First Round of Rose Rock Voting Complete; McCartney, Aminé Out

By JONAS MILLER Co-Executive Editor

The first round of Rose Rock voting has ended, as have the dreams of students who had hoped to see their childhood sweetheart, Jesse McCartney, perform on the campus green.

“It’s fine, Rose Rock isn’t a romantic enough setting for us to meet for the first time anyway,” said senior Kellsey Sullivan.

Sullivan was a strong supporter of McCartney when the originial list of possible acts came out early last week. A tweet she posted urging students to “make her dreams come true” by voting for the pop star gained over 40 likes and 20 retweets.

Students had also hoped the man behind the fall hit “Caroline” would make it further in the voting process, but to their dismay, French R&B star Aminé was knocked out of contention as well.

“It’s a little dissapointing,” said Aurrichio. Like Sullivan, he also took to social media last week, asking his peers to bring the rising star to Saint Rose.

“I believe Bastille was on the first ballot last year and didn’t make it,” Aurrichio said. “But we still had a dope Rose Rock. Now we just have to trust the process.”

Leading the way into the second round is pop band The Ready Set, former “Zoey 101” star Jamie Lynn Spears, and Duke baseball washout Mike Stud.

“I was really looking forward to singing to “Beautiful Soul” at the top of my lungs,” Sullivan said, reffering to one of McCartney’s early hits. “I guess I’ll just have to find another way to make my middle school dreams come true.” the sanctuary. The organizers hope that students will take the opportunity to attend the prayer service and visit at the local mosque as a way to stand in solidarity with the Muslim community, showing support for them at a difficult time.

In recent years, Saint Rose has seen acts like Bowling for Soup and HelloGoodbye take the stage for their spring music festival.

The concert usually takes place in late April, though the official date of the 2017 event has not yet been released.

Students should check their email this week for a message containing the second round of voting.

For more information on Rose Rock, contact Vito Van Dunk, vandunkv028@strose. edu.

“The only requirement is for students to be willing to be respectful of the beliefs and practices of others,” said Horgan. These opportunities are available to all students, and Horgan hopes they serve as a way to become familiar with other beliefs, values and practices.

“Sometimes we are curious and don’t have the courage to go on our own to visit another person’s place of workshop or enter a conversation,” she said. “We always anticipate that this area of religious difference will bring conflict, but that does not have to be so. We can enter these spaces as guests, as people who are there to learn and understand the ways of another person or group. This gives folks a chance to not have to do that alone.”

Maria Hartz, a senior majoring in Spanish and leader of the Better Together interfaith group on campus, believes that these opportunities are incredibly relevant.

“This is a time in our world when, more than ever, interfaith work is extremely important not only on our college campus, but campuses across the country,” she said. “More and more people are feeling discriminated against, marginalized and unsafe because of their religious identities.”

According to Hartz, the purpose of interfaith-themed events for the Faith Crawl is to give students the opportunity to learn about different faith backgrounds that they might not know a lot about or have preconceived notions about based on what they have seen and heard in the media and from political leaders.

“For students that identify with a faith or non-faith tradition that is represented during Faith Crawl, my hope is that they have a space to feel safe, understood, and be able to embrace what they believe,” she said.

“Maybe one of the harder things we can ask a person is to show up to a religious service they don’t know about,” said Horgan. “It is something many people are curious about, but they are also most self-conscious about making a mistake or feeling foolish if they don’t know what to do. One of the benefits of the Faith Crawl is that we are all in this together. As a small group we are all going to be in the same boat, which I think helps.”

The overall mission of the campus ministry and the sanctuary as a space is to support the spiritual and religious needs of the members of the college community and to challenge, where necessary, each person to grow on a personal path and respond to the needs of the wider community around Saint Rose.

“My personal mission includes assisting people in finding their spiritual home, whatever that might be, while also being able to honor the spiritual home of others,” said Horgan. “And, along with that, to assist people in finding a way to use this one precious life on behalf of others—whatever shape that may take.”

The sanctuary plays a large role in pursuing these missions.

“The building itself is a resource as an oasis—a place to hear yourself think, hear your inner voice, or just breathe,” said Horgan. “I think one of the most important resources is a place to be quiet—in one of the prayer spaces, in the garden. We have a downstairs space, the library, that in addition to housing many books on faith and spirituality, it is also a place for students to relax, make a cup of tea, meet others who are connected to the Sanctuary.”

Several clubs, activities and groups meet in the space on a weekly basis. These include Earth Peace, an interfaith, multi-belief gathering for those dedicated to the