Photo Courtesy of Brian Bozzo
SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — A group of 11 Seton Hall University students traveled to Limerick, Ireland, from July 2 through 12, to serve as servant leader ambassadors under the guidance of Christopher Kaiser, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and built an international bond of caring between the university and Limerick.
On this second visit to Mary Immaculate College in Limerick, the Servant Leadership Experience enabled students the opportunity to develop leadership skills in their lives by serving others. The program has also traveled twice to the Alpha Boys School in Kingston, Jamaica, and the Lakota Sioux reservation in Pine Ridge, S.D.
The students who took part in the Limerick Servant Leadership Experience worked to develop and refine leadership skills and foster civic engagement. Activities were geared toward each student’s academic area of interest. Students assisted with a soup kitchen, met with Limerick Mayor Liam Galvin, worked with a local youth service organization, and worked with a local organization that empowers individuals with intellectual disabilities and autism.
“We want to continue to build servant leaders,” Kaiser said in a release. “It is our goal to help develop servant leaders with an ethical mission.” Kaiser explained that he is inspired by the university’s mission statement. “In a diverse and collaborative environment Seton Hall focuses on academic and ethical development. Seton Hall students are prepared to be leaders in their professional and community lives in a global society and are challenged by outstanding faculty, an evolving technologically advanced setting and values-centered curricula.” Kaiser wants to inspire a new generation of servant leaders. “It is all about putting the mission of Seton Hall University in action.”
The servant leaders were attracted to Limerick because it is the third-largest city in Ireland, and the poorest in the country. Of all cities in Ireland, Limerick has the highest suicide rate, homeless rate, most drug use recorded and most people on the dole, Ireland’s welfare system. “We asked ourselves why Limerick is suffering,” Kaiser said. “A servant leader is someone who recognizes the needs for the people and does the best to be a leader within that community.”
Teagan Sebba, political science major and president of the Student Government Association, worked in Moyross with the Franciscan friars in the area to run a summer camp for local youth. Moyross is a very poor neighborhood in Limerick with a history of drug dependence, violence and overall instability. When Sebba would drive to Moyross, she said that it was common for her to see houses intentionally burned down in hopes that the government would rebuild them.
“The kids that we looked after were some of the roughest I have ever dealt with, but their tough exterior was only to match their environment,” Sebba said in the release. “The hardest part, personally, was leaving after the week.”
After each day of service, the students would participate in a two-hour reflection on their experiences.
One of the most poignant experiences for Clayton Collier, a senior journalism major and WSOU 89.5 FM representative, was the opportunity to meet his Irish relatives for the first time. He traveled to the Northwestern area of Ireland in Galway and Mayo counties. “We stopped at their bed and breakfast pub, where we drew out a family tree on a piece of scrap paper to figure out how exactly we were related,” Collier said in the release. After a trip to their boathouse, they brought him to their 200-year-old farm where they looked at old family pictures and told him about the Irish side of his family.
Collier said students who met with the mayor of Limerick discussed plans for the city’s future. “It was fascinating to hear about their plans to revitalize the area and validating to hear specifically how our volunteer work would be benefiting the area.”
Each student left the experience with a new mindset, and hopes to visit Limerick again. “I’m truly grateful to Seton Hall, WSOU and particularly to Student Leadership Program for providing me with the opportunity to make this possible,” Collier said.
Kaiser stressed that authentic leaders learn it, live it, love it and then lead it. “You might not have all of the treasure in the world, but you have time and talent,” said Kaiser, who fully believes in each of his students’ abilities.
The 11 students who attended the trip are: social work student Shannon L. Beaton of Annandale; psychology student Alexandra C. Bock of Morristown; journalism student Collier of Belle Terre, N.Y.; occupations therapy and psychology student Leah M. Hafitz of Hamilton; social work student Isabella I. Hansen of Keyport; criminal justice student Jessica M. Lomonaco of Caldwell; physics and engineering student Tyler Lucas of Toms River; history and criminal justice student Michael J. McCarthy of Princeton; secondary education and English student Michelle A. McKenzie of West Orange; political science student Sebba of Fort Collins, Co.; and social work student Sierra Spriggs of East Orange.