RS Students, Faculty & Staff Gather for Annual Reception
For the first time since 2019, the Religious Studies community gathered together live and in person, for the big event of the year, the RS Reception. It was the first time the event was held outdoors, at the Kenna Trellis. It was a nice, warm Spring late afternoon, and everyone enjoyed having the opportunity to see each other in a non virtual environment to celebrate the achievements of RS graduating seniors and honor society inductees.
Paul Schutz welcomed everyone, and introduced the MC, Sarita Tamayo-Moraga. The program began with an invocation by Elyse Raby and Haruka Umetsu Cho. After that, everyone had a delicious southwest buffet dinner, and had a great time trying to “Guess Who” as baby pictures of RS majors, minors and faculty were shown on the screen.
After that, Sarita led the recognition part of the event, where various student groups were introduced and invited to stand up, including the ‘22 graduating class, students who declared majors and minors this past year, juniors, sophomores, and then first year students.
As is our tradition, students receiving awards were acknowledged. New members of Theta Alpha Kappa honor society were announced and received certificates, and graduating seniors who are TAK members were given honor cords to wear at commencement. We also presented the five department student awards-- please visit our Honors and Awards page to see the 2022 winners.
Bill Dohar then presented a talk entitled, “In Praise of Ignorance.”
Finally, graduating seniors were invited to speak,and they did….telling about their experiences as students of the RS Department. Many thanks went out to faculty who inspired them, including stories about what made being an RS major or minor such a rewarding time at SCU.