Dialogue with President Beth Paul

  Students, hello from our beautiful Naz campus! I have loved my conversations with you these last several months, as the spring semester wrapped up successfully and we started to look toward fall. You have told me that what you are most looking forward to this fall is learning in person, being together as an inclusive community, engaging in hands-on learning, and enjoying meaningful and fun gatherings. You want to see the impact of your contributions, not through a Zoom filter, but live and in person in the classroom, in our community, and beyond.   As I spend time with you, you also have shared stories of life during the pandemic and the societal dynamics of the last year. It has been a complex emotional time, including feelings of loss, fear, frustration, sadness, and more. As psychologist Karen Munn shares in this recent podcast on the Summer of Healing , college students have been through a lot and it is often AFTER the crisis that we feel the most anxious. As we emerge f...

  Nazareth College joins in the celebration of Pride Month, celebrated each June as an opportunity to educate, increase awareness, and promote inclusion for the LGBTQ+ community. Our Nazareth community is dedicated to recognizing and  valuing diversity in all its various forms  and to recommitting ourselves to being equity-minded learners and leaders.   Today, June 28, is Pride Day, commemorating the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City and the start of the modern LGBTQ+ liberation movement. Today is a day of celebration and reflection; an opportunity for our entire community to affirm and support each other’s freedom to live authentically, to love who we love, and to be seen and valued for who we are and the unique gifts we share with the world.  Progress has been made and  our work continues . Celebrating Pride means raising awareness, challenging structural injustices, and emboldening action towards inclusiveness.  Pride celebrations also serv...

By Beth Paul, President, and Lisa Durant-Jones, Vice President for Community & Belonging Nazareth College is committed to promoting a diverse, equitable, and inclusive community as a critical component of the campus experience for our faculty, staff, and students. Our Strategic Framework extends and strengthens this commitment to preparing “the Nazareth community to be equity-minded, socially-just leaders.” This past year has challenged all of us to hold true to our ideals and ensure that we continue to work to create an anti-racist campus, reckoning honestly with our past and proactively building a more just and equitable  future. The trauma, marginalization, and harm that results from systemic racism has had an impact on our Nazareth community, and we must be steadfast with respecting and valuing human difference in all of its forms. On June 19, our country will celebrate Juneteenth. This annual holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States has been celeb...

Since our spring semester ended just three weeks ago, we’ve continued to reflect on what we’ve learned and what we’ve heard our students say they value in a connected campus learning community. We have heard our students say they need and want engaging, interactive, in-person educational and social experiences — a learning experience at which Nazareth excels. To achieve this and to prioritize the health of our campus and the wider community, for the 2021-2022 academic year, Nazareth College will require all students, faculty, staff and contracted employees to complete COVID-19 vaccination and provide documentation by July 31, 2021. Limited exemptions, such as religious and medical, will be granted, and reasonable accommodations provided under applicable law. Nazareth’s decision is aligned with the recommendations of the American College Health Association, which made a statement recognizing that comprehensive COVID-19 vaccination is the most effective way for institutions o...