Students Bypass Beach For Bayou
2/22/07
While many students will have fun in the sun over Spring Break, about 40 Maryville University students and staff will spend their week of vacation helping the less fortunate along the Gulf Coast.
Fifteen Maryville students and three staff members will head to Pensacola, Fla., for the University’s annual Habitat for Humanity trip. “We will arrive at the work site on Monday morning to a slab of cement and when we leave on Thursday afternoon, we will have framed the entire house,” said Kathy Quinn, Maryville’s director of recreation and intramurals. “In addition, we will have put the windows and doors in, and put shingles on the roof.” Quinn goes on the trip every year, along with Pam Culliton, the University’s director of health and wellness. This year, a third staff member, Steve DiSalvo, director of campus ministry, also will make the excursion.
Maryville students going on the Habitat trip are: Michelle Berns of St. Louis; Jessica Cooper of Perryville; Lauren Dieckmann of St. Louis; Kristin Dobberstein of St. Louis; Shannon Goff of St. Louis; Liza Hackmann of Morrison; Sara Hotze of Teutopolis, Ill.; Seth Jarboe of Armstrong; Justin Langrehr of Red Bud, Ill.; Crystal Morrow of Washington Park, Ill; Alan Probst of Teutopolis, Ill.; Joanna Roehl of Troy, Ill.; Susan Rohan of Fenton; Jennifer Taylor of Greeley, Co.; and Katie Wang of Omaha, Neb.
Cooper is the only student who has gone on the trip previously. “We had such a tremendous response from students who had never gone on the trip that we had to say ‘no’ to several students who wanted to go back,” Quinn said.
While that group is in Florida, another Maryville contingent will be in New Orleans, helping to rebuild areas destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. “We think that this will be a great way for students to experience a selfless act of service for people who are still desperately in need,” said junior Jenny Palmer of Bellevue, Neb. “I heard a statistic that only 5 percent of the homes have been rebuilt, and it has been a year and a half!”
Palmer and senior Bri Davis of Overland Park, Ks., both members of the Maryville chapter of Campus Crusade of Christ, are organizing the New Orleans trip in conjunction with Maryville Student Government and the Campus Crusade international headquarters. Davis said students will work near City Park in New Orleans. “We have plans to gut and clean houses, clean city park, build a playground at the park, and clean local schools and universities,” she said. The Maryville students will work with Campus Crusade chapters from across the country.
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Students currently are registering for the trip and Palmer and Davis said they’d like to have about 30 students participate. The cost per student is $215. Maryville Student Government and Campus Crusade have provided some funds for the trip. However, donations still are needed to pay for all students who wish to go. Those interested in making a donation can e-mail Davis at bdavis2@maryville.edu.
Maryville University, founded in 1872, is a private, coeducational institution offering approximately 50 undergraduate, seven master’s and two doctoral degree programs to 3,300 students. Ranked by U.S. News and World Report as one of America’s Best Colleges in the Midwest, Maryville University prepares its students for successful and meaningful careers by offering programs that integrate liberal arts with professional studies. Among Maryville’s most recent graduates, 94 percent are employed or attending graduate school. Approximately 15,000 alumni work and live in the St. Louis region.