Chapter Spotlight: Resurrection University
Resurrection University, a private Catholic University in Chicago that specializes in Nursing and Health Sciences, is home to the UNA-USA Resurrection Campus Chapter. The beliefs and principles of the United Nations are special in a way that it covers different areas and can include a vast number of interests within its reach. As the pandemic has spread globally, COVID-19 has affected every aspect of daily life, and that includes the continuity of student organizations. It is difficult to navigate and enrich connections with members when the prevalent goal at the time is to be safe. Tito Castaneda, the chapter’s faculty advisor, shares that their chapter has reevaluated its operations and became a little more organized than it has had to be before. Their meetings are conducted via Zoom – which we all acknowledge can be tough – but have discovered that some aspects are easier now; for example, “…we have been able to reach out to and have speakers and conversations that may have not been addressed had we continued normal operations.”
COVID-19 has affected its campus operations and has struck their community as well. Resurrection University is primarily concentrated on nursing students, so they are close enough to see the havoc of the pandemic. “Students have concerns about their schoolwork and graduation timeline, as well as faculty members needing to adjust their teaching styles to fit within our technological capacities.” In light of the pandemic, ResU UNA used their abilities and knowledge to host a program with the objective to keep their community informed about COVID-19 protocols and different measures to stay safe.
The ResU Campus Chapter has planned activities for the spring 2021 semester that are still safe and engaging. For example, they are establishing a dialogue series called “Let’s Talk” where they give an opportunity to community members to converse about pre-determined topics. Tito comments they plan on focusing on topics that include social change and social justice.
Before the pandemic, the chapter participated in the Shot at Dance Campaign and hosted the U.S. Youth Observer to the UN on campus to speak about the prevalent issue of Climate Change. Additionally, they presented a week-long awareness of programs that highlighted Human Trafficking. Recently, they consolidated a group to discuss and learn about World AIDS Day 2020. Despite the persistent challenge of COVID-19, the UNA Chapter at Resurrection University has found several ways to carry out discussions and events that keep their members involved, while advancing the values of UNA-USA simultaneously. They embody a continual phrase we have heard since the beginning of the pandemic, “staying together apart”.
