VUJC Student Activities programs bring lessons alive

Alli Baer has her finger on the pulse of what VUJC students want and need when it comes to enriching lessons learned in the classroom.

As the college’s Student Activities Coordinator, Baer’s main goal is to supplement the information students are receiving in their classes. The 2009 Indiana State University graduate is headed into her third year in this position. Through a synergy of instructors, conferences, and the students themselves, she is able to bring events to the campus that connect real-world applications to literature and lectures.

And the variety of campus activities has become quite expansive, something Baer credits to the work of Jessica DeLorenzo, the current Director of Student Services who previously served as activities coordinator. She is also not shy about expressing her gratitude to the college’s faculty and staff who come up with many interesting ideas of how to tie in such material.

One such event is coming to the NCB Lecture Hall on the VUJC campus on Thursday, March 21. “Erasing Hate,” a documentary following a former white supremacist as he worked to turn his life around, will be shown at 6:30 p.m. A Skype session with Bill Brummel, the film’s producer, and Bryon Widner, the gentleman whose story is chronicled, will follow the screening.

Baer has been working on coordinating the “Erasing Hate” event since last fall when instructor Jan Stenftenagel showed the film in her classroom and shared it with Baer. However, the serendipity of how the film relates to Dubois County, especially following the January incident of a racial slur appearing on a sign belonging to a business on Huntingburg’s Main Street, does not escape her.

The timing is “very pertinent,” Baer remarks, acknowledging that while such attitudes are present in any community, “we just kind of try to hide it or push it under the rug and not really confront it or do something about it.”

The Inauguration Day incident led to much backlash throughout the community; even inspiring the campus’s Social Problems class, instructed by Dr. Laura Gibson, to create an online petition on Change.org to support diversity. It serves as an example of the type of connection that Baer hopes to create between events like the documentary screening and multiple courses and real world experiences.

Baer also schedules programs for students to learn skills they will need for their futures, including the Career Center “lunch and learn” programs discussing interviewing skills, resume presentation, and the power of body language. The campus will also be holding its first career fair this spring.

Nothing is off limits; Student Activities has sponsored speakers regarding addiction, domestic violence, and even different cultures. Recently, a campus presentation by attorney C.L. Lindsay titled “Computing and the Law” highlighted posting comments and photos on online outlets such as Facebook, among other cyber-topics, and how regretful entries can come back to haunt students in the future.

Alli with Phillip Phillips — Alli with American Idol winner Phillip Phillips who performed at the Red Skelton Theater at Vincennes in January.

VUJC is one of the over 950 colleges and universities involved with the National Association for Campus Activities. An envoy from VUJC attends these conferences twice a year, taking students with them for their input, which Baer enjoys, as “the students get a hand in picking who actually comes to the school.”

Baer also credits collaboration with other schools, including Vincennes University’s main campus, to help bring in speakers and activities and keep within budget, which is composed of the student activities fee that students pay each semester.

It’s a connection that Baer is very grateful for. “Being part of that association really helps us because we team up with other institutions, everywhere from IUPUI to IU to U of E and IU Southeast. We try to bring in the same artist, and then it really reduces the price for us.”

Erin Davies and Alli — Allie and fagbug creator Erin Davies. The fagbug is a documentary about Erin Davies and the experience she had when someone wrote hateful slurs on her car. Instead of erasing the words, she created the fagbug and drove throughout the United States documenting her experiences. Information can be found a http://www.fagbug.com.

Such collaboration will be part of VUJC’s second annual AIDS Walk, which will take place on Saturday, April 20. Along with the walk, which Student Activities presents in conjunction with Patoka Valley AIDS Community Action Group, the cast of Vincennes University’s production of “The Laramie Project” will perform one show at the Jasper Arts Center. The play chronicles the aftermath of the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student in Laramie, Wyoming.

More light-hearted activities also have a place on campus. The group presents at least one family-oriented event per semester, such as movie nights and family nights, like the one this February that featured Herps Alive, a hands-on exhibit of amphibians and reptiles, and airbrushed items by Fun Enterprises that attendees took home for free. There is also a Peeps diorama contest on the horizon where the students will use the marshmallow treats to build their artistic creations.

Baer has found that word of mouth is the best advertisement when it comes reaching students and she again gives high praise to the faculty for their participation and encouragement.

“I started out with just a few faculty members that were really supportive,” Baer states,” and then as the semesters have gone on, more and more do a great job of getting the word out to the students and their classes, and I think that helps tremendously. I value that so much because whenever they hear it from their instructors and their peers, then they are more likely to attend than if they just see a flyer.”

Faculty also take the time to let Baer know when the activities have changed students’ viewpoints, which they find while reading reflection assignments written by the students. “I love when the instructors forward these on to me because it is reassuring reading them and seeing that students are in fact being impacted greatly by the presentations being brought to campus,” she states. “It works as a great assessment tool of my work as well as helping the students.”

“Slowly but surely, we are really building a good program.”

Students looking for more information on campus events can check out the Vincennes University page on Facebook for more details, as well as by contacting the Student Government Association. Those looking for events open to the public can also view the Facebook page and watch for Baer’s press releases featured in local media, including the Dubois County Free Press.