The stress is high the week before finals. Clark students are studying, writing papers, completing projects, and wrapping up spring quarter. Many students are even finishing a rigorous degree program and preparing for commencement next week. No wonder students are feeling the stress!
Clark’s Activities Programming Board (APB) came to the rescue with Spring Fest, lunchtime fun activities on June 12 and 13. Students, faculty, and staff gathered near Anderson Fountain and the grass near the Chime Tower for fun activities and games—all for free. Some even brought their children to join in on the fun.
Students enjoyed:
Mini golf
Carnival games
Volleyball
Inflatable slides and obstacle courses
Giant Jenga and Connect Four
Airbrushed temporary tattoos
Balloon animals
Therapy llamas Beni and Panda for a fun photo opp
Free burritos and ice cream treats
And more
Students interested in joining Clark’s Activities Programming Board (APB) learn more here.
Photos: Clark College/Susan Parrish and Carly Rae Zent
Clark College students were recognized for their outstanding achievements during the annual OSWALD Awards on May 30 in Gaiser Student Center. These students were selected because they are Outstanding Students With Academic Leadership and Development Skills (OSWALD).
Clark College President Dr. Karin Edwards welcomed the students and their families. She told the students who will graduate in three weeks: “I’m incredibly excited for you. Don’t let anyone minimize your accomplishment. Congratulations!”
To all the award winners she said, “I want you to know how happy I am for you. Know that you are always a part of Clark College. You can wear your Penguin proudly.”
More than 100 awards were bestowed on Clark students in these categories: Academic Award, Outstanding Student Employee Award, Outstanding Student in a Department Award, Outstanding Student in an ASCC Club Award, and Outstanding Student in an ASCC Program Award.
The Penguin Award
Running Start student and ASCC Vice President Elizabeth Swift receives the 2024 Penguin Award from Dr. Edwards.
The final award was the Penguin Award, awarded annually to a student who has demonstrated outstanding leadership and service to the Clark College community. This award is based on the student’s performance in the following areas: academics, leadership, community, and college service. A committee of staff and students reviews nominations and selects the student for this award.
Penguin Award Nominees
Stephanie Crocker
Melina Doan
Ziyad El Amrani
Sienna Hahn
Emily Subroto
Penguin Award Winner
Elizabeth Swift, ASCC Vice President
Academic Award
Jasmina Camacena, Communication Studies
Pamela Crawford, Communication Studies
Dorji Damdul, Communication Studies
Joshua DeWees, Communication Studies
Tysson Dykes, Communication Studies
Sidney Exum, Communication Studies
Vella Hongel, Communication Studies
Avery LeCocq, Communication Studies
Carolina Lovato, Communication Studies
Emma Mady, Communication Studies
Ian McCuen, Communication Studies
Cassandra McDaniel, Communication Studies
Natalie Perdun, Communication Studies
Angeline Stefanyuk, Communication Studies
Kimberly Troncoso, Communication Studies
Elliott Vazquez, Communication Studies
Spencer Venable, Communication Studies
Kristina Zubrovych, Communication Studies
Cameron Steiger, Communication Studies/College 101
Mieta Branch, Early Childhood Education
Vanessa Herrera, Early Childhood Education
Vash Martinez, Early Childhood Education
Brenden Prothe, Physics
Paige Cook, Sociology
Joshua DeWees with his supporters at the photo booth.
Outstanding Student Employee Award
Anna Bondar, Child and Family Studies
Olena Bondar, Child and Family Studies
Mia Caggianese, Child and Family Studies
Grace Chen, Child and Family Studies
Jozi Eller, Child and Family Studies
Cindy Ildefonzo, Child and Family Studies
Kristen Jensen-Minkler, Child and Family Studies
Aspen Mallory, Child and Family Studies
Uliana Rudoi-Kostyshyn, Child and Family Studies
Ami Teramura, Child and Family Studies
Naomi Lauser, Environmental Health & Safety Dept.
Cassandra Williams, Environmental Health & Safety Dept.
Jessie Donehey, Library
Paden Geddings, Library
Preston Hagan, Library
Daniel Diego Hernandez, Multicultural Student Affairs Peer Mentors
Spring Welcome Week kicked off on Monday, April 8. Students returning to campus for spring term were greeted by blossoming trees and flowers—and a plethora of Clark staff members volunteering at information tables inside buildings around campus. Helpful volunteers answered students’ questions, offered directions, provided campus maps and more. These information tables were successful in helping students feel welcomed by the many staff and faculty who volunteered to help Clark students.
Warmer, dry weather invited students to gather outside to sit on benches or walk the paths around campus, and particularly to view and take photos of the blooming cherry trees. Inside Gaiser Hall, students congregated in their favorite gathering spots to catch up with friends and classmates.
Student Involvement Fair
Gaiser Student Center bustled with activity as students, staff, and faculty gathered for Clark’s Spring Term Involvement Fair on April 10. Students stopped at the tables that filled the hall to ask questions and to learn more about the college’s support services, student clubs, and programs.
Clark College wants to ensure students know about and can access wrap-around services, including Penguin Pantry, Disability Support Services, Counseling and Health Center, and more. The Student Involvement Fair, which is held during the first week of every quarter, is an excellent way for students—particularly new students—to learn more about these programs, services, and opportunities. Standing at the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion table, Rosalba Pitkin offered flyers and information about the Students of Color Luncheon, Noche de Familia, and other upcoming events. At the Counseling and Health Center table, students could learn about free health and counseling services and the center’s new sensory room, which has been popular among students.
At Clark’s ASCC student government table, student leaders answered students’ questions and shared information about getting involved with student government. Students stopped by the Activities Programming Board table to learn about upcoming opportunities to connect with fellow students—including making a Swiftie-themed bracelet, crafts, movies, free pizza and ice cream sundaes.
Students connected with peers with shared interests by stopping at many student club tables where club members talked about practicing speaking in Spanish to creating comics to bingeing on Korean K-dramas and more. At the Columbia Writers Series table, Professor Dawn Knopf chatted about the upcoming event with author Andrew Leland on April 26. At the Spanish Club table, students learned about opportunities to practice speaking in Spanish and participate in activities to immerse themselves in Hispanic culture. At the Clark Aerospace Club table student Ethan Walters showed off the club’s new rocket, dubbed “Emperor Penguin” and talked about their April 27 test flight in Brothers, Oregon.
Students also connected with representatives from various useful community resources. Volunteers from Clark County Food Bank offered flyers with food pantries and housing resources around the county. At the League of Women Voters of Clark County table, volunteers assisted students to register to vote. At the Clark County Volunteer Lawyers Program table, students who need legal assistance could find help.
Eight financial institutions participated in the event: Bank of America, Columbia Credit Union, IQ Credit Union, Key Bank, OnPoint Community Credit Union, Rivermark Community Credit Union, Umpqua Bank and US Bank.
In addition to helpful information and connections, the event also provided opportunities for students to pick up useful items at no cost. At the Activities Programming Board table students Hannah Colwell, Austun Fuerstenberg and Austin Newton offered reusable bags filled with travel-size toothpaste, shampoo and more.
They had placed many other free items on another table. Pointing to an electric air pump to inflate an air mattress, Hannah Cowell said the goal is to provide useful items that students can use and that might not be in their budget. Almost immediately, the air pump was snapped up by a student.
All around Gaiser Student Center, Clark students were making connections, learning about opportunities and receiving free items that will make their lives easier. Another Involvement Fair that lived up to its name.
Welcome Week kicked off on Monday, January 8 with the first day of winter term and for the first back-to-school day of 2024. A popular feature of Welcome Week is the staffing of information tables set inside buildings all around campus with helpful volunteer staff answering students’ questions, helping them find their classes, and offering campus maps. The tabling to assist students would not be possible without so many staff and faculty volunteering their time to help Clark students.
Just as in fall term, parking lots were crowded as thousands of students returned to classrooms and labs across the main campus, at the Clark College Building at Washington State University Vancouver, and Clark’s Columbia Tech Center after winter break.
Unlike the beginning of fall term, when the weather invited students outside, students gathered indoors to greet friends and catch up before dashing off to their next class.
Student Involvement Fair
Later in the first week, Gaiser Hall’s Student Center bustled with activity as students, staff, and faculty gathered for Clark’s Winter Beach Party Involvement & Financial Wellness Fair in the Gaiser Hall Student Center on January 11. Students stopped at the tables that filled the hall to ask questions and to learn more about the college’s support services, student clubs, and programs.
Clark College wants to ensure students know about and can access wrap-around services, including Penguin Pantry, Disability Support Services, Counseling and Health Center, and more. The Student Involvement Fair, which is held during the first week of every quarter, is an excellent way for students—particularly new students—to learn more about these programs, services, and opportunities.
Students had the opportunity to learn more about the college’s student clubs, programs, on-campus jobs, and college and community resources. Students also connected with peers with shared interests—from learning Spanish to building a rocket to drawing comics, and more.
To promote a fun atmosphere, students lined up for free fruit smoothies and snow cones.
At Clark’s ASCC student government table, student leaders answered students’ questions and shared information about getting involved with student government. Read about ASCC here.
Students stopped by the Activities Programming Board table to learn about upcoming opportunities to connect with fellow students—including Bingo, movies, trivia games, free pizza, and more. Read about APB here.
At the Spanish Club table, students learned about opportunities to participate in field trips to learn more about the Spanish language as well as immersing themselves in Hispanic culture.
At the Model United Nations Club table, students learned about the opportunities to participate in mock UN representations and delegations.
At the Columbia Writers Series table, students learned about the literary series and an upcoming opportunity to meet Anis Mojgani, the poet laureate of Oregon, on February 13. Learn more about CWS here.
Students and graduates who have had their work published in The Iceberg, the art department’s annual student comics anthology, offered copies of the 2023 Iceberg as well as several past issues. They encouraged artists and writers to submit their work for the 2024 Iceberg. The deadline is May 1 for the 2023 Iceberg comics anthology that will be distributed in October.
At the Korean Culture Club table, students saw traditional clothing and learned what the club offers: K-Pop, K-Dramas, Korean food, history, and more. The club kicked off the year with a dance event. Next, club members are organizing a Lunar New Year celebration in February.
Several students crowded around the Clark Aerospace Club table to chat with aerospace club students to learn more about opportunities to help build a rocket. Behind them, their “Little Penguin” rocket they designed and built last academic year reached toward the sky. Over the summer, some of the students competed in the world’s largest intercollegiate rocket competition in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
An increasing number of students have been requesting food assistance from the Penguin Pantry. But many students are not aware of a plethora of other food pantries offering food assistance. Students stopped by the Clark County Food Bank table to talk with volunteers who provided a comprehensive list of free food pantries available throughout Clark County.
A student thanked the food bank volunteer, accepted the printed list of food resources, and tucked it into his backpack.
Photos: Clark College/Susan Parrish
Model UN team earns honors
Clark’s Model UN Team: Lanie Smith, Professor Joseph Cavalli, Model UN program director, Tammy Pham, Kathryn Johnston, Kaden Bartley, Casey Figone and David Goebel
Clark College’s Model United Nations team earned honors at the 72nd session of Model United Nationals of the Far West, A Force for Good: Global Health and Development for a Sustainable Future from April 21-25 at Whittier College in Burlingame, California. Clark competed against 29 other colleges, most of them four-year institutions. See a list of all participating colleges and their assignments here.
Model UN activities were on hiatus during the COVID pandemic.
“It’s been three long agonizing years since the last Model UN Far West,” said Professor Joseph Cavalli, Model UN program director at Clark. “I am ecstatic to report that your Clark College MUN team won honors this this year, picking up where we left off in 2019. This year, in a highly competitive field, Clark College represented Malta and Vietnam.”
Topics included promoting the safe use of nuclear technology in the eradication of marine microplastics, protecting civilians—especially those with disabilities—in combat zones, and human rights and unilateral coercive measures such as sanctions.
Model United Nations is a simulation program in which hundreds of thousands of students worldwide participate in model sessions of the United Nations to advance their understanding of the principles and means by which international relations are maintained.
Clark’s student delegates recognized
“Special kudos go student delegates Kathryn Johnston, Lanie Smith, and Casey Figone,” said Professor Cavalli. “All three received the Mike McBride Outstanding Resolution Certificate Third Committee for their position paper on UCMs (unilateral coercive measures).”
Additionally, Kathryn Johnston and Lanie Smith were selected to chair committees at the MUNFW conference in 2024.
Professor Cavalli added, “Lanie was asked to chair one of the most challenging committees in the MUN universe, the Security Council. This is a big, big deal. Chairing a committee at MUNFW has always been the exclusive purview of the elite California universities as well as Arizona State and University of Arizona respectively. Keep in mind 95% of the student delegates competing are political science and prelaw majors.”
He added that on Clark’s Model UN Team, “Lanie, Kathryn, and Casey are physics, engineering, and computer science majors respectively. It is nice to see STEM mix it up with the liberal arts.”
In February, Clark’s Model UN team attended the NW Model UN Conference in Portland, its first in-person conference since the pandemic. Clark’s team represented Japan, Kenya, and Latvia. Topics included sustainable mountain development, Human Rights Council periodic reviews of Haiti, Japan and Israel as well as nonproliferation regarding the situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Two of Clark’s Model UN team members had been chosen to serve as leaders for the Portland conference. Casey Figone was Assistant Secretary-General of Conference Services. Lani Smith was Director of the Security Council, a much coveted position.
Spring 2023 Welcome Week: Involvement & Financial Wellness Fair
Activities Programming Board events coordinator, Angela Ponce Romero stands at the International Club booth. Student Life chooses a new theme every quarter, and this time they chose the game of Monopoly.
Gaiser Hall’s Student Center bustled with activity as students, staff, and faculty gathered for Clark’s Spring Term Involvement & Financial Wellness Fair in the Gaiser Hall Student Center on April 5. Students had the opportunity to learn more about the college’s support services, student clubs and programs.
Clark College President Dr. Karin Edwards and Vice President of Student Affairs Dr. Michele Cruse (pictured above) made the rounds to chat with attendees. Students met peers with shared interests—from building a drone to drawing comics to International Club to swing dancing and much more. Students could learn about budgeting and financial resources at booths staffed by employees representing Columbia Credit Union, IQ Credit Union, Key Bank, and US Bank.
Fun activities included a photobooth and free smoothies from Pacific Perks Coffee. At the photobooth, Dr. Edwards and Dr. Cruse donned colorful boas, hats, and oversized glasses and posed for the camera.
Photos: Clark College/Susan Parrish
Everyone’s Involved
Phi Theta Kappa advisor Melissa Sinclair, far right in yellow shirt, gives students information about the program.
Gaiser Student Center was bustling with activity on October 2 as students attended the college’s first-ever Involvement Fair. In previous years, the college has hosted a quarterly Student Club Fair, but this year the event expanded to include tables for not just clubs, but also departments and programs like Financial Aid, CollegeFish.org, and the Bookstore.
“We wanted to expand on the engagement opportunities we were highlighting for students,” explained Director of Student Life Sarah Gruhler.
Brandon Nimmo
Clark student Brandon Nimmo was manning a table representing the college’s Penguin Help Desk, a free service staffed by Computer Support Specialist students that provides computer assistance and repair to students, faculty, and anyone in the community. Nimmo said he’d received a lot of visitors at his table interested in the Help Desk’s services–though, he added, they might have to wait a bit to access them. “We have a lot of computers there waiting to be fixed right now,” he said. “We stay very busy.”
Nimmo wasn’t interested in signing up for any clubs himself. “I honestly don’t have time,” he said. The Air Force veteran is currently juggling working 30-to-40 hours per week at the Veterans Administration with a full-time class load and helping to care for his daughter, 2, and stepdaughter, 13.
Chess fans get a game in at the Chess Club table.
This is the challenge facing many Clark students–they’re too busy balancing jobs and family and homework to participate in extracurricular activities. But, Gruhler said, it can be helpful to their long-term success if they do.
“In Student Life we emphasize out-of-class learning opportunities,” she said. “Clubs are a great way for students to pursue their interests and try new things while gaining experience, learning new skills and connecting with other students. Future schools and employers are not just interested in your degree, but in all the other experiences that set students apart as individuals. Clubs help students connect, network and ultimately provide support to help them achieve their goals.”
Saudi Students Club members Majed Alhumaidani and Ahmed Biladi share dates and culture with their fellow students.
For first-year student Ahmed Biladi, a student club is also a way to promote understanding about his culture. Biladi, 18, is one of a growing number of Clark international students from Saudi Arabia–in fact, fall 2013 marks the first quarter that Saudi Arabia is the most common country of origin for Clark international students, the result of new partnerships between Clark College International Programs and educational organizations in the Middle East including the Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission.
When Biladi first came to the United States, he encountered some disheartening preconceptions about his homeland. “Some of the most bizarre questions I’ve gotten have been: ‘Do you guys still ride camels? Is the country covered in sand? Do you still live in tents?'” he said with a laugh. “There’s a lot of misinformation about Saudis, so we decided to start a club to share our culture with the Clark community.”
The newly formed Saudi Students Club hopes to combat myths and promote understanding between American and Saudi cultures. “There’s an ignorance of culture on both ends that leads to a lack of communication,” Biladi said, offering a plate of imported dates to passersby.
According to the Office of Student Life, more than 400 people attended the Involvement Fair.
A total of 59 clubs, programs, services, and departments had tables at the Involvement Fair, which was attended by more than 400 people.
