Harshana Ghoorhoo
\n<\/b>Staff Writer<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
The School of Diplomacy hosted its annual\u00a0Dean\u2019s\u00a0Welcome Barbecue event\u00a0on Friday, September 6.\u00a0The\u00a0social\u00a0gathering\u00a0took place on\u00a0campus\u00a0where students and faculty\u00a0alike came together\u00a0to share in the spirit of the Diplomacy community.\u00a0It was\u00a0a\u00a0warm and welcoming atmosphere on the green\u00a0where\u00a0the event\u00a0kicked off with games and light-hearted conversations\u00a0among students and faculty members.<\/span><\/p>\n In his\u00a0first address, Dean Courtney Smith\u00a0welcomed\u00a0returning\u00a0upperclassmen\u00a0students and\u00a0faculty members of the Diplomacy community\u00a0and extended a greeting to the freshmen students.\u00a0Dr. Smith talked about the\u00a0\u201cWhy Statement:\u201d\u00a0To encourage questioning, experimentation, and tenacity, so that each member of our community can be their best self for the good of all.<\/span><\/p>\n A collaborative effort among students, faculty, and administrators, this statement is representative of the impact the diplomacy community is having as a school.\u00a0The purpose of this statement, according to Dr. Smith, is to\u00a0encourage the process of thinking and understanding on why we are part of this community.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAs an academic institution, we have an environment\u00a0with curriculum\u00a0and classes where the faculty members are instructing the courses and engaging\u00a0in a dialogue with students. Professors are here to encourage students\u00a0to ask questions about themselves and the society around them, and most importantly to gain knowledge about how international politics is structured and in fact how it could have been structured a lot better.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n He went on to talk about how experimentation remains at the heart of the Diplomacy School. \u201cThere is a lot to do in Diplomacy. It\u00a0is going to require experimentation to\u00a0figure how we have to go about achieving our goals and what pieces of this big complexity of problems we have to address.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Additionally, Dr. Smith talked about the importance of tenacity\u00a0among\u00a0students. \u201cYou\u2019re preparing for a career that is probably going to have a series of jobs, so determination and tenacity\u00a0to get through that is a crucial skill to\u00a0work on nurturing within yourself as a quality while you are students here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Ending his speech, Dean Smith\u00a0encouraged students to\u00a0involve themselves in organizations that help them achieve their goals.\u00a0\u201cEverything you do here has\u00a0to help you reach your own goals and has\u00a0to be a part of the equation, otherwise you are not going to feel that sense of calling\u00a0and purpose\u00a0that you\u2019re supposed to feel in the \u2018Why\u00a0Statement.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The event continued as various faculty members introduced themselves to the audience. They spoke on their academic specializations and expressed excitement to be working with new and returning students alike. The leaders of different student organizations introduced themselves and encouraged students interested in joining their clubs to reach out.<\/span><\/p>\n Professor Frederick\u00a0McCormack-Hale\u00a0spoke of the event as a wonderful opportunity for faculty members to meet and engage with students outside of the classroom in an informal environment.\u00a0\u201cI treasure these moments because it\u2019s nice to get out here and meet students I\u2019ve never seen and who might\u00a0be interested in learning more about my specialization and classes I offer.\u201d\u00a0For this semester, Dr.\u00a0McCormack-Hale\u00a0is\u00a0heading an online specialization course at the graduate level.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMy focus, really, is figuring out how to\u00a0strengthen the quality of our\u00a0online program\u00a0in the sense of building more of a community. So,\u00a0all we have is our online environment and I\u2019m trying to make sure that they maximize that as\u00a0best\u00a0as possible and that they make connections with each other\u00a0while at the same time enjoying their classes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Kaitlyn\u00a0Akroush, a freshman diplomacy student,\u00a0expressed her gratitude for having gotten the opportunity to engage with upperclassmen students and members of the faculty\u00a0at the event.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI am excited to be a part of such a diverse and rich community where everybody is so accessible to you, and you can\u00a0make those connections to eventually foster a successful\u00a0career in the future and\u00a0progress your academic\u00a0experience here at Seton Hall.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The Welcome BBQ event succeeded in gathering the\u00a0students and\u00a0the\u00a0faculty\u00a0as a community.\u00a0It\u00a0shows\u00a0what the School of Diplomacy has to offer\u00a0to all those wanting to bring about a change within the global community.\u00a0The success of the event\u00a0assures a promising year,\u00a0where\u00a0old\u00a0boundaries will be crossed,\u00a0and new goals will be set to\u00a0further the initiatives of the School of Diplomacy.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The\u00a0social\u00a0gathering\u00a0took place on\u00a0campus\u00a0where students and faculty\u00a0alike came together\u00a0to share in the spirit of the Diplomacy community.\u00a0It was\u00a0a\u00a0warm and welcoming atmosphere on the green\u00a0where\u00a0the event\u00a0kicked off with games and light-hearted conversations\u00a0among students and faculty members.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4475,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1726,389],"tags":[704,1093,1737],"class_list":["post-8061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-september-2019","category-diplo-news","tag-school-of-diplomacy","tag-deans-welcome","tag-dean-smith"],"yoast_head":"\n