Our home away from home for the next four years was right in front of our faces as we pulled into Cabrini College.

New faces, unpacked cars and frantic parents were all we could see. Not sure what to expect, we held our breaths as we walked to the registration table to join the class of 2014.

Seeing upperclassmen with “Move-In” shirts and a smile was a relief as they kindly grabbed our bags without even asking. Walking from table to table to get all our new Cabrini gear made the move-in process more real.

Getting settled in and awkwardly talking to our new roommates was an overwhelming and frightening experience, soley because we knew our living space would be shared for the next year.

A million questions ran through our minds, such as “Are we going to get along?,” or “Can I borrow her clothes?” It will take us a while to get used to sharing a bathroom with total strangers, along with carting around a basket primarially designed for toiletries.

The anticipation of meeting new friends came faster than we thought when we were split into our groups and meeting our orientation leaders for the first time. Meeting our OL’stook a weight off our shoulders, knowing they would be there for us for the whole weekend.

Every second of our weekend was booked with planned events, so missing home never crossed our minds. Little did we know that the people surrounding us would be taking the same journey as us. It was nice to know that every event we went to, our orientation group was coming with us.

Seeing all of the excited faces displayed by the upperclassmen as we ran into the gym made us feel more comfortable in our new environment. We were laughing with total strangers while we played silly games, helping ease our nerves and relax.

Any concerns sleeping in a new bed didn’t even cross our minds because of our exhaustion from our day. Whoever was bold enough to hear the haunted stories about Cabrini and go through the tour of the mansion knew it was an event not to be missed. Unconsciously grabbing onto people you didn’t know showed how close the school is even if you were a freshman.

The skits they performed for us were informative but in a way to make us laugh.

All the time and effort showed how much fun they had the week before. It made us want to be more involved in the year ahead. The comfort of knowing the orientation leaders wanted to eat every meal with us showed how dedicated they were to making us feel at home.

Being separated into groups to get a tour of Wayne showed where we would be spending most of our time. Walking past a million stores in the King of Prussia Mall, we knew we would be penniless by the time we came home for Thanksgiving break.

The chaos during the bus ride and the constant chatter made us feel that we knew these people for longer than three days. Exchanging email and contact information made us feel like we weren’t the only people struggling to meet new people.

As the weekend was coming to a close, we knew college wasn’t all fun and games. We knew our first night of pulling all-nighters was coming closer than we thought. Like a typical freshman we were worried about our schedule, our books and waking up on time for class in the morning.

We would’ve never thought that the library would soon become our new best friend, when in high school we didn’t even know where the library was.

Searching for places to go and people to meet will still be on our minds as new weekends approach. Even though we still get homesick almost everyday, we know that each day will get better. After doing all the activities, we never would’ve thought that they would help us be more confident walking through the Cabrini campus.

-Manny Ramirez will no longer be wearing the blue baseball cap in Los Angeles. He’s trading it in for a black baseball cap in Chicago and will make his debut on Tuesday against the Indians. Ramirez is beginning to create a pattern with his movement. Manny’s effort with the Red Sox in 2008 led to turmoil within Boston’s organization. He requested a trade months in advance and eventually his lack of effort and antics became to much to handle in Boston. The Dodgers dug themselves into a serious hole in the N.L. West and decided this would be the right time to let Manny go. With his contract set to expire at the end of the season, there wasn’t much more the Dodgers management could do for a player who had no desire to play. Read more at cleveland.com

-After taking a beating by the Houston Astros, the Phillies decided to wake up and play some ball over the weekend as they swept the San Diego Padres in the three-game series. But the woes continued as the Phils almost allowed Hideki Kuroda to walk away with a no-hitter. Thanks to Shane Victorino’s single in the eighth inning, the Phillies escaped the no-hitter by the skins of their teeth but were dealt a 3-0 loss nonetheless. Consistently the starting pitchers put in solid performances on the mound while the offense finds itself at a stand still. With the N.L. East in their grasp, the Phils take on the Brewers in a three-game series starting Friday. Read more at philly.com

-Donovan McNabb might not play in Washington’s season opener? Philly fans take a look. On Aug. 21, McNabb sprained his ankle during a preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens. Expecting to practice the next week, McNabb found himself in a boot and then an air cast. The injury does look like it is getting better but Redskin fans already have a preview of what they may be experiencing all season with the aging quarterback. Read more at espn.com

-The Crimson Tide will be without their Heisman Trophy winner in the season opener against San Jose State. Late into Monday nights practice, Ingram hurt his knee and had to under-go arthroscopic surgery. The surgery took place last Tuesday. Coach Nick Saban said Ingram will be managed on a week-to-week basis and may possibly have to sit out their second game as well against No. 19 Penn State. Thankfully Alabama has an extremely capable backup, Trent Richardson, to take the reigns. Read more at espn.com

The women's tennis team participates in indian runs, while warming up for practice.

In the most recent Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) poll, the Cabrini College women’s tennis team is selected to place fourth overall this year in the conference.

Returning to the Lady Cavs this year are three veterans; juniors Michelle Lettmann, Alexis DiCamillo and sophomore, Gabrielle Durand.

“This year we gained three freshmen,” DiCamillo said. “They all have a lot of great potential and amazing talent and we are all glad to have them on the team this year.”

After a somewhat rocky season in 2009, the returners of the team for 2010 are anxiously anticipating the beginning of their season.

“Last season was tougher than the one before because our team was so young,” Lettmann said.  “Since our team was so young, I saw it as a season of more learning and growing to become the team that we were two years ago.  For this season, I feel like we have grown and gained back that power to be on top and do really well in our matches.”

Last season, Durand, as a freshman, led the Lady Cavs overall in singles play, finishing with a record of 11 wins and only two losses.  Lettmann was also a strong competitor for the Lady Cavs finishing with nine overall wins and seven losses in singles play.  Fellow veteran Alexis DiCamillo also boasted a solid record for the 2009 season with seven wins and nine losses in singles play.

“This year we have more players with experience,” DiCamillo said.  “We are still a pretty young team, and we don’t have any seniors on the squad but the girls are competitive and eager to learn.”

Topping off the CSAC poll for the 2010 season are Gwynedd-Mercy College, Neumann University, Marywood University, Cabrini College and Cedar Crest College.  Although Cabrini is only ranked fourth, they received two of the 11 votes to win the CSAC title.

“My hopes for the team this year are to win the championship and make it to the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) tournament,” Lettmann sad. “We definitely have the ability to do so this season.”

Cabrini College's new golf head coach, Adam Pifer

Adam Pifer was named the head golf coach at Cabrini College on July 12.

The Telford, Pa. native has been playing golf since he was nine years-old.

“I played a lot of sports in middle school and high school but eventually I dropped everything to play golf,” Pifer said.

In high school, Pifer received recognition as a four year letter winner and after graduating decided to attend Temple University. At Temple, Pifer continued his impressive career being a four year letter winner once again, while leading his team as a captain his junior and senior year.

In May of 2009, Pifer graduated and began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Temple. After only one season there he found himself in Radnor, Pa. as the head coach of the Cavaliers.

“The fall season will be good to get acclimated since it is not a title season. It will help me get into the swing of things. I want to get a feel for Division III golf and hopefully lead this team to some NCAA championships,” Pifer said.

In the past three seasons, Cabrini men’s golf has earned titles under previous head coach Dr. Tony Verde. In the 2008 and 2009 seasons, the Cavaliers took the Colonial States Athletic Conference title. In 2010 they were runner-up. It seems Pifer may have some big shoes to fill.

“I don’t feel pressure. I’m excited! Tony did a great job with the program. My goal is to get better and better every year. The program doing so well is because of the hard work Tony has put in over the years,” Pifer said.

To add to his impressive resume, Pifer also works as a golf professional at the BQ Golf Academy in Conshohocken, Pa. He gives private lessons to golfers of all ages, while also managing the junior golf programs. With this experience he feels he can help each player improve their game.

“Being a full-time golf professional, I think I bring an instructional aspect to the program and as a Division I player in college I think I bring a lot of experience as well,” Pifer said.

Cabrini will be entering this upcoming year without many key seniors who lead this team the past few years. Mike Holland, Chris Lawler and Matt Slutz are just a few of the seniors who will be missed.

“We lost a lot of good players but we have a lot of new guys coming in this year as well,” Pifer said.

Confident as ever, it seems Cabrini has found the perfect coach to lead this team.

Sin city was met with three Cabrini College students who flew in to receive the Best of Festival Award for their audio documentary at the 8^th annual BEA Best of Festival Foundation Awards Ceremony held Friday, April 14.

“When I got the call that we had won an award I was actually on a road trip to New Orleans,” Gillian Davis, senior communication major, said. “The whole time I was at Mardi Gras I kept thinking about my trip to Vegas!”

Davis’ excitement resonated with the other two Cabrini students, Mallory Terrence and Cait Friel, both senior communication majors as well.

The three students were recognized internationally for their audio documentary on global food insecurity.

“The girls had been working on this documentary for almost 2 years,” Heather Fullerton, coordinator of communication center operations and general manager of WYBF-FM, said.  “The executive staff of the radio class is required to create an audio documentary that either follows the curriculum of social justice or touches on a topic of significance to the community.”

The three students found their topic through another class called Sem 300 taught by Dr. Jerome Zurek, professor and chairman of the communication department. It was this particular class that motivated the girls to make a dual project out of their documentary.

“Since it was a dual project that both myself and Dr. Zurek would be grading, they put a lot more energy into it. Plus the topic was so broad it required a lot more in depth research,” Fullerton said.

According to Fullerton, the three students spent the entire spring semester last year gathering information and interviewing people.

“We discussed a lot of social justice issues in Sem but the main focus was primarily food insecurity,” Terrence said. “I was actually interested in food insecurity even before Sem 300 and had attended events like Philabundance.”

Terrence had collected a lot of information that led her to prompt her group to choose the topic.

“Mallory had a lot of information already but when Cait and I joined forces with her we came up without a lot more hearty information,” Davis said.

The three students were accompanied by Fullerton on their three-night four-day stay in Las Vegas, Nevada. Cabrini funded the airfare and hotel costs as well as transportation to the ceremony site.

“This was just so cool that we got to fly out to Vegas of all places and to be appreciated for all of our work,” Friel said. “Heather said the BEA hasn’t awarded someone in this particular category in almost 18 years for an audio documentary.”

During the ceremony the students were to accept an award as well as deliver a speech. Davis took the role of narrating the acceptance speech.

“I was practicing the speech over and over, even counting the key points I wanted to make on my fingers!” Davis said. “Then when I stepped up to the podium and the bright lights were blaring… in all honesty I have no clue what I even said. It wasn’t until I saw the speech on Youtube that I could breathe knowing I was professional.”

Friel and Terrence applauded Davis’ hidden nerves in her delivery.

The three students, according to Terrence, gelled especially well together in creating the award-winning documentary piece.

“We all just took different roles like I was the one who organized all of the interviews, Gill spent most of her time editing the audio till it was perfect and Cait did most of the behind the scenes work like typing up the entire script,” Terrence said.”

The students and Fullerton were the first at Cabrini to receive the award in Las Vegas. The students were one out of 900 entries to enter and the specific category the student’s received a prized recognition for was the student 2-year/small colleges competition. A $1,000 cash prize in addition to the invitation to the ceremony collectively granted the students “an experience of a lifetime.”

“These three students are a good example of the underdog coming out on top,” Fullerton said. “No one expected this level of recognition, not because they aren’t talented. I think it was their determination to not only leave a legacy of WYBF, but to really advocate with their multimedia skills that fueled them to think ‘hey this can go somewhere.’”

To listen to the award-winning audio documentary visit www.wybf.com

“Justice Matters,” the new curriculum built into all Cabrini students’ academic schedules, has had mixed responses from those experiencing social justice in and out of the classroom.

This curriculum states that all students are required to take nine credits of an Engagements With the Common Good course. These courses range from concentrations on diversity and democracy to dating and domestic violence.

The Loquitur staff feels that the ECG courses can be a positive force in every student’s education. Any class that teaches social justice on any level is positive.

However, we have found that certain students on campus are not enthusiastic about their ECG classes. Some ECG classes do not dive into social justice issues nearly as much as others. We wish that students would actually become engaged in the common good, as the course title promises.

Certain students have been able to learn alongside prison inmates exploring the meaning of social justice. Others have worked alongside Mexican migrant workers in their struggle to have fair wages or with refugees from around the globe.

Some students have even worked in solidarity with the Mayan people of Guatemala. These are the types of engagements with the common good that all students should be having.

However, these students, who have seen the world beyond the gated community of Cabrini College, only make up a tiny percentage of the student population.

Why is it that the majority of students do not talk about having powerful experiences like these?

We do not mean to take away from what other ECG courses have been teaching, but the idea of the Justice Matters curriculum, in our opinion, is to get students to look beyond everything they’ve ever known.

The realization of what goes on in the rest of the world is something that not only promotes education, but also promotes change.

The Loquitur editors feel that all instructors should be passionate about social justice and ignite the same fire in their students.  We understand that some instructors may not be as familiar with social justice issues and what the real definition of social justice is. We get it. It is a complex topic but one that is worth becoming familiar with.

Certain students may argue that they are completely changed persons because Cabrini has “opened their eyes.” Others would also argue that social justice might not be everyone’s cup of tea. Well, neither is math. But that doesn’t change the fact that each student deserves the same experience in the coursework.

The new curriculum is what sets us apart from many other colleges and universities. Some Cabrini students can say they see the world differently because of their experiences in learning about social justice issues. But every Cabrini student should be able to practice what the school preaches.

Each year in February Cabrini College designates a celebration that commemorates birthday of the college’s founder, Sister Ursula Infante.  Founder’s Day was instituted during Dr. Iadarola’s time as president at Cabrini. The celebration used to be a large birthday party, but over the years it has grown into much more.

“Every year a different social justice topic is chosen for Founder’s Day.  This year, as opposed to choosing a social justice issue, we decided to actively incorporate the faculty and students.  We consulted with the ECG teachers and they thought it was a positive way to enforce what the students are now learning in their ECG classes,” Dr. Mary Laver, director of international partnerships, said.

The new format of Founder’s Day touches upon varies aspects of the curriculum.  The faculty really wanted to play into the idea of “education of the heart.”  Instead of telling the students to go and listen to a speaker, the faculty decided that it would be better if Founder’s Day would be more interactive. This is why the professors decided on the “This I Believe” essay.

“The idea to use the ‘This I Believe’ format for Founder’s Day seemed to be a fitting tribute to the founder of our college, whose beliefs led her to educate students in issues of social justice.  It was decided by a group of faculty in an ECG meeting who thought that this would encourage students to more actively participate in Founder’s Day,” Amy Persichetti, instructor of English, said.

The main way that Founder’s Day is different this year is that the faculty cut the idea of having a keynote speaker come. This way, as opposed to having only one topic be discussed, students will be able to hear about various different topics through the “This I Believe” essays.

“We felt this way we could highlight ourselves as the keynote speakers of the night. Various students and faculty can then feel as though they helped make Founder’s Day unique,” Dr. Laver said.

The “This I Believe” essay branched off from an idea instituted by a 1950’s American journalist named Edward R. Murrow. He interviewed average Americans about their core values and their beliefs.  Then National Public Radio instituted a popular nationwide radio series called “Story Corps.”

Cabrini faculty took this idea and morphed it into a project that the campus community would be excited to be a part of. Students and faculty who wanted to participate in the Founder’s Day program could write an essay about what they believe most. The catch is for students to delve deeper and not only write about what they believe, but to challenge why they believe it.

“The faculty and staff are looking forward to celebrating the amazing teachers and learners. If people miss the event I hope that they at least come then to read the essays that the participants worked so hard on. The faculty is not sure if this is a format will continue for future Founder’s Day celebrations. Dr. George is currently trying to decide what she hopes to see for the Founder’s Day celebration in the coming years.” Dr. Laver said.