Our two-day Unity in Community Days event – March 26-27, 2025 – is available for Merrimack faculty, staff, students and community members. Please review the schedule below.
Speaker: Kirstie Dobbs
Moderator: Greg Jain
Location: Arcidi A
Does discussing politics or “hot-button” issues with family members and friends make you nervous? Do you feel “stuck” when you try to engage with people about topics who think differently than you? This interactive workshop will help you feel at ease when communicating with your peers and family members about difficult subjects. In this interactive workshop, students engage in a series of reflective exercises that expose them to important themes central to effective community engagement with a special focus on how to communicate across differences. Students who are part of the Community Engaged Scholars program will earn 2 hours of community-engaged learning for attending this event.
Speaker: Ray Lewis and Panel of Student-Athletes
Location: Arcidi A
This session will focus on the unique experience of student-athletes. They will share stories related to navigating their identities within the space of athletics, academics and beyond. It is important for our Merrimack community to understand how student-athletes navigate others’ perceptions, and expectations of them in their day-to-day experiences as a student, as an athlete and as a student-athlete. In collegiate and national sports, perceptions of athletes as human beings intersect with aspects of their lived experiences. Many student-athletes ask themselves questions about “Who am I beyond being an athlete?,” “How do my professors see me inside and outside of the classroom?,” “How do my fellow student peers perceive me?,” “How do I manage expectations from my coaches and my parents?,” “What are my personal, professional career and sports goals after college?,” and “What perceptions do others have about my academic abilities and intellect?”. This session offers an opportunity to hear the voices of student-athletes at Merrimack and how each of us – who may or may have played sports in our lives – may develop a deeper cultural understanding and appreciation of being a student, an athlete and a fellow human being.
Facilitator: Fr. Daniel Madden, O.S.A.
Participants: Merrimack students and staff
Moderator: Rileigh Armstrong
Location: Cascia Hall
This session will seek to foster conversations around faith and God among a collective of students and faculty. Two individuals – an interviewer and interviewee – from a panel of Merrimack community members will engage in an interactive dialogue stimulated by the interviewer asking the question: “Does Everything Happen for a Reason?” The interviewer will pose their question. In response, the interviewee will offer their perspective regarding the question. The interviewer may then ask follow-up questions. This interactive dialogue offers an opportunity for individuals to reflect on their faith and God within a supportive exchange and exploration process within a collaborative community space. After 5 minutes, the initial interviewee will return to the panel and a new community member will take their place and be interviewed. In this session, the Merrimack community panel will create a space for thoughtful, respectful conversation about one’s faith and God.
Speaker: Dr. Reverend Jennifer Harvey
Location: Cascia Hall
Unity never happens by itself. It always has to be created. But unity gets harder when public messages flow, telling us what we can—or can’t—say about our own different lived experiences or about the ways histories and social systems affect our experiences and relationships with one another. So, we’re going to talk about it. In this workshop we will explore daily practices we can each develop to face and work through these challenges, and our ability to recognize how who we are can become a source of strength and a way to grow unity in community.
Speaker: Dr. David Claudio
Moderator: MT Davila
Location: Crowe Executive Room
In this talk, Dr. Claudio will present his evolving research journey in healthcare. Initially focused on applying Industrial Engineering (IE) tools to streamline healthcare systems, his work has grown to integrate human factors and modeling techniques, addressing real-world problems from a systems perspective. Over time, his focus shifted from an operations-centric approach to a patient-centered one, which led him to explore critical issues such as disparities in mental health among community populations.
Collaborating with an interdisciplinary team, Dr. Claudio transitioned from clinical-level work to a broader focus on public health. Today, he leverages his IE expertise to challenge systemic disparities in healthcare and address policy limitations. His work emphasizes creating more engaging approaches that balance efficiency with ensuring human rights while integrating humanitarian concerns.
Dr. Claudio will also highlight the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration, not only between professionals but also with the community. Drawing on over six years of experience with Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR), he will discuss how earning the community’s trust and involving them as co-researchers is key to achieving true integration of research, outreach and teaching.
Speaker: Andrea Wamboldt, First Year Experience (FYE), McQuade Library, The Unity House
Location: Collegiate Church of Christ the Teacher
Conversations with Warriors is designed to connect students through real conversations about important issues. In a welcoming and respectful environment, students engage in conversations with “storytellers” to learn about their personal experiences that range across various topics. “Storytellers” are brave individuals who are willing to share their life stories about major life challenges with students, in the hope of expanding perspectives and working to end intolerance. The purpose of this event is to create spaces for open dialogue without judgment while challenging perceptions.
Speakers: Inés Ouedraogo
Moderator: Melissa Spencer
Location: Arcidi A
In April 2024, Inés Ouedraogo joined the Zen Peacemakers Order to participate in a four-day spiritual, human rights and justice-bearing witness retreat around America’s racial history by walking in Selma and Montgomery, Alabama. This retreat was particularly relevant for her teaching, curriculum and pedagogy which offers divergent perspectives on lived experiences impacted by civil unrest and human injustices. The goal of this workshop is to share her experience, which deepened her emotional and heart connection with the people, places and events witnessed, and invite a vulnerable (self)reflection with the following points in mind: (1) the responsibility of bearing witness, (2) not knowing and (3) how Zen spirituality combined with restorative justice approaches to education leads to taking action.
Speaker: Catherine Chandler
Moderator: Cristina Fernández
Location: Arcidi A
In this presentation, attendees will examine the Civil Rights Movement (CRM) of the mid-20th century and explore how the history of queer activism borrowed from the CRM and other movements to create its own methods of protest against harmful legislation and public policy actions that currently curtails queer existence and expressions will be shared. Participants will also discuss the current moment in activism in and beyond the queer community and how allies can contribute by using their voices for change. This workshop is open to all, including members of the community and our allies.
Speaker: Liz Natale
Moderator: Cristina Fernández
Location: Arcidi A
Food is more than just nourishment—it’s a powerful connector that bridges cultures, fosters community and shapes our identities. We will explore how food brings people together, highlights varying cultural traditions and reveals important issues of access, compassion and human rights. Through storytelling and interactive dialogue, we will explore the role of food in building just and compassionate communities while promoting cultural appreciation.
Speaker: Dr. Reverend Jennifer Harvey
Moderator: Melissa Spencer
Location: The Collegiate Church of Christ the Teacher
Our desire to build alliances across differences is often stronger than the tools we have for making it happen. In a moment where we’re being encouraged to give up on developing tools for building relationships and alliances, many still long to fill our toolboxes and have deeper dialogues about the complexities of our identities and what it means to want a common good. That’s what we’re going to do in this workshop.
Unity in Community, a two-day program, now in its tenth semester, represents the President’s Initiative on Belonging, Engagement and Excellence. The program features community scholars, leaders, artists and advocates who will share knowledge and strategies, designed to enhance awareness and understanding. The Merrimack community will gather for forums, panels and discussions to inspire attendees to nurture spaces of belonging in our campus community and beyond.
Who Should Attend
All events are in person and are free and open to the public.
