By LAURA BORRELLI
Web Editor
ABIGAIL GUENTHER
Contributing Writer
For many, Reach Out Saint Rose is a tradition, an annual opportunity to spread love in the community alongside their Saint Rose family. 22 busses had departed from the campus off to different locations in the surrounding communities. Proud students flooded the streets of Albany with little more than work gloves, bleary eyes, and willing attitudes.
Students at The College of Saint Rose filled the gymnasium by 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 7. Sounds of excitement rumbled with undercurrents of black and gold as students moved in waves, safe in clusters of clubs, dorms, and athletic teams.
“Reach Out Saint Rose is an opportunity to better the community,” said Conor Walsh, a Saint Rose senior. Walsh has participated in Reach Out Saint Rose every year since he was a freshman, and had served as a group leader in his junior year. This year he participated with the Student Association, but his most significant Reach Out experience was two years ago.
“I got to play with some little kids, and I was the only white male there. There was a little girl who was very angry that I was there, but also a little boy who wouldn’t leave my side,” said Walsh. “I got a new perspective seeing two sides, one boy who was not afraid of racial boundaries and generally very happy, and a little girl who was the product of a very unfortunate situation.”
Due to his experiences from Reach Out, he was able to become more aware and grow from an unfamiliar situation. “Reach Out is worth it because we grow, and learn more about our communities,” said Walsh.
Walsh’s appreciation of the leadership experience is echoed by several members of this year’s leadership team, with senior Elizabeth Tornatore affirming Conor’s love of building community inside the Saint Rose halls as well.
“I really value building community,” said Tornatore. “Reach Out Saint Rose is one of those unique opportunities to ‘force’ my girls to spend a lot of time together. It’s tough because they all have different schedules, but it’s a chance to get to know them all better. That’s what I love about Reach Out Saint Rose.”
This is Tornatore’s second year as a resident assistant and as a Reach Out leader.
“Last year I went with my Lima girls to a YMCA and we just all bonded so much,” said Tornatore. “It’s a special opportunity to get a lot closer, laughing and having a good time.”
This year, Tornatore took a group to the Underground Railroad History Project, returning after serving there in her freshman year as well, to clean up a lot of the outside of the historical buildings.
“It’s just really cool that there’s so much history right here,” said Tornatore. “I didn’t even know it before I came [for the first time].”
This Underground Railroad History Project was just one of the 22 throughout the Capital District visited by Saint Rose students, and is a perfect candidate for collaboration with Saint Rose students and their message.
“We’ve been working with Saint Rose for at least ten years,” said Mary Liz Stewart, the Co-Founder of the Underground Railroad History Project. “We run on consistent volunteers, [and] it’s very important for us to behave in ways that contribute to being part of the community, not just being a historic site in a neighborhood.”
Stewart speaks about the impact that an organization such as the Underground Railroad has on a community. “We try to do more than think about us in our [limited] world here; it’s about us in our world here in the community, in the state, in the nation,” said Stewart. “[Our story] is an international one – we have to have an international focus.”
For Saint Rose students, this couldn’t be more of a call to action. To “encourage the Saint Rose community’s energetic involvement and effective leadership in society” is at the heart of the Saint Rose mission.
Reach Out 2019 was the second Reach Out for Saint Rose sophomore Megan Frederick. She had participated with her floor when she lived in Lima, and after her first experience working together with her fellow students she was thrilled for the opportunity to participate again this year. “I was really surprised the turnout was low,” said Frederick, “People don’t take advantage of the volunteering opportunities Saint Rose has to offer and miss out on personal growth.”
