Events & Resources

Social Work in the News
(From The Pennsylvania Social Worker Volume 23, #1)  

Christopher Garnett, Social Work Major, Bloomsburg University

I am an Afro-American student at Bloomsburg University who received the chance to be a part of something that has changed the lives of the students at Bloomsburg. I performed in the play "Untitled," a play written, directed, and performed by Bloomsburg students. It dealt with hate, prejudice, racism, and discrimination. Being a social work major, I feel privileged to be part of something that is actually implementing change in a community. Instead of just saying stop the hate, we are doing something about it and it makes me really feel like I am fighting against the wrongs in our society. I am honored to be a member of  "Untitled" and hope to continue to promote change in those people who are willing to listen and accept it.

Gregory Carl Xavier Hedler, social work major, Bloomsburg University

As a child, I was tortured on the playground and ridiculed by my classmates. While attending college, I learned of physical abuse, and a new level of verbal and mental rape from peers. I write today, not as a victim, because I do not seek sympathy, but rather I write as an awakened advocate. These barbaric, unspeakable truths are what influence and provoke me to promote change. The incidents of my life and the sheer pain they transpire are the moral fibers that influence me to call for justice and civil rights. Currently, I am attending Bloomsburg University, where T will graduate with a bachelor's degree in social work, a minor in sociology, and a concentration in working with family. children, and youth.
The last two years of my life have been focused on "Untitled," a play that I have been writing. The show is a compilation of my own experiences and encompasses issues concerning racism, homophobia, societal standards of physical appearance, gender role stereotypes and violence. This show has given me the chance to reclaim my life from those individuals who attempted to steal it away through their discrimination. It is in writing this play that I have chosen to use the pain of being a victim and the ignorance displayed by others to initiate and advocate change. This allows me the ability to give the audience an insight to all the different sides of hate. "Untitled" discloses the knowledge that no one is safe and each one of us, at some point in our life, will fall into role concerning discrimination, whether that role is of the victim, the perpetrator, the "go-along" with the knowledge that discrimination does not discriminate. Any of us can fall victim to it next, unless we initiate change.

Social Work Club:

    Under the policy of the University, as well as the Department, students have the right to organize in their own interests.  The Bloomsburg University Joint Statement on Rights, Freedoms and Responsibilities of Students, Article IV, A, provides the policy for official recognition of student organizations on campus.

    The Social Work Club is an officially recognized student organization, which was initiated in 1991.  Membership is open to any interested student.  The Club has its own constitution, policy for the election of officers, and establishes its own committees and meeting schedule.  It is the main channel through which students participate in the affairs of the Department.  Club members are elected as student representatives to meetings of the Department, ad hoc search and screen, and career day committees.  The organization and members have been active in supporting area human service agencies and presenting guest speakers on various social work topics.

 

Phi Alpha Honor Society:

    In 1960, undergraduate social work students at Michigan State University became interested in a national social work honor society and discovered other schools that had their own social work honor societies.  With these schools, they created Phi Alpha, a national social work honor society.  In 1995, social work students formed a chapter at Bloomsburg University.  The honor society functions as a way to recognize those students in the major who have achieved academic excellence and holds an annual banquet to induct and recognize new members.

    Below you will find the criteria for membership as well as the national purpose of Phi Alpha.  Each year the social work faculty reviews student records to assess qualification.  Qualified students are then notified and invited to join.  National dues are $8.00 and give the student a lifetime membership to Phi Alpha. 

Purpose:  “Through Knowledge – the challenge to serve”

     The purposes of Phi Alpha Honor Society are to provide a closer bond among students of social work and promote humanitarian goals and ideals.  Phi Alpha fosters high standards of education for social workers and invites into membership those who have attained excellence in scholarship and achievement in social work.  (From national pamphlet)

Criteria:

1.      Junior status (65+ credits)

2.      Eighteen (18) credits completed from required social work courses which include:

a.     Intro. to Social Work and Welfare

b.     Introductory Practice Experience

c.     Racial and Ethnic Minorities

d.     Life Span Psychology

e.     Research Methods

f.     Basic Social Statistics

g.     Integrative Methods

h.     Social Welfare Policy

i.     Individual and Families

j.     Small Groups

k.        Communities and Organization

l.     Social Work Internship

3.      Overall GPA of 3.0

4.      Social Work GPA (in above courses) of 3.25

 

Other Opportunities for Student Involvement:

    Students are involved in program policy through their impact into the program’s policy formulation and change.  This takes place through individuals or groups of students who offer recommendations on present policy or proposed policy changes as they pertain to student affairs.  Student representatives are invited to attend Social Work faculty meetings with the exception of meetings held for the purpose of student performance review.  Students also attend informal “teas” with faculty to discuss issues and concerns.  Additional student rights include evaluating present agencies used for internship placement and the pre-professional introductory practice experience, and recommending other agencies for future use in this capacity. 

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