are incidents happening,” Papia said. 

“The goal is to make room for those expressions in so far as it’s healthy in so far as the dialogue is constructive, in so far is the goal and the intent is to learn in and throughout your expression and in so far as it creates a space where everybody can feel comfortable sharing their identity with us,” Papia said. “As a Franciscan community we cannot tolerate bias.” 

For more information, students, faculty and staff can visit the Hilbert College website http://hilbert.edu/bias or can reach Jeff Papia at jpapia@hilbert.edu and Gregory Roberts, Vice President of Student Life and Dean of Students groberts@hilbert.edu.

If you’re a social media aficionado, or someone who feels confident enough to distinguish articles that are absurd from the ones that are logical — now is your opportunity to put that talent to the test.

Melissa Laidman of the McGrath Library will be hosting Fact or Fiction, a virtual game of news literacy hosted through Zoom, on March 1^st, at 6 p.m.  

Fact or Fiction is a new program at Hilbert College that designed to test even the wisest and most rational thinkers, a fun game of fact-checking where participants are able to remotely compete against friends and fellow students.

“I ran the program in the Fall Semester at (Erie Community College),” Melissa Laidman, Hilbert’s reference librarian, said in an email, “It was really successful at ECC and the students gave me lots of positive feedback.”  

Though the program will remain similar to that of its original form at Erie Community College, Laidman has plans to expand on the program’s questionnaire with things that will be more timely.

“It will be mostly the same,” Laidman said “But I am switching up some of the questions because some didn’t work that well.”

In an age where false news has become a valid concern with the widespread dissemination of misinformation on social media and other platforms, having an idea of what is and what isn’t misleading information is invaluable to those who find themselves spending more and more time indoors and online with eyes glued to social media during the coronavirus pandemic. Fact or Fiction being available remotely will give more people an opportunity to learn about the identifying of false or speculative information in a rewarding manner. Though the current event will be hosted remotely to allow for more students to participate, Laidman hopes to one day make the event available in person as well.

If you’re interested in participating in Fact or Fiction, you can register to sign up by visiting https://hilbert.libwizard.com/f/factorfiction. Winner of the event will also receive a $10 Amazon e-card. The event is slated to run from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM EST. Participants will be sent a Zoom link prior to the event starting. For further information, potential signees can contact Melissa Laidman with any inquiries or concerns at mlaidman@hilbert.edu.

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

Have you ever taken a step back and thought about the current state of your own mental health? From avoiding their problems and feelings to not ever realizing something may be wrong, billions of people suffer from mental health problems, and many  do not know there are ways to get help. 

In today’s world, it seems the people affected many by mental health problems, the most common being depression, anxiety, and excess amounts of stress, are students.

Brooke Klein, a freshman at Hilbert, previously attending Daemen College and Erie Community College. She said …

Hamm is also a freshman who transferred this year from University at Buffalo.

“Before I started college and even before COVID-19, I had experienced anxiety, which I think has only gotten worse for me since my first year of college.” Klein said.

Klein said her mental health state is influenced greatly by her workloads.

Katherine Pappas, a Hilbert Sophomore, said she has experienced similar mental health issues.

“I have experienced mild depression for a while, and even though school always affects my moods, some semesters can be worse than others,” Pappas said. “It all depends on the amount of stress pushed onto us as students.”

On the other hand, Alesia Hamm is a freshman who transferred this year from University at Buffalo tells us she is able to deal with her stress easier,

“I have definitely experienced mental health issues in the past, but I think I am much better now,” Hamm said. “I do not think college has too much of a negative effect on my mental health.”

As the years go on there is a continuous increase in rates of mental health issues,  especially since the ages affected keep lowering, schools have tried to make counselors and resources more accessible.

Hilbert offers help to students such as counselors and comforting teachers.

Klein said she was surprised to learn the Hilbert offers mental health counseling services.

“I was not even aware that Hilbert offered mental health resources to students,” she said.

Even though these resources are offered, they may not be advertised enough to the people who need it the most.

 Pappas said she would be more like to use the services if the hours were more expansive.

“I knew about the resources offered, however the office hours of the counselor on campus are very limited.,” Pappas said. “I am not even sure when he is around.” 

When it comes to mental health, everyone is different because everyone thinks and feels differently. While one student may be super stressed about a project due in a week, another student may be able to schedule their time out and calmly deal with it. Others avoid their stress and just get things done, even though they may have some feelings bottled up. This means everyone does something different to cope with stress, depression, anxiety, etc.

When these students were asked what mainly contributes to their mental health issues, the only common answer was stress from school. 

Klein said getting away from school can help her feel better.

“When I’m feeling stressed or having a bad day mentally, I like to take a day off and really focus on myself,” she said. “When I have a day off it brings me to a more peaceful, happier mindset.”

Hamm said writing and going on drives alone are helpful for her. Pappas said driving is also helpful for her. “Sometimes I just drive around randomly, and it clears my head completely.” Pappas said., “I also like going on drives alone, but also love walking, reading, seeing my friends, or listening to music. Anything to take my mind off the stress or anxiety for a day or two really helps me.” 

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”.