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Dear Sociology Community, Alumni, and Friends,
As the radiator in O’Connor bubbles to life this late fall we take a moment to thank all of our alumni and supporters for this new school year. We had a record number of new students declare sociology as their major this fall and our students are engaged in substantive research and internships on and off campus. It definitely feels more like it did before Covid upended so many lives: students are once again working on their study abroad applications and getting involved in initiatives on campus as well as serving in important leadership roles both within and outside the department.
A special shout out and thank you to the club’s Co-chairs Kelly Lelapinyokul and Christina Nelson. Kelly and Christina met each other in our lower-division sociology methods course in March of 2021. They became friends and brought our sociology club back to life, forming a Board of fellow students and hosting a number of fun events (check out their update in this newsletter).
We have been buoyed by sightings of our alum at various events on campus. Clara Chu Dwyer was recently on campus for an Association for Jesuit Colleges and University meeting in her role as Director of Alpha Sigma Nu, the AJCU Jesuit Honor Society in which many of you are members. Current major Karina Tsou is President of SCU’s chapter this year. Perla Luna (story below) brought some of her AVID high school students to a LEAD conference for first-generation and limited income students that featured a panel including recent alum Jessica Cuellar. We also met up with Marissa Brown who is finishing her EdD at SCU and Diego Ardila who is working in Ux Research at Google. We are always inspired as we see the creative and skilled ways that sociology alum use your Santa Clara experiences and big hearts and minds after you leave SCU.
Next academic year, we embark on a three-year program review. This comprehensive process involves a self-study of our department, researching curricula in other sociology departments, and reaching out to our esteemed alumni. We may seek your insights to help us understand what you found most beneficial and what you wish we could have included as part of your sociology degree.
And be on the lookout for updates from our busy faculty in the next newsletter. Please continue to keep in touch with us and know that you are always welcome to come visit us whenever you are on campus or near O’Connor Hall.
Sincerely,
Your Sociology Department at SCU
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