fbpx
Students in field

Students to participate in social justice webinar with Jen Fry Talks on Jan. 19

January 15, 2021

Finlandia University students will begin difficult and necessary discussions on social and racial justice with the Jen Fry Talks virtual event on January 19 from 5:45-7:30 p.m. Social Justice Task Force members Nick Kwiek and Shane Voldarski talked with Finlandia Fridays host, Olivia Myers, this week about the upcoming Jen Fry Talks event and what they hope students will learn.

“We knew we needed an educational component to our campus anti-racist work. We decided to partner with Jen Fry Talks because she’s an educator and activist and she works with educational and athletic groups,” said Kwiek, who is also a Career Coach for TRIO Student Support Services. “She helps find racism in the structures of athletics and education and works to get rid of it. We wanted to incorporate that this year in our social justice work at FinnU and find the systemic racism that we participate in here unknowingly and root that out.” 

In December, Fry worked with FinnU employees using the same handbook students will utilize in their discussion. Due to COVID-19, the event will be hosted over Zoom, but Kwiek assures students that Fy is an engaging speaker who offers opportunities to speak with her directly and work in small groups.

For Voldarski, who is a criminal justice major from Ontonagon, Mich., they are excited about the opportunity to participate in this event, which is something they’ve never done before.

“With everything that’s going on, all schools could use this outreach to help those who aren’t sure what’s going on or how to react to anything that’s happening,” said Voldarski. “With Finlandia being such a small private school, it’s really important students get that extra help to understand the bigger picture.” 

Kwiek also assures listeners that this is only the beginning of the social justice work begin done at the university and more events are planned throughout the semester. Listen to the full episode below for more details about the upcoming event.

LINKS

FINLANDIA FRIDAYS EMAIL NEWSLETTER

Don’t miss a single episode by subscribing to the Finlandia Fridays e-mail newsletter! Be the first to find out about new episodes, and maybe see some exciting behind the scenes action.

Subscribe to Finlandia Fridays e-mail newsletter

STORY SUGGESTIONS

Have story suggestions or even would like to be on the show yourself? We’d love to have you!

Drop us a line at communications@finlandia.edu.

FINLANDIA PODCAST NETWORK

Thanks for checking out Finlandia Fridays, one of four podcasts in the Finlandia University Podcast Network. Finlandia Fridays is a weekly interview series talking about a wide range of Finlandia University topics. You can check out an archive at finlandia.edu/fridays. We also invite you to subscribe to the Finlandia Podcast Network wherever you get podcasts.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
FinnU will not enroll students for 2023-2024Learn More
+