Oct. 14, 2010
GETTYSBURG – International students, staff and faculty at the Gettysburg Campus of HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College, were recognized in a recent ceremony in the campus Welcome Center.
The ceremony included the dedication of a large world map that fills one wall of the Welcome Center lobby, and on which members of the HACC community are invited to place markers to indicate their countries of origin.
The ceremony was emceed by Scott Simonds, campus dean of student affairs, who credited the campus Inclusion Awareness Committee with developing the idea for the map as a way to enhance the Welcome Center and provide a welcoming reception for international students.
Jennifer Weaver, campus vice president, called attention to the wall-hung banner posted in the Welcome Center that expresses “Welcome” in 21 different languages. She also pointed to a statement from the American Association of Community and Junior Colleges posted next to the world map: “In the end, community must be defined not only as a region to be served, but also as a climate to be created in the classroom, on the campus, and around the world.”
Also participating in the dedication were Divine Dugah, assistant professor of chemistry and native of Cameroon, who spoke on behalf of the faculty; Ben Baughman, vice president of the campus Student Government Association and local resident, who spoke on behalf of the students; and K.D. Layung, a Filipino native who is an international student from Germany, who spoke on behalf of the international students.
All three marked their countries of origin on the map. Following the ceremony, additional students, staff and faculty gathered at the map to place their markers on Chile, Columbia, Dominican Republic, England, India, Latvia, and Puerto Rico.
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