ProfessorsOrganizeFirstAnnualSOLACelebrationEvent

also honor their alumni and create that network and relationship again, not just for fundraising, but also for the networking purposes.” dents don’t want to major in some of the liberal arts because the jobs don’t pay as well. But that’s a reflection of our society as well.”

The School of Liberal Arts (SOLA) has invited alumni, recently retired faculty and friends of the college back to campus for the first annual SOLA Celebration event. The celebration will bring the community together to recognize several distinguished alumni for their contributions to the arts.

After numerous months of planning, the event is set to take place on Saturday, May 6. The initiative was spearheaded by Mehnaz Afridi, Ph.d, who serves as the Director of the Holocaust, Genocide and Interfaith Center and a Professor of Religious Studies.

Afridi came up with the idea as a way to strengthen relationships with SOLA alumni, increase visibility for the school and garner financial support.

“We had never really done a fundraiser and I’d always seen the School of Business and the School of Engineering do it.” Afridi said. “And, you know, it’s important that the School of Arts has some visibility, but

The celebration event will acknowledge several distinguished alumni who have made significant strides in their careers since graduating from SOLA. Among the honorees include Ethan Van Ness ‘13, Pamela Segura ‘14, Cristian Gonzalez ‘17 and John Paluszek ‘55.

Paluszek, despite having graduated from the O’Malley School of Business, is being honored for his commitment to furthering liberal arts education at MC and exemplifying the college’s core values as an alumni.

Part of the motivation behind the event includes showcasing the benefits of studying liberal arts disciplines and debunking the common misconception that studying the arts is not as lucrative as other areas of study.

“We realized that a lot of courses are in the liberal arts because we are really committed to enriching students and society, basically that’s why we’re here.” Afridi said. “And we realized that a lot of stu-

By bringing alumni and faculty of the past and present together, Afridi hopes to highlight the benefits of a liberal arts education.

“I think that the School of Liberal Arts is really trying hard to say basically ‘we want a full human being.” Afridi said. “We want a full human being that has the opportunity to grow and explore and enrich themselves in whatever field they want to go into, you know and I think that that message needs to be coming back to the nation. That’s why I wanted to do it. And so people can see we [the arts] do need funding, we do need to be prioritized because our faculty work so hard for the mission.”

Cory Blad, Ph.D, Dean of SOLA, explained the importance of keeping liberal arts alumni connected to the Jasper community.

“We’re really just trying to re-energize and develop new ways to connect with alumni,” Blad said. “To show them a little bit more of what we’re doing now and some of the ideas that we have for the future, and really to hopefully get them to kind of see us as, you know, a little reminder of the times that they had here, and the positive impact that hopefully, the school liberal arts had on their lives.”

Blad also mentioned he hopes the SOLA Celebration event will become an annual event, in addition to potentially adding other similar events meant to strengthen alumni connections and gain support from the community.

Heidi Laudien, Ph.D, asso-

ciate professor of English was the co-chair for planning the upcoming event working alongside Afridi. Laudien expressed her excitement and optimism for the upcoming event.

“I am hopeful that the event will increase the visibility of the School of Liberal Arts and raise funds to support students and faculty,” she wrote. “It is my hope that this event will be the first of many annual SOLA alumni celebrations and that it will allow us to strengthen our connections with members of the MC SOLA community.”