The year in review

New student organization aims to create more inclusive community

A newly formed group of Scholars created an organization this spring to help the College recruit and retain students from underrepresented groups.

Minorities in Schreyer includes more than a dozen students, from various backgrounds and areas of study, who share common goals of increasing the diversity of the student body and helping students of color become more connected with each other and with the College.

“We were trying to find a way to meet other students that looked like us who were also in the Honors College and going through the same things that we’re going through,” said Madison Burnard, a rising junior and Bunton Waller Fellow and the organization’s president.

Dr. Lynette Yarger, the Schreyer Honors College’s assistant dean for equity and inclusion, had a number of conversations with students throughout the year. Many expressed a desire to get involved in both recruiting and retention efforts.

“It’s about bringing people in, but also what can you do in the living/learning community to make it more inclusive,” Yarger said.

Scholar Victoria Francois, a Bunton Waller Fellow, said she knew she would experience a bit of a “culture shock” when she came to Penn State. She hopes to help lessen that culture shock for future Scholars.

“Realizing how important it is to have representation is what is driving me to continue to do things related to diversity in this organization and other orgs,” Francois said.

The organization initially came together through word-of-mouth and mutual friendships. The coronavirus pandemic made building the group’s membership difficult during the spring, but members met virtually to draft a constitution and maintained a group chat to stay in touch. Burnard, who represents the organization on the Dean’s Student Advisory Committee, said recruitment of addition al

Madison Burnard is the president of Minorities in Schreyer. students is its top priority for the upcoming fall semester, but as membership grows, Minorities in Schreyer plans to have a presence at recruitment events such as Scholars Day and to find ways to pair incoming Scholars of color with current Scholars.

Yarger also envisions the group eventually serving as a bridge to other diversity and inclusivity organizations throughout the University community, and she believes Minorities in Schreyer can have a positive impact on majority students in the College as well.

“We talk about being globally minded,” Yarger said, “and so they see part of their mission as working with majority students in helping to improve those relationships and in return, those students would also have a broadening of their intercultural communication and competencies.”

Schreyer for Women fostering community in and outside of College

A growing student group whose mission closely resembles the College’s continues to empower female students at Penn State and around the world.

Schreyer for Women is modeled on four pillars — community building, career development, service, and special projects — that represent a wide range of activities and priorities and reflect the diverse membership of a group that became a registered student organization this year.

“As a broader community, those pillars help us focus on how we can help each other,” said Siena Baker, the 2019-20 president of Schreyer for Women.

During the 2019-20 school year, Schreyer for Women members created sustainable feminine hygiene kits through a partnership with Days for Girls, an international nonprofit organization whose Penn State chapter also recently became a registered student organization, to send to young women in developing countries. Through

the same partnership, they sewed cloth onto medical face masks to make them last longer during the coronavirus pandemic.

The organization also hosted an open mic event for International Women’s Day, where students from throughout the Penn State community shared poetry, songs, or other messages that celebrated women; a pen pal program with Power Dada, an organization that strives to create safe communities for women and girls in Kisumu, Kenya; and a virtual panel for students at Tyrone Area High School, among other initiatives.

“They’re reaching out beyond their cluster to make that impact, to be an important part of the community,” said Schreyer Honors College Dean Peggy A. Johnson, “and I think that is absolutely fantastic.”

When forced to meet remotely for the second half of the spring semester, Schreyer for Women hosted guest speakers, including Fulbright alumni Marcy Herr and Maddie Taylor (the first president of Schreyer for Women) and Assistant Dean for Equity and Inclusion Lynette Yarger. They worked with Scholar Alumni Society Board mentors Alayna Auerbach and Kristin Lambert to help find professional opportunities for members.

“We were definitely focused on trying to provide support professionally, even though we couldn’t be there in person,” said 2020-21 president Anushka Shah.

In the coming year, Schreyer for Women hopes to continue to grow its membership and let all Scholars, especially women and non-gender-conforming individuals, know they are welcome.

“We are always trying to make our initiatives and programming more meaningful and better cater to the members that we have,” Shah said.