By Mary Barrett '14
Siena College is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its DORS initiative. The acronym stands for Diversity, Optimism, Respect and Service – Franciscan values that are in action on campus every day.
The initiative was launched by Vice President for Student Affairs Maryellen Gilroy, Ed.D. who worked with former College Chaplain Fr. Bill Beaudin ’76, O.F.M. to develop the idea. The initiative has built an environment that allows the Siena community to understand the values that are at the core of the College’s Franciscan identity. “All of these values are reflective of a community, and to the Franciscans, the value of community is paramount,” said Gilroy.
As part of the celebration, Siena College welcomed Catholic Relief Services President and Chief Executive Officer Carolyn Woo, Ph.D. to deliver this year’s “Ours to Do Lecture,” which is sponsored by Siena’s St. Clare Leadership Series: Ours to Do – Women Leading the Way. Woo’s talk was titled “The Business of Servant Leadership: Personal Stories and Global Perspectives.” She spoke to the audience about her work at Catholic Relief Services, the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. It reaches more than 130 million people in nearly 100 countries. CRS is one of the world’s largest and most respected international relief and development agencies.
“Dr. Woo’s collaborative work for global justice - one personal encounter, one community partnership at a time - offers a powerful, instructive and hope-filled model of servant leadership in the twenty-first century,” said Joy Galarneau, Ph.D., lecture chairperson and associate dean of students.
Woo shared her personal faith journey and expressed her appreciation towards Siena. “We owe a huge thanks to Siena College,” Woo said, noting that the College has been extremely supportive of Catholic Relief Services.
Siena College President Fr. Kevin Mullen ’75, O.F.M., Ph.D. continued that support by presenting Woo with a donation to Catholic Relief Services in the names of the DORS Hall of Fame Contest winners. Siena students used their creativity to reflect on 10 years of DORS values through essays, poetry, photography, painting and posters, which were on display in Siena’s Sarazen Student Union. Many students entered the contest, showing that the DORS values have become part of Siena students’ everyday lives.
“I think that DORS values help guide our thinking and the way we relate to one another,” said Sr. Sue Dunn, O.P., Ed.D., assistant vice president for student affairs.
Amanda Selanikio ’15 was the contest’s overall winner. The psychology major entered a painting titled “McKenzie.” It is a portrait of a young boy named McKenzie who Selanikio met during a trip to Haiti through Siena’s Franciscan Center for Service and Advocacy.
Selanikio was particularly touched by the young boy, who would visit the school where she was working. He did not have the same mental capacity as the other students, but loved to be picked up and held. Selanikio was inspired by McKenzie’s love for the simple act of human contact and, as a result, used only her fingers to paint his portrait.
“He always wanted a person’s touch and through this painting he’ll always have someone’s touch,” Selanikio said, adding that her work encompassed the DORS initiatives. “Diversity between American and Haitian culture, the optimism that seemingly simple acts of kindness bring, the respect I felt for those living with mental illness and the service work my colleagues and I have done abroad.”
Sociology major Adderlin Taveras ’15 worked with John Harden, J.D. to create her winning entry. It used wooden doors to represent the ways that the Writing Partnership Program, which pairs first-year students with refugees living in Albany for writing workshops, uses the DORS values to build community. “Everything that DORS represents is what we try to bring to the Siena community as well as the outside community,” Taveras said.
The 2014 “Ours to Do Women’s Center Service Trip Scholarship” winners Pamela Townsend ’14 and Joanna Bebber ’15, were honored at the lecture and Woo was presented with the first signed print of “Communion,” a painting donated by artist and Siena Trustee Shari Golub-Schillinger ’86. Her piece represents the values seen in the DORS initiative and was unveiled at the DORS 10th Anniversary Celebration.
By celebrating a decade of DORS, students, faculty, staff and the outside community are able to bring to life Siena’s values of diversity, optimism, respect and service, turning Gilroy’s vision into the focus on Franciscan values that is now readily apparent on Siena’s campus.
