This past spring break, Nichols students took several trips abroad including trips to Barcelona and London. The Barcelona trip was for criminal justice students who were required to take two specific courses. For the London trip, students had to take the Lead 101 course in the spring semester. Each trip consisted of different activities but it is amazing to see what opportunities Nichols students have available to them.

On April 23, the ten Criminal Justice students who went on the Barcelona trip each gave a presentation on a specific topic about the trip. Along with their advisors, Professor Charbonneau and Professor Brown, the students who went on this trip were Kim Whalen, Taylor Pons, Paige Moroz, Anthony Lovetere, Jon Demers, Mario Turner, Jake Gallagher, Ian Sullivan, David Barnard, and Mike Cutrer.

In order to be eligible for the trip, the students had to complete two courses, one of which was Crime, Justice, and Society and write an essay about why they should be selected for the trip.  Based on the applications, Professors Charbonneau and Brown chose ten deserving students to take the trip.

During their presentations, the students talked about the different law enforcement strategies and the culture of Barcelona. I really enjoyed this event and wish I was a criminal justice major because of all the places they visited while in Barcelona. Anyone who is in the Criminal Justice program should really consider going on this trip in the future!

In the beginning of April, the Institute for Women’s Leadership presented the Inaugural Massachusetts Leadership Index (MWLI). Jean Beaupre, Faculty Director of the Institute for Women’s Leadership, worked closely with senior intern Jackie Khillah to compile data and create the index to serve as both a baseline for future comparison to measure future progress as well as make the call for action today.

The presentation was extremely eye opening, highlighting the gender inequality in leadership roles through the state of Massachusetts. This will serve as a great demonstration that Massachusetts has work to do on women in leadership.

You can view the index here.

The Worcester Business Journal also reviewed the index in an article, available here.

I think that most college students do not know nearly half of what’s going on in the world today. Most do not watch the news or even follow it on twitter. Oftentimes, those who do follow the news on twitter are not getting the whole story or are getting a biased or incorrect one. This was a topic that was discussed at the recent campus open forum.

During the open forum on May 1, I sat with PJ Boggio, Dean of Students, Autumn Hicks, SGA President, and Professor Boyd Brown to talk about the events that happened and are continuing in Baltimore. Our discussion transitioned to implementing a current events club on campus. The one thing that might be difficult about this is that it might be tough getting students to participate due to their many other commitments on campus.

Also, some students might think that if professors are orchestrating the meetings then it’s more of a class than a club. However, we would want students in this club to be willing to talk about current events and lead discussions, but also be willing to listen and hear each person’s point of view.

I believe this would be beneficial to the students so they become aware of what is happening in the world and can share an opinion. It may seem that here in Dudley, Massachusetts we are tucked away and hidden from any harm that may come. Sometimes people do not pay attention because the events that are happening aren’t happening in their town or region. However, we all need to be aware and to be able to talk about difficult topics such as these. Forming the club will help us be ready for real world discussions when we leave our college life in Dudley. In the business world, people engage in these conversations all of the time, and as students we all need to be confident in what we say and how we stand on difficult topics.