Cabrini College places a lot of emphasis on students becoming engaged citizens of the world. Although there are many options available for students to strengthen their engagement within the world through ECG’s and study abroad programs, the Wolfington Center provides one particular option that may be of special interest to college students: food.
“One of my favorite ways to engage the world is through food,” Stephen Eberle, coordinator of community partnerships in the Wolfington Center, said via email. “Cabrini in the Community offers students the opportunity to experience the tastes of nations and cultures around the world by stepping out into their own back yard.”
The Wolfington Center runs about four trips a semester and tries to sample as many different types of cuisines as possible. Last semester, the students were able to experience Middle Eastern, Guatemalan, Greek and Persian food.
“By sampling international cuisine, we make a personal connection to another country or culture. We also learn more about a region’s society by getting a grasp of the animals and plants native to the region,” Eberle said.
These Cabrini in the Community trips show students that they can learn about other cultures, become an engaged citizen of the world and enjoy delicious food all at the same time. These trips are all planned by sophomores Alicia Totten and Ryan Luquet. These two students pick the restaurants and are also responsible for the majority of the marketing.
Although the trips are free, there is a six-student cap placed on each trip. “One of the things I love the most about this program is that it draws students who wouldn’t normally set foot in the Wolfington Center,” Eberle said. “Part of our mission is to help students build relationships in unlikely places. Certainly that can occur through service-learning or volunteer work, but it also can happen through food and fellowship.”
One of the trips last year was to the Asian Food Court on top of the H-Mart in Upper Darby. “We rode the Norristown High Speed Line from Cabrini to Upper Darby and we sampled a variety of Asian cuisines while discussing the pros and cons of ethnic neighborhoods such as the one surrounding 69th Street,” Eberle said. “Students come away from the experience not only knowing more about international food, but also about the neighborhoods surrounding Cabrini College.”
Originating in 2008, these trips started as a part of an immigration awareness campaign.
“As time went by, the conversation evolved and we started discussing immigration on a broader scale,” Eberle said.
The trips have since become more popular and because of that more variation has been added with the types of cuisine they choose to try. Eberle did not have enough nice things to say about the Cabrini in the Community trips.
“We saw these trips as a perfect opening opportunity for students to step out of their comfort zones and start to build relationships with the cultures around them,” Eberle said.
For more information please visit the Wolfington Center or contact Stephen Eberle at sae34@cabrini.edu
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Cabrini in the Community
• Tuesday, March 12: Scottish cuisine
• Monday, April 15: Vegetarian and vegan cuisine
• How to sign up: Visit Stephen Eberle in the Wolfington Center or email him at sae34@cabrini.edu
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