Happy Happenings at Catholic U

By Emily Prendergast

Scrolling through social media, flipping through the news channels on television, or pages of The Tower, can be disheartening. If you are losing hope in this institution or news altogether, keep reading this rundown to find out more about all of the good things happening at Catholic University.

Homecoming weekend reunited friends from near and far. Families got together and students were able to enjoy a lot of fun events during Cardinal Weekend. The homecoming dance, organized by Campus Ministry, raised over $4,200.00 for Make-A-Wish Foundation from ticket sales. The “Night Under the Stars” theme brought students from all classes together to dance and make memories to last a lifetime.

Halloween on Campus attracted over 1,300 participants for face painting, prizes, games, and trick-or-treating. This was  CU’s 10th year hosting the event that families in the Brookland community. It is something the whole community looks forward to. Over 100 students from 29 different student organizations volunteered to make this event a success.

The Catholic University Women’s Cross Country team secured third place at the Landmark Conference Championships. The team’s hard work led it to score an overall 81 points and the best championship finish that the team has had in six years. Coach Steve Rahn of the cross country team expressed his pride in the team that was expected to finish sixth place and explained that the women put in an extreme amount of hard work to place as well as they did.

The School of Engineering has introduced a new course called Social Innovation Startups, open to seniors and graduate students regardless of their degree. The purpose of this new class is to challenge students to come together to use their innovation and marketing skills to serve others. The prerequisite for this course is an “interest and passion to discover how an idea can become a real company, by working on a project in a team,” according to the class syllabus. This class embodies the pillars of Catholic social teaching. The founders and instructors for this course are dedicated to promoting the common good of humanity by forming the ideas of students into tangible goals.

This past weekend, Catholic U hosted another open house on campus. The event welcomed prospective high school-aged students from across the country who are looking to apply and attend the university. The open house included panel discussions and information sessions for the attendees to better grasp what CU can offer for them. These discussions included talks on extracurriculars, majors, and residence life. Surely, our campus gained some new Cardinals for the class of 2023!

PEERS raised awareness during National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week (October 19-25). The student organization tabled in the Przybyla Center all week to encourage students to learn and practice healthy drinking habits to stay safe at parties. Along with the activities that they planned, PEERS placed signs across campus to share helpful facts about drinking, what college students experience, and tips like, “always alternate drinks with water.”

Students in the Busch School of Business have had the opportunity to travel and learn more about the business world. In September, students and faculty travelled to an entrepreneurial conference, Inner City Capital Connections, in Atlanta. During this conference, the students met with Steve Grossman, the president of ICIC.

This past week, several business students joined the Bush School on the annual CUA On Wall Street reception at Barclays Investment Bank in New York City. This is a networking event with approximately 250 alumni who work in finance and help each other in their careers as well as current Catholic U students in their future careers.

“It was one of my greatest experiences I’ve had while at Catholic. Whether it was touring the Stock Exchange or meeting with all the Catholic Alumni, it was truly a day I’ll never forget,” Anthony Ricci, a junior finance major who attended the event in the city said.

If you have any good news you would like to share with us, please send out Editor in Chief Liz Friden an email about it so we can cover it.