The Bentley Buzz is a biweekly update to share news and stories about the faculty and staff who make Bentley special. It is compiled by Kevin Wong, associate director of internal communications. To share your news or an idea for a story, please email buzz@bentley.edu.
January 16, 2020
Holiday Care Packages for Military Service Members
There’s no shortage of activities happening on campus between Thanksgiving and the holiday break. From the push to enter final grades to finishing up year-end projects, those few weeks can be a blur. In one office though, that stretch has long been a time to help Bentley give back. Since 2011, Assistant Dean for Academic Services/Director for Academic Support Services Leslie Doolittle and Senior Academic Advisor Amy Weber have been helping students to organize an annual Holiday Care Package Drive for military service members who are close to a member of the Bentley community.
“A student named Jessica Bahr started the initiative on campus almost 10 years ago, and we’ve been happy to make sure the tradition lives on each year,” said Leslie. Each November, Leslie and Amy work with a student in the Academic Services Peer Tutoring Program to collect goods, cash donations and small reminders of home to ship to service members around the world during the holiday season. This year, led by student coordinator Austin Sargent ’21, the drive put together a record 38 care packages from donations collected by over 75 students and 50 faculty and staff. Included in each package was a personalized note for the service member wishing them a happy holiday and letting them know who on campus submitted their name.
Thanks to Leslie and Amy’s efforts year after year, the Bentley community is reminded about the importance of giving back and is able to help brighten a few service members’ holiday seasons – no matter where in the world they may be.
Your Teacher? That's My Mother!
With over 1,100 faculty and staff members on campus, there’s a good chance you might at some point run into someone with a mutual friend from a past life. But when Director of the Cronin Office of International Education Natalie Schlegel took part in a two-day managers’ workshop on campus, she met someone with whom she had a much closer tie. During the workshop, participants wrote a timeline of impactful moments in their lives. Natalie noted a time in high school when she was persuaded by one of her teachers, Mrs. Siegel, to attend a week-long program in Washington, D.C. where students experienced the American political system and how citizen participation is critical to democracy. It turns out, another person at Natalie’s table at the workshop also had a connection to Mrs. Siegel – her daughter Rebecca, who now works as Bentley's director of brand marketing and creative services.
Though Natalie had occasionally interacted with Rebecca, it wasn’t until the workshop that they learned they were from small neighboring towns in western Massachusetts and had met while in high school through mutual friends. Natalie credits Rebecca’s mother with inspiring her to enter the D.C. program, which gave her a better understanding of politics and showed her the importance of civic engagement, both of which she continues to draw upon at Bentley. “It was a transformative experience as a 10th grader to immerse yourself in Washington politics,” said Natalie. “Meeting senators, going to hearings and discussing politics with peers from far away states really taught me the importance of civic engagement at a young age. I wouldn’t have entered that program if it weren’t for Rebecca’s mother.”
So You Think You Know Bentley? Introducing Bentley Trivia!
Campus has changed a lot since Bentley first moved to Waltham in 1968. One of the first buildings to be completed and opened for student use was the library. However, as seen in this archive photo below, the library is missing its iconic clock tower. In which year was the famed clock tower added? Click the button below to submit your guess. All correct answers will be entered into a raffle for a $10 Amazon gift card!
Take a guess
