DeSales University

You can Be who you are and be that well all bundled up in style this winter while you help support our students. #GivingTuesday

Get out and do as much as you can for your community and your school. Step up in things that you’ve already been a part of. - Madison Hoffman, 2020 Leadership Scholarship Winner NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR NEXT YEAR: The Leadership Scholarship is a full-tuition scholarship offered to six students who have shown outstanding leadership in their high school careers and who plan to continue to develop those skills at DeSales. High school seniors can apply now for next year at https://desales.edu/leadership the deadline is Tuesday, December 1, 2020.

Happy Thanksgiving! We are so grateful to have such a wonderful community to support each other through this tough time. How will you be grateful today? #BeThatWell... from a past DUCsgiving

Dear University Community: As we continue to pray for the happy repose of the soul of Matthew Hammerstone and the consolation of his family, here we share the details of the public funeral arrangements. Viewing... Tuesday, November 24, 2020 4:00 PM 8:00 PM Our Lady of Guadalupe Church 5194 Cold Spring Creamery Road Doylestown, PA 18901 With the link below, you will be able to read Matt’s obituary and express your condolences to his family. https://varcoethomasfuneralhome.com//Hammerstone/index.php

#SalesianStrength , , -, DeSales University has recently adopted the Core Values: gentleness, humility, gratitude, hospitality, and wisdom. The value that really speaks to me during the pandemic is gratitude, and I share here some of my reflections on this. The changes that have come to all our lives since March 2020 have been substantial. I have found myself praying more during this time, first because of... a need to help my mind settle and then to ask for strength in my roles at home and at work. This quiet time for me each day has helped significantly. One of my favorite memories growing up was my Mom quoting Psalm 118:24, This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. This is gratitude! She would share this bible verse with me on days that were difficult and days that I needed to be reminded to be grateful. We all need to be grateful during this challenging time. During the pandemic, routine things have changed significantly from our ability to go to the grocery store, visit with friends and family, as well as to spend time on the beautiful DeSales University campus. Additionally, the way we educate our students needed to change because of COVID-19 to include social distancing, masks, hand sanitizer, and less in-person student/faculty interaction. Meetings that routinely were in person now are on Zoom. We are all missing routine interactions including handshakes and hugs. We are missing seeing people smile without a mask. Those changes have been necessary to keep everyone safe, and they have. The Ready for Anything policies and practices in place on campus have kept us much safer than faculty and students at other colleges and universities. This faculty member is very thankful for this. During this time in our lives, it is important to continue to practice gratitude. Practicing gratitude has been shown in the literature to increase happiness and reduce depression. Gratitude helps you hold on to positive things and helps you cope with stress. Gratitude will help you improve your mental and physical health. Gratitude will help you be more resilient and be less concerned with negative events and situations. Tell your friends, family, faculty, staff, and classmates that you are thankful for them. Write a letter to someone important to you and tell them so. Create a gratitude journal that you can reflect on daily. Look for the positive to reflect on during difficult situations. Our experience with the pandemic has reminded all of us what has changed and what we are missing. Practicing gratitude will help you remember all the things you are thankful for that the pandemic has not compromised.

#SalesianStrength , , . , . , . . The year 2020, touted as the year of perfect vision, has been all but perfect. I recall spending New Year’s Eve in church with my sister in our matching 2020 shirts that we’d made jus...t a few hours earlier. We’d made plans for all the things we’d accomplish this year: joint business ventures, sister trips to exotic locales, and more time spent together cherishing the joys of family. But in March, this all seemed to come to a screeching halt when the COVID pandemic hit. I’ll be honest. At first, I was excited to get an extra week following Spring Break. But that week turned into months of pandemonium, months of uncertainty, months of social isolation. I started to lament all the things that COVID took away. During the first few weeks, I put tremendous pressure on myself to be extra productive. I’d reorganized the kitchen, cleaned out a bedroom closet, set up a home office, purchased a new vacuum, an exercise bike, a sewing machine, and a Cricut. I was going to be the perfectly-fit teacher with the best office space in my clean house where I sewed and crafted in my spare time. It was ridiculous! When I failed, I was subjected to my own, equally heinous, self-beating. It wasn’t until I attended a workshop on How to POWER Forward in Times of Uncertainty that I began to look with new eyes at this experience. During the workshop, we were challenged to change our perspectives, and instead of looking at what COVID took away, look at what is now possible. As I reflect on where I am now, I’m reminded that when things seem harder to accomplish, my motivation is low, and I’m more exhausted than normal due to the added emotional labor of managing life and relationships post-COVID, that I can choose to be patient and extend myself a little grace. I can put the bat down and give myself space to breathe. It is often easier to extend this grace to others, understanding that this time has been challenging on them and they are doing the best they can. I am now challenged to be kinder, gentler, and more patient with myself. Oh, what my life will be when I extend that grace inwardly! LaShara A. Davis, PhD, is an assistant professor of communication.

#SalesianStrength The latest study on increased stress levels among college students has been released. Aspects of the student experience are unique, yet they are hardly alone. The same was found for faculty, staff, and administrators. Plus, other working people, those who have lost their jobs, the underprivileged and vulnerable, families, and those who ‘home’ alone. A nation and world presently under grea...t duress. In two of my courses, I asked my students to tell me what it is was like for them. Isolation, motivation challenges, frustration, feeling blue, missing family memberspets included, missing close fellowship, even feeling guilty about friends now separated from their circle by different residence halls. Yes, sometimes it’s hard, but at least I’m on campus, offered a sophomore. How can I complain when I could be living at home right now, with no in-person classes? Trouble focusing and being hard on themselves for not doing their best work. Feeling bad about it. I admitted to my students that I, too, had been hard on myself in that way. Always do your best, is one component of The Four Agreements, by Don Miguel Ruiz. We discussed the idea of your best not being a constant. It’s a dynamic measurement, one that can shift. Your best can change from year to year. Your best will look different depending upon what circumstances are acting upon you. As it does from month to month, over a given week, or even today. You’ve still got to do the work, yet if you make an agreement with yourself to always do your best illuminated by this wisdom you might succeed more often. Ancient Toltec culture (in what is now Mexico), reminds us that it’s okay to not feel as inspired as you did a year ago. The present moment is a new way of life and it, too, shall pass. Allow yourself some grace, says a director at Howard University Medicine. Change and modify your expectations. Everyone is not starting new research, a new diet, or exercise plan during this time. I think that’s what is portrayed a lot, especially on social media. Dr. Hairston added: This country is going through a collective grief. An important step of just getting through the day is to acknowledge that it’s normal and okay to sometimes be less productive or motivated as you’d like these days. Maybe you are doing your best. Steven Dennis is an associate professor of theatre.

When I walked to campus on my first day, I saw one of the banners that said, ‘Be who you are and be that well.’ It hit me because that in and of itself is the spirit of [Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion]. - Scott Blair, Associate Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

#SalesianStrength , . - St. Francis de Sales... As I sit outside in my car waiting for my son to come out of his orthodontist appointment, I cannot help but reflect on how much things have changed since March 2020. Before this all began, I was able to go inside with my kids to their orthodontist and doctor appointments; there was no need to have our temperatures checked or call the office when we arrived to confirm it was clear for us to come in. I did not have to worry if there was a mask in the car when I stopped at the grocery store. In March, my daughter had just returned to her college campus from spring break to finish out her first year. It was my son’s freshman year in high school, and he had just made the JV baseball team. My sister and her fiancé were just over one month away from saying I do. In the blink of an eye, we realized we were about to enter very unknown and challenging times. This led to feelings of anxiety and concern about the health and well-being of our family, friends, neighbors, colleagues, and community. Then I began to think about the parents of young children: How were they going to navigate this pandemic and try to keep structure for their little ones? I was thinking about college and high school seniors and their families as they would not be able to experience the traditional lasts and celebrations. When I thought about all of this, it brought disappointment and sadness. But then I started to see how even during these unprecedented times there were actually some extraordinary times. Families with busy schedules running from work to dance classes to practices were now able to have dinner together; colleges and high schools having parades and putting out yard signs to help celebrate their students; local restaurants hung shower curtains and put their booths outside to protect their employees and customers; businesses provided additional and safer options to continue to keep their doors open; my sister had her wedding date change three times and planned an absolutely perfect way to celebrate their love. Ultimately, it made me realize that sometimes we need to take a step back to appreciate that the small things are the big things. Jennifer Bunting is the assistant dean of students for campus life and student conduct.

#SalesianStrength I have the best vocation ever: I talk and listen to people tell their stories about DeSales University. Usually, it’s done in face-to-face appointments, but since March we talk or communicate in ways that are comfortable or appropriate for the person: over the phone, properly spaced dining, FaceTime, Messenger, Zoom, or most recently at parks and outside. In an era of a pandemic, politics, protests (some ...Continue reading