Author: Brendan Sudberry
President Dobkin, ASW reaffirm commitment to building community at CommUNITY Talks event
ASW hosted a CommUNITY Talks event Wednesday where they facilitated a conversation with President Beth Dobkin about the importance of building community at Westminster College. According to ASW President Obaid Barakzai, the event was organized in hopes of allowing students to reconnect with their peers and communities — especially as in-person events have been more difficult to organize beca...
Westminster prepares new campus guidelines under governor’s state of emergency
Gov. Gary Herbert declared a new state of emergency Sunday night in response to growing cases of COVID-19 throughout the state of Utah. COVID-19 cases have risen substantially over the past week, reaching an all-time high of 2,987 cases reported Friday, according to the Utah Department of Health. The last single-day record was reported the day before with 2,807 cases Thursday. The newl...
Halloween challenges: Here’s how some students plan to celebrate
COVID-19 has changed day-to-day life the world over, continuing to alter years’ old traditions. The latest victim: Halloween. For college students, Halloween generally means a weekend full of lively parties and classic forms of entertainment like haunted houses — both of which entail direct contact with large groups of people. This year, the COVID-19 pandemic has made classic college H...
Westminster junior seeks to provide education, resources for communities of color
Utah is among the least diverse states in the country, ranking #42 in a study from WalletHub for 2019. Roughly 78% of the population is white. Jenessa Jimoh, a junior at Westminster College, said she noticed this lack of diversity across the state — seeking conversations to uncover unconscious biases. After speaking with friends, Jimoh realized these conversations were largely absent.&...
Campus centers collaborate to prepare students for upcoming election
Students at Westminster College who are unsure how to best prepare to vote can seek guidance from the Dumke Center for Civic Engagement and the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) for the upcoming election. The Dumke Center has previously supported voting efforts through registration drives, educational workshops and other events. While this year may look different because of COVID-19,...
100 years in the making: The fight to vote still exists, activists say
Women gained the right to vote in 1920 through the 19th Amendment. However, the fight for the ability to vote by women of color continued for nearly five additional decades — with many still struggling to freely exercise that right today. The recent unveiling of a mural commemorating the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment in downtown Salt Lake City was intended to celebra...
Students express appreciation of COVID-19 safety guidelines in HWAC
Despite the pandemic, several facilities at Westminster College are open for student use — implementing COVID-19 health and safety guidelines to prevent an outbreak on campus. Students said the increased precautions allow them to feel safe while using high-profile spots on campus, especially the Health, Wellness and Athletic Center. Ahead of the start of Fall semester, HWAC issued a detailed...
OPINION: Community matters, now more than ever
What is community? When one performs a Google search for the meaning of community, the first results to appear are: “a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common” “a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals” As many of you know, I spend much of my time working in the Office of Admissions. Whenever...