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The Allegory of Committee

 

Much like the people depicted in Plato’s Republic, my colleagues and I have recently spent a great deal of time in a dark space looking straight ahead. However, while the protagonist in the “Allegory of the Cave” is forced to grapple with the meaning of shadows, statues, fire, and sunlight, the Holy Cross admission staff has pondered over academic rigor, personal statements, interview notes, and letters of recommendation. Having just completed our admission committee process for the Class of 2023, it feels like the right time to reflect on our work and the work of our applicants…through a liberal arts lens, of course.

While Plato’s cavemen and cavewomen view the shadows on the wall as their one true reality, Holy Cross’ admission counselors never lose sight of the fact that our applicants are more than what can be seen on our projector screens. Through interviews, essays, recommendations, and conversations, we strive to know each applicant on a personal level so that we can fully understand and evaluate the essence of every individual.

I can’t tell you how happy we are to walk out of our cave committee room and interact with the Holy Cross Class of 2023 during Admitted Student Day in April. We are thrilled to watch new students join us for summer orientations and to see the impact that each new Crusader will have on our campus over the next four years. Like Plato’s philosopher who is initially blinded by the sun, first days on the Hill will be marked by adjustment and awakening. Fortunately, the education that you will receive and the experiences that you will have atop Mount Saint James will ultimately transform you and point you towards the Form of the Good in life.

 

-Tom McHugh
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Dining at HC

I remember looking at colleges and constantly asking what the food was like on each campus. I imagine that many prospective students share that curiosity. Holy Cross has many on-campus dining options for students to enjoy while they hang out with friends, study, or meet with professors. There’s coffee, burgers, home-style cooking and more. The meal plan per semester for most students is as follows: students receive an unlimited amount of meal swipes per semester to the Kimball Main Dining Room, eight meal swipes per week in Lower Kimball , and $425 dining dollars that can be used at Cool Beans, Cafe Babel, D’Agostino Cafe, Crossroads, The Pub, and the Lobby Shop.

 

The main dining room is located at the bottom of campus in Kimball Hall. The Kimball main dining room has a plethora of options. At breakfast, there is an omelette station where students can create their own omelette, fried eggs, scrambled eggs, or egg sandwiches, with various breakfast sides. At lunch the omelette bar turns over to a stir fry station where students can create a stir fry bowl, the sandwich bar opens up (that’s my favorite, try a spinach wrap with chicken salad, lettuce, tomato, and chipotle mayo), the burger bar is stocked with plenty of toppings, and the classics station offers a hot meal prepared by the dining staff. Lunch and dinner stations are basically the same, however, the classics station changes.

 

A hot meal at the classics station in Kimball could be anything like roasted chicken, short ribs, or Mexican pulled pork for tacos. Students would all agree that the best meal in Kimball is chicken parmesan. Chicken parm night happens roughly once a month and almost the entire student body waits in line for this highly anticipated meal. Other events that students attend consistently are holiday themed meals. Most recently, we celebrated Thanksgiving in the main dining room with a full turkey dinner- stuffing, mashed potatoes, and pie. Kimball is an all-you-can- eat dining experience that only cost students one meal swipe. Another favored option in Kimball is the mac and cheese. It is out of this world and everyone finds time to get there when they see it on the menu. You can check the dining menus for every location online to decide where you want to go for each meal.

 

Another dining option on campus is the Lower Kimball Food Court which is considered  more of a lunch spot. Students can choose from Habaneros- a Mexican food place (the Chalupa bowls are amazing), Villa Prima- the pizza place, The Grill for hamburgers and hot dogs, or the Deli for delicious sandwiches. Check lower Kimball out on Wednesdays because they have grilled cheese sandwiches made with garlic bread and creamy tomato soup. I go to Lower Kimball for grilled cheese every week because it’s my absolute favorite lunch of all time.

 

We also have places like Crossroads and the Pub which are both located in the Hogan Campus Center on the bottom floor. The Pub makes delightful salads, sandwiches, and wraps. Additionally, Holy Cross is not a dry campus so the pub turns into a bar on Tuesday nights for those students who are 21 and older. I recommend the chicken caesar salad from the Pub, but you can also build your own salad as well with anything you want in it. Crossroads feeds everybody’s late night cravings. They have chicken fingers, fries, mozzarella sticks, and mac and cheese bites. The mac and cheese bites are so good, especially after a long night of studying.

 

Campus also has two coffee shops: Cool Beans on the first floor of Hogan and Cafe Babel located in the Stein academic building. I order a coffee from Cool Beans every morning, but I also love to get their breakfast sandwiches. You can order any breakfast sandwich on any type of bagel. In addition to coffee and breakfast sandwiches, you can get smoothies at both locations. During the holiday seasons they have specialty drinks including pumpkin spiced lattes in the fall and peppermint hot chocolate before Christmas. At night, Cool Beans also becomes an ice cream bar where you can order milkshakes.

 

The last place for dining is the newest: the D’Agostino Cafe located in our Integrated Science Complex. This is a student favorite for lunch. They have soups, sandwiches, and salads all of which have received positive reviews from students. It’s expensive so save your dining dollars. Try to go even if you don’t have any classes in the science building, it’s totally worth it. I’m a theatre major who will probably never have a class in the Science Complex and I try to go there as often as possible because it’s that good. No matter where you eat on campus the food is delightful.

 

-Olivia Hastie ’22
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Fall Traditions at Holy Cross

 

New England is known for its amazing fall foliage and crisp autumn weather…and Holy Cross certainly enjoys its fair share of autumn color. HC is beautiful all year round, but campus is particularly stunning in October and November. Travel + Leisure named us the most beautiful college in MA for a reason! Fall is personally my favorite season at Holy Cross, not just for the beautiful scenery, but also for the many events that happen on Mount Saint James during the semester. While the ivy on the side of Holy Cross’ brick buildings turns orange, red, and yellow as the seasons change, our campus is set ablaze as well. Among the festivities are tailgates and football games, Family Weekend, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and of course all of the fall-themed activities that you can do off-campus such as apple picking.

 

Tailgate and football season is one of the fall activities that Holy Cross students and alumni look forward to most. It’s a blast to spend time with friends and family over food and drinks and then go and cheer on the HC Football team at Fitton Field. Many parents and alumni show their Crusader pride at every single game, bleeding purple and showing their love and support for Holy Cross. With football season also comes fall homecoming weekend, when even more alumni return to campus to show their enthusiasm and support for alma mater. They come to spend time with their fellow alumni as well as with their children who go to Holy Cross now! Family weekend is also a great opportunity for families to spend time with their their HC student’s friends and vice versa! I love getting to know my friends’ families better and I look forward to having them on campus. It doesn’t hurt that they usually take us out to dinner on Shrewsbury Street too!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Halloween is of course another well-known fall event that people get excited about around campus. Just because we are too old to trick-or-treat, doesn’t mean that dressing up with your friends isn’t still a lot of fun! Creating and putting together fun group costumes is exciting and something that I definitely look forward to as the end of October nears!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As soon as Halloween is behind us, we quickly turn our sights to Thanksgiving. Kimball, our dining hall, annually serves a Thanksgiving dinner before break begins, so if you love Thanksgiving food, you’re in luck! Not only will you get to eat a delicious food at home over the holiday, you’ll also get to have turkey and sides at Kimball as well. The menu includes turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, squash, pies, apple cider, and pretty much every traditional Thanksgiving food that you can imagine! Cool Beans and the D’Agostino Cafe also embrace the fall spirit by adding pumpkin flavored coffee drinks to the menu and offering options like hot apple cider!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Apple picking and pumpkin picking are fun activities to do with your friends on a fall day if you’re looking to go off campus. My friends and I went apple picking at Tougas Family Farm earlier this month and it was so much fun…they even had scrumptious apple cider donuts, warm cider, caramel apples, and plenty of other fall treats at the farm stand. No matter what part of fall you love most, there is definitely something for you to enjoy at Holy Cross!

 
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Sader Summer Scoop: Kerrin Mannion ’19

 

 

Name: Kerrin Mannion

Major/Minor/Concentration: English

Graduation Year: 2019

What are you doing this summer?: Internship

 

 

 

 

 

What exactly are you doing?: Boston Ballet School Marketing/Communications Intern

How did you hear about this opportunity?: Crusader Connections

What are you most excited about doing within this program?: I am excited to help with the school’s social media. I was an intern for Holy Cross Marketing’s social media so I’m looking forward to expanding the skills I learned there.

What are you hoping to gain from your experience?: I hope to enhance my writing skills and learn how to transfer them to a business setting. I also hope to learn about the brand and how it maintains its integrity through all of its communications.

Do you have any advice for prospective students thinking about doing an internship?: I think it’s best to keep an open mind when doing an internship. Sometimes there are aspects of the job that might not be exactly what you expected but it’s best to look at every moment as a learning opportunity. Even if there is a task you don’t like as much, it will help you weigh the pros and cons and determine whether you really want to pursue that field in the future.

When you were in high school, did you expect to have this opportunity in college?: I definitely did not expect to have this opportunity. I had always danced as a child throughout high school, so it is amazing to be able to help with the marketing initiatives for such a world renowned dance program.
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Sader Summer Scoop: Milagros Montenegro ’18

 

 

 

Name: Milagros Montenegro

Major/Minor/Concentration: Sociology

Graduation Year: 2018

What are you doing this summer?: Internship

 

 

 

 

What exactly are you doing?: Research Assistant for Field Research Gallo-Cruz Worcester Women’s Activist

How did you hear about this opportunity?: Professor Gallo-Cruz

What are you most excited about doing within this program?: Placing my understanding of sociology into application.

What are you hoping to gain from your experience?: Learning more about the Worcester community through the stories of its women.

Do you have any advice for prospective students thinking about doing an internship?: Do what sounds exciting and challenging both academically and personally, that’s the only way you will grow as a student/person in the next four years.

When you were in high school, did you expect to have this opportunity in college?:No, but I am extremely fortunate and excited for it.

 


Interviewee Pastor Judy and she runs the LGBT Asylum Seekers Task Force here in Worcester.
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Sader Summer Scoop: Emily Sullivan ’19

 

 

 

Name: Emily Sullivan

Major/Minor/Concentration: Psychology/Sociology

Graduation Year: 2019

What are you doing this summer?: Research

 

 

 

 

What exactly are you doing?: This summer, as a recipient of the Greisch Scholarship, Dr. Gallo-Cruz and I are analyzing both self-help books as well as memoirs which focus on the topic of dysfunctional families. We are coding these books for the types of dysfunction and the circumstances surrounding the situational or personal challenges they faced. Stemming from this, and most importantly, we are looking at how these people have overcome and moved past their difficult histories. Additionally, we are putting these codes into a coding software that allows us to compare across the different books.

How did you hear about this opportunity?: My sociology advisor, Dr. Gallo-Cruz, had previously created this project with a Holy Cross alumnus. She asked me to help her this summer in the next stage of the project, which I accepted.

What are you most excited about doing within this program?: This research allows me to put what I learn in the classroom into practice. Seeing the theories and concepts which I have learned map directly onto the cases that I am studying displays the direct correlation between theory, practice, and real world application.

What are you hoping to gain from your experience?: This experience gives me the opportunity to see what it is like to be a social scientist. Additionally, I will be participating in the Sociology Honors Program my senior year and this work will be helpful practice for me in creating my thesis.

Do you have any advice for prospective students thinking about doing research?: I would highly recommend doing summer research. It gives you a different perspective on the work that you do as a student as well as that of your professors. If you want to do summer research, talk to your advisors. They can directly assist you or help you find someone who can. Your advisors also know your strengths and weaknesses as well as the classes you have taken which also can help them send you in the right direction.

When you were in high school, did you expect to have this opportunity in college?: I did not expect to have this opportunity in college. Most people just think about the opportunities that you have during the academic year, but Holy Cross offers many different options for the summer as well that I didn’t even know about until I got here.
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Sader Summer Scoop: Olivia Lozy ’20

 

 

Name: Olivia Lozy

Major/Minor/Concentration: Psychology/Studio Art

Graduation Year: 2020

What are you doing this summer?: Internship

 

 

 

What exactly are you doing?: I work at BBDO in New York City as an  Account Management Intern. I was assigned to the Dunkin’ Donuts account, which is brand new to BBDO (they just won Dunkin’ in May). Specifically,  I’m assisting with compiling competitive reports, analyzing consumer activity through statistics, social media, news, blogs, and other platforms, working with the creative and strategic teams, ensuring accurate budgeting for productions, overseeing production spots, brainstorming ways Dunkin’ can increase brand outreach, to name a few!

How did you hear about this opportunity?: Crusader Connections

What are you most excited about doing within this program?: Being a sponge and learning as much as I can about advertising!

What are you hoping to gain from your experience?: A clearer sense of what I want to do following graduation and what my career path holds. I’d like to know where my talents can most effectively be utilized and if advertising is the industry in which that can happen.

Do you have any advice for prospective students thinking about doing an internship?: Apply to anything that interests you! You might find yourself stepping out of your comfort zone, challenging yourself and learning a lot about something you otherwise never would’ve known. It’s a lovely way to expand both your academic and professional horizons whilst gaining personal experience that can lead you to investing your time in rewarding activities or a career.

 
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Sader Summer Scoop: Pilar Segura ’19

 

 

Name: Pilar Segura

Major/Minor/Concentration: Psychology/Neuroscience

Graduation Year: 2019

What are you doing this summer?: Research

 

 

 

 

 

What exactly are you doing?:I work as an assistant in the learning & conditioning lab where I handle 6 pigeons on a daily bases.

How did you hear about this opportunity?: Through my professor when I joined his lab

What are you most excited about doing within this program?: I am excited about the freedom I have and responsibility I am able to take that nowhere else is available.

What are you hoping to gain from your experience?: I hope to get published as much as possible during my gap years once I graduate (professors usually take 1-3 years to write up experiments).

Do you have any advice for prospective students thinking about doing research?: Be active, don’t be afraid to ask about what you are interested– it might get you to an opportunity you didn’t expect to be available

When you were in high school, did you expect to have this opportunity in college?: NO WAY!

 

 

 

 
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Sader Summer Scoop: Lily Droesch ’21

 

 

Name: Lily Droesch

Major/Minor/Concentration: Economics

Graduation Year: 2021

What are you doing this summer?: Maymester

 

 

 

 

 

 

What exactly are you doing?: I am studying in Rome Italy at the John Felice Rome Center through Loyola of Chicago. The program is 6 weeks long and I’m taking a Theology and Italian class. I’m really enjoying the Italian class as I’m constantly surrounded by the language when walking around the city. The Theology class has been amazing so far and so unique as every class we visit a different church(es). This class is so unique as I get to learn about Catholicism and see churches most tourists would not see.

How did you hear about this opportunity?: I heard about this opportunity from my fall orientation leader and then through emails.

 

 

What are you most excited about doing within this program?: I am most excited about getting to know the city of Rome better while also taking classes that are integrated with the culture. It is also very enjoyable to be a part of the Italian way of life as it is something so new to me.

What are you hoping to gain from your experience?: I am hoping to gain a better sense of self and independence but also a new way of looking at things through my courses. I am also hoping to gain new friendships and rich experiences.

Do you have any advice for prospective students thinking about doing a Maymester?: I would 100% recommend a Maymester program as it is the perfect amount of time to test out being abroad and really have a great experience while taking common requirement courses. The courses offered are also so unique and give you a hands on experience where you really get to know the city you’re in.

When you were in high school, did you expect to have this opportunity in college?: No, I never expected to have an experience like this and just thought study abroad was limited to junior year. I love that Holy Cross is so unique in having this program as it is the perfect way to gain experience and teaches you so many things a regular classroom class does not.

 

 
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Sader Summer Scoop: Efrain Lozano ’19

 

 

 

Name: Efrain Lozano

Major/Minor/Concentration: Spanish and International Studies double major

Graduation Year: 2019

What are you doing this summer?: Internship

 

 

 

 

What exactly are you doing?: I am the Original Content/Features Intern at the National Football League (NFL) in Culver City, CA. Basically I help create original stories from players, teams, etc. In which the fans could relate to and somehow connect with our organization. I do research packets on each story I’m out in charge of and from there gather and compile footage that is sent to the producers and editors to cut it and put it together. I also get to sit through the edits of the stories I help put together, and sometimes even be present for the shoots.

How did you hear about this opportunity?: My own research as well through Crusader Connections.

What are you most excited about doing within this program?: I’m excited to be able to get the first hand experience of the ins and outs of the NFL. Having the opportunity to have that hand on experience with one of the biggest organizations in the world is great. In addition, having the opportunity to meet and network with so many important people, as it will prepare me to deal with these important people once I graduate from HC.

What are you hoping to gain from your experience?: I hope that after this experience, I am able to grow both professionally and personally. I think that this opportunity is great in the sense that I am taken very serious as if I were a regular employee. This pushes me to try my best every single day I’m in the office, so I definitely know this is a great start for my future career.

Do you have any advice for prospective students thinking about doing an internship?: Take advantage of every single opportunity you have to network with people from every department. You never know who you will meet at your internship, so always ask questions and be ready to put yourself outside of your comfort zone, that will give you the best experience.

When you were in high school, did you expect to have this opportunity in college?: Definitely not! I never imagined that I was going to work for such organization or even meet NFL players one-on-one.