Loyola Finals Breakfast: free and delicious

What could be better in preparation for pulling an all-nighter than some food? What about – because it’s like you’re “starting” your day – some BREAKFAST food? Waffles, eggs, sausage, bacon, hash browns, even a vegan casserole?

Well, that dream can come true for you once a semester by attending finals breakfast, which passed this Tuesday at Gentile and this Wednesday at the Terry Student Center, but that will be back in May just in time for you to mark off your college bucket list.

Chill out for finals

If you've never had a finals week as stressful as this one take a look at my list of things you can do to get finals off your mind and perhaps you'll add a new activity to your list of accomplished college bucket list items. (photo from urbancentriconline.com)

Perhaps you’re one of those kids that just does great on every test, without studying or even worrying a bit about what will be on it.

Two words: you suck.

For the rest of us out there that must go through the living hell known as finals week in a few days, I offer you hope. Here are some great events going on in the next week or so that will relieve a little stress and simply get your mind off that philosophy paper or history study guide that you should really be working on.

1. Final exam preparation and test anxiety reduction: this free event is exactly what it says, and will be held today from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in room 202 of Sullivan Center.
2. Be Chill bash: Get free massages, free express manicures, free oxygen bar and best of all, free food. There will also be giveaways and other activities – check it out at CFSU from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
3. Finals breakfast: A Loyola favorite. There will be two breakfasts, the first at the Lake Shore campus from 9:30 to 11:30 p.m. in Gentile on Dec. 14 and the second at the Water Tower Campus on the second floor of Baumhart Hall in the food court from 9 to 11 p.m. on Dec. 15.

Help Rogers Park refugees with ‘Giving Trees’

There are still ornaments hanging on Loyola's Giving Tree in CFSU that say the age and gender of refugees who need help. Any student can pick up an ornament and buy their assigned refugee a holiday gift for $15 or less before Dec. 9. (Photo credit: Jessica Cilella)

With just a little more than three weeks left before school is over, holiday and end-of-the-school-year celebrations are sure to be abundant around Loyola.

Annalise Weck, a senior environmental studies major, suggests that before celebrating with lots of food, drinks and gifts, students should keep in mind those who need our help this holiday season through an effort she helped start called the Giving Trees.

How to give

Located in Simpson Hall and CFSU, the Giving Trees are decked in paper ornaments asking for a maximum $15 donation of anything from toiletries to hats and gloves for refugees – people who are outside the country of their nationality due to a well-founded fear of persecution for anything from race to religion – living in Rogers Park.

All students are welcome to take an ornament and bring  gifts back to the Giving Trees on Wednesday, Dec. 8 or Thursday, Dec. 9 from 3 to 5 p.m.

Fallin’ for The Silhouettes

The Silhouettes now have 14 members, all of whom will be performing at a concert this Saturday night called "Fallin' for the Silhouettes" (Credit: Jenn Bane)

Perhaps in your time at Loyola you have been to an orchestra concert or seen dance performances by various cultural groups throughout campus. However, one of the best arts experience you should have before graduation is going to see The Silhouettes, Loyola’s female A Cappella group, who will be singing this Saturday, Nov. 20 from 7:30 to 9 p.m. in Galvin Auditorium in Sullivan Center. The best part? This concert is FREE and there will be a free raffle!

Composed of 14 undergrads, The Silhouettes – like any other A Cappella group – perform without instrumental accompaniment. At the upcoming concert the women will be singing songs from Adele, No Doubt, Sara Bareilles, Taylor Swift and more.

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Hunger Week ready to begin

Students stand outside CFSU during a previous Hunger Week in an attempt to educate their peers about hunger in the world. This year's Hunger Week runs from Nov. 7 to Nov. 12. (Credit: Catherine Hedgebeth)

Loyola’s annual Hunger Week – an effort by the university to raise awareness, educate and fund-raise for and about those who suffer from hunger locally and worldwide – begins this Sunday, Nov. 7 with a 5K run/walk.

In the video below students explain why they participated in Hunger Week last year:

I suppose this post goes back a little to the idea of #2 on the college bucket list (donate money to a good cause), but I still think participating in Hunger Week is a uniquely Loyolan activity that every Loyola student should have a big enough heart to do at least once in their four years here.

Here is are some highlights for the next week:

SUNDAY

• Hunger Week 5k Run/Walk – Registration at 9 a.m., race starts at 10 a.m. at Halas Field (don’t forget about daylights savings!

Participating in a protest

A young girl takes part in the School of the Americas protest in Fort Benning, Ga. in Nov. 2008 by carrying a cross with the name of a victim of an SOA graduate's actions (Credit: Melissa Houston)

I will be honest that although I am putting participating in a protest on the college bucket list, I have never actually participated in one. However, that’s not to say I don’t want to – I just need to find the right subject that I’m passionate about. Many students that I’ve meet at Loyola have protested over the past four years, and for many reasons, as there are lots of social justice issues that as students at a Jesuit university we should probably be fighting for through peaceful protest.

In just a few weeks, on Nov. 19-21, the annual School of the Americas (SOA) protest will take place in Fort Benning, Ga. which includes a Ignatian Family Teach-In and SOA Vigil, during which thousands of people from across the country come together from across the country to call for the school to be shut down because of it’s reputation of having graduates who commit human rights violations throughout Latin America.

Typically, each year, dozens of Loyola students travel together to the school including two friends of mine, seniors Melissa Houston and Nathan Bobinchak. The photos below were taken by them and reflect their experiences in the protest, from 2008 (in color) and 2007 (black and white), respectively.

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“Our Country’s Good” hits LU stage

Students performing "Our Country's Good" Credit: DFPA

Living  in the basement of CFSU three nights each week at the Phoenix office means a lot of encounters with theater students in their rehearsal area down the hall. Plus, I often hear about all the time these kids put into their shows from a close friend of mine who stars in almost every theater production on campus. Yet in all my college career I have yet to go see those peers of mine perform in a Loyola play.

Oh wait, you too? Surprise.

Indian festivities at Loyola

Despite having a graduating class of more than 900 kids, my south suburban high school wasn’t very diverse. So the fact that I had an Indian friend out of that bunch is pretty remarkable, and with that friendship I gained some pretty remarkable knowledge about Hindu celebrations, some of which are even held right here on Loyola’s campus each year.

HSO members at last year's Garba pray to a Hindu goddesses. (credit: HSO Facebook page)

Loyola celebrates Hinduism

One such festivity, called Navratri Garba, will be held this Saturday, Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. in the Alumni Gym. Hosted by the  Hindu Students’ Organization (HSO), the Garba is free for all Loyola students, making it the perfect event to attend for someone who wants to experience another religion’s celebrations before graduating.

5 Ways to Celebrate Gay Heritage Month

For senior English and women and gender studies major Anna Schier, the best month of the year is October.

Not only does October mean Halloween, cool autumn weather and fall break, but it is also LGBTQA (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Allies) Heritage Month at Loyola. Heritage Month is a 31-day celebration hosted by Advocate, Loyola’s official GLBTQ group to raise awareness about the queer community and their allies that Schier, the group’s special events coordinator, has worked hard at planning.

She and Katherine Berg, the graduate intern at student diversity and multicultural affairs, listed five ways the Loyola community can come together to celebrate this special month:

Come see the Queens of Drag

A performer at the drag show for LGBTQA Heritage Month last year. Credit: Jessica Cilella

People of all sexual orientations can come together on Thursday, Oct. 28 from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. in the lobby of CFSU to enjoy performances by three divas at Heritage Month’s  third /fourth annual drag show.

“I think it’s the most light, sociable, fun event that we host,” Schier said. “It entertains and then it educates.”

There will also be a half hour of Q & A’s with the queens afterward, giving students curious or unfamiliar with transgenders to come forward and ask what’s on their mind.

Increase understanding at LGBTQ Ally Training

Students, faculty and staff are invited to what Schier called a “three-hour crash course”  on how to be accessible to queer students and how to communicate to students in a socially conscious way.

“It’s also an opportunity to find out who on campus is an ally, which can be really important,” Berg said. “It’s not easy to be an ally.”

Schier agrees, saying that many students don’t understand completely what it means to be an ally.

“I think there’s a lot of students who think, ‘Oh yeah, I think gay marriage should be legal, I think we should be tolerant of queer students,’ but they’re not very active about it and they don’t really have a good hold on what it means to be socially-conscious ally,” Schier said. “This [event] gives students a chance to find out what that entails.”

Students can join the discussion on Friday, Oct. 29 from 3 to 6 p.m. in the Regis multi-purpose room.

Mingle with queers at Coming Out Ball

Nine different colleges from across the city will be represented at the Chicago Intercollegiate Coming Out Ball on Oct. 15 from 8 p.m. to midnight. This is the first time Loyola has won the bid to host the dance, and Schier said both the auditorium and fourteenth floor of Mundelien will be reserved for what she says will be like “a big, queer prom.”

The night will feature performances by two of Loyola’s accapella groups, The Silhouettes and The Aca’fellas and guests can take an express elevator from the bash downstairs to an eco-lounge sponsored by the Student Environmental Alliance upstairs that will feature vegan and vegetarian food.

Flaunt Loyola’s LGBTQ Heritage Month logo

Both Berg and Schier agreed people wearing the Heritage Month logo, which states “Loyola Supports Love” with a picture underneath of three couples of various sexual orientations,  is a great way to raise awareness.

One good way to show your support for the gay community during LGBTQA month is to display their logo button somewhere like your backpack, loud and proud. Credit: Jessica Cilella

Advocate will be selling T-shirts with that logo this Friday, and different colored buttons with the logo will be passed out at various tables and events throughout the month. There will also be a full page ad in the Phoenix later this month listing the names of any student, alum or faculty member who wants to be recognized as an ally or part of the queer community.

“I think that’s a great trademark for the month so everyone has it in their mind that this is Heritage month, and things are happening and our community is strong and that it’s really important and needs to be recognized,” Schier said.

Hug a Queer

Enough said. Berg just reminded to check beforehand if they want to be hugged!

For more information on LGBTQ Heritage Month contact Kathryn Berg at kberg3@luc.edu or at 773.508.3909.