Grads bring more than skills

Thousands of college seniors across the country are preparing for graduation. How will you stand out among a group of eager grads racing for jobs in a tighter market?

Luckily, every Cabrini graduate will leave college with an understanding of social justice and the tools needed to make a lasting impact on the world around them— skills that will make you stand out among the competition.

Cabrini strives to be a leader in working with communities to make a better world. The students take part in various projects in pursuit of common good and because of that, Cabrini graduates have the ability to bring more to a job than their talent in one specific area of study.

Do companies care about the common good? Yes, AT&T, for example, just pledged $100 million to prevent high school dropouts. Other businesses encourage or require employees to be involved in the community.

The current seminar course for juniors takes a deep look into social justice; students spend time working towards long-term changes in the community and globally. The course integrates a sustained commitment to a community need, giving the students the opportunity to personally experience the issues that are discussed in class.

The SEM 300 courses have students actively engaging in the community. Students do more than community service. The course challenges students to work towards changing society for the better.

This coming fall the introduction of the new core curriculum will allow students to begin learning about social justice as incoming freshmen. Students will do field studies and analyses of how our lives are intertwined with those of other cultures.

As sophomores, students will work alongside community and organization partners to address particular social problems. They will assist in helping the partner in its work and they will also apply their knowledge of social justice to make real changes in the community.

By junior year, students will be able to complete research to enrich volunteer programs and advocacy work that will have a lasting effect on the community.

The new curriculum will culminate in senior year. Each department will be encouraged to develop a senior project in social justice in which students will use their professional skills to improve the local and global communities.

Students will also learn how to use the political process to inflence legislation for the common good.

Cabrini offers a unique educational experience with courses like SEM 300 and with the growth of the new curriculum, students will become more civically engaged than any other college students in the nation.

Cabrini has been recognized as a national leader in both community and global change and was honored for its dedication to social justice and civic engagement when it was listed on the 2006 and 2007 President’s Higher Education Community Honor Roll with Distinction for General Community Service.

Social justice is part of Cabrini College’s Catholic identity. A student pursuing a degree at Cabrini will become an agent of change by using their professional skills to bring about change in the world.

Becoming active, engaged citizens will give each of us a distinctive edge when we graduate.