Faculty, Staff Members of the Year Honored in Surprise Drive-By Parades
Each April, students at 射精视频 vote for the staff member and faculty member who have had an outsized impact that year on their campus and academic lives. As part of the Festival of Student Achievement, the Faculty of the Year and Staff Member of the Year are typically recognized before a full Arrupe Hall auditorium.
Because of COVID-19, this year鈥檚 winners won鈥檛 get that live round of applause (a virtual Festival of Student Achievement is currently being planned). But they did get some in-person appreciation last Friday (at a safe distance, of course).
Susan Janet, assistant to the vice president for student development and athletics, and Laura Forsberg, Ph.D., assistant professor of English, were treated to a drive-by parade to celebrate their accomplishments, courtesy the student development office and聽the English department, respectively, and caravans of their colleagues who happily honked and held signs of congratulations.
鈥淲e were actually sitting on our back patio, and three of our four kids and their families just happened to be there,鈥 Janet said. 鈥淚 heard honking but didn鈥檛 realize it was for me.鈥
She said she figured out what was going on after seeing Angie Carr Robinett, director of student life, plant a sign聽in her front yard followed shortly by a聽nearly-30-car caravan聽driving聽past her home.
鈥淚 was in shock,鈥 she said.聽鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 believe all those staff members would come out of their way for me.鈥
Forsberg said she, too, was surprised and touched by the efforts by her colleagues, which in her case also included a visit from the Pinwheel Posse, a Kansas City-based group that aims to spread joy during the pandemic by surprising area residents with a yardful of colorful pinwheels.
鈥淢y husband was acting a little funny, but I had no idea what was going on until we returned to our house (after a walk) and saw the whole lawn covered in pinwheels with a congratulations sign,鈥 she said. 鈥淭hen the cars started coming by and honking. I am grateful to my colleagues for making this a moment of true joy. I will always treasure the memory of their smiling faces waving as they drove 鈥斅燼nd biked 鈥 by as my son raced through the pinwheels in the grass.鈥
Forsberg said she particularly enjoyed a sign that read 鈥淵ou are a Rockstar鈥 featuring her face with a David Bowie-esque lightning bolt superimposed on it.
Both said they were聽thrilled at the honor and聽 humbled by聽the fact that it came from students.
鈥淭hey are who we are there to serve,鈥 Janet said.
And during a period of so much change and uncertainty, it was also a reminder of why serving those students continues to be so important.
鈥淭his semester, with all of the changes that came with the switch to remote learning, I鈥檝e spent a lot of time thinking about 鈥榗ura聽personalis鈥櫬燼nd searching for ways to make students know that they are seen, heard, and cared for at a distance,鈥 Forsberg said. 鈥淚 hope this honor means that many of my students have experienced that."