On September 24th 2015, Stockton University held its annual Convocation for the new freshmen. The speaker this year was Dr. Valerie Purdie-Vaughns. Upon arriving to this event, many of the freshmen filled up the entire Performing Arts Center. Many of the students did not even know what to expect coming from the event because professors told everyone to go due to its importance. After a short introduction by the Student Senate President and Professor Lenard, Dr. Purdie-Vaughns appeared on the stage in front of the large audience.
Dr. Purdie-Vaughns then began to talk about many different aspects included in the book Whistling Vivaldi by Claude Steele, which was the required reading material for all freshmen. Therefore, everyone would be able to gain a deeper understanding of the concepts mention in the book. Dr. Purdie-Vaughns began her discussion by explaining how everyone in the room can be stereotyped in some way. This means that every person can have a stereotype thrust upon to them. Furthermore, Dr. Purdie-Vaughns showed how people with the same birthdays feel a special connection even though they do not have anything else truly in common. She then related this to stereotypes and how people with a common stereotype can feel a deeper connection just because they are faced with the same stereotype as them.
Additionally, Dr. Purdie-Vaughns’ presentation also explained the concept of stereotype threat. In fact, she explained how stereotype threat is can be subconscious, as well as conscious. Therefore, people do not always have to be completely aware that they are undergoing some sort of stereotype threat. Lastly, Dr. Purdie-Vaughns also described how stereotypes can be local to a certain area. This means that a stereotype present in North America might not exist in a different part of the world.
Overall, Convocation provided a lot of insight on the topics presented in Whistling Vivaldi and stereotypes in general. Dr. Purdie-Vaughns gave an excellent presentation that intrigued the audience. I am glad I was able to attend this presentation because it was very insightful and made me even more aware about the stereotypes in our society and how they affect people.

On September 26th 2015, Stockton hosted its first and last home cross country meet of the 2015 season. Many spectators came to watch this event because it was the Osprey men’s and women’s only home meet this year. The match took place on the athletic fields on the north side of campus off of Pomona Road. When we arrived, many teams were warming up to prepare for the run. In total, fifteen men’s teams and seventeen women’s teams competed in the race.
The women’s teams ran first. At the start of the race, all seventeen of the women’s teams began the run across the field. The spectators stood close by to cheer on all of the teams. After the initial start of the race, the teams continued running the course. However, the spectators could not see the runners for most of the race because the course goes through the woods that surround Stockton. After about ten minutes, the women reappeared across the field for the middle section of the course. Once again, the spectators cheered on the runners as they then ran back into the woods. Then, another fifteen minutes passed before the runners sprinted to the finish line. One by one, all of the runners crossed the finish line with all of the spectators and coaches cheering on their teams. After the women’s race ceased, the men’s race then followed. The fifteen men’s teams ran through the same exact course with an equal level of enthusiasm from the spectators.
After the two races, it was time to announce the awards. Unfortunately, Stockton did not receive first place for either team. However, they still displayed an enormous amount of effort. The women’s team ended up placing in third, finishing only behind two schools, one from Pennsylvania and one from New York. Furthermore, two of the Stockton women runners placed in the top ten. The men’s team placed second, following only behind the school from Pennsylvania. Three of the runners on the Stockton men’s team received top ten finishes.
Overall, the Osprey Open was a great event showcasing the talents of the cross country athletes here at Stockton University. Even though our teams did not receive first place, there was still very impressive finishes for both the men and the women. All of the runners that participated in the race exhibited vast amounts of effort and showed how great the athletics here at Stockton can be.

On September 12^th, 2015, Stockton held its twelfth annual Day of Service. This event was highly anticipated because of its brand new format. In the previous years, The Day of Service consisted of picking one service project to work on for the entire duration of the event. However, this year, groups of participants rotated through four separate activities throughout different areas on campus. There were four colored teams that were assigned at registration to split up the massive amount of participants. To begin the day, guest speaker Todd Bernstein spoke about the event and how meaningful and fulfilling it is to serve. In fact, Bernstein was the person who started the Martin Luther King Day of Service in 1996. After a brief introduction, the groups were sent off on their separate ways to participate in the various number of projects and information sessions.

One of the most memorable service projects during the event was called “Books Without Borders.” This project dealt with organizing and packaging books to send off to libraries in disadvantaged areas of the world. This service project was very well-organized and many people participated in sorting through the immense collections of books. Another memorable moment was the information session on the Petey Greene Program. This section talked about a program that voluntarily goes into prisons to help tutor incarcerated persons. The information presented in this session gave a clear picture about what to expect upon participating in this program. Fortunately, many people showed interest and requested more information about this terrific organization.

At the end of the day, the groups were brought back together into the Campus Center Event Room for a reflection session to discuss the projects and their purposes. As an added bonus, all participants received a free t-shirt. Overall, The Day of Service provided participants with information on many service projects and organizations in the Galloway area. Hopefully, people will be more willing to volunteer on and off campus because of the information everyone received at this important event.