It is hard to believe but there are just four weeks to go until the start of classes! We hope you are as excited as we are for fall 2020!
A colleague recently texted me “laughter is the best medicine.” For me, that remark conjures a youth in which I flipped through “Reader’s Digest” magazines looking for jokes. (Yes, I know even the idea of a magazine dates me.) The phrase is a bromide, I know, and yet, it made me stop. Those five words called me to think about the place of humor—good humor—in our lives. Whether carried by memes or jokes, in Fall Fest or the daily absurdities of our lives, in my view, humor is as necessary to what Salem is as is change. Silly socks, elephant jokes, and flying pig pins are part of my Salem. And, that is so not merely because in certain roles we are at risk of taking ourselves too seriously.
Sigmund Freud’s dullest book, “Jokes and their Relation to the Unconscious,” reminds us that humor says a lot about who we are—either overtly or unconsciously. Peter Berger, a sociologist of religion whose work I have loved for years, points us in another direction: toward the fragile, occasional, redemptive power of laughter. In his view, when we laugh wholeheartedly, we glimpse something more, something potentially transcendent.
So, seriously, as we live fully in this world and in the Salem of today and tomorrow, let us ground our Salem in the solemn requirement of laughter.
Susan Henking
Interim President
This week, we are highlighting our Office of Student Activities, Leadership, and Intercultural Education, which supports and challenges Salem College students to make a positive contribution to their community through shared experiences. It also encourages students to acquire leadership experience as a socially active community member. For more information visit salem.edu/student-activities.
The Activities, Leadership, and Intercultural (ALI) office is excited to introduce two new members to our team. Celeste Banaag is a graduate of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, with a degree in Business Administration. As an undergraduate student, Celeste was heavily involved in the Asian and Pacific Islander Peer Mentor Program and also served as co-director of mentors for the Lakas Program. She is joining Salem College as the Multicultural Leadership Graduate Assistant, and will advise the Salem College Diversity Educators, and also provide ongoing support for multicultural and intercultural clubs and organizations at Salem.
We are also pleased to welcome Alex Prusator, who is a graduate of Davidson College with a degree in English Language and Literature. In her time at Davidson, Alex was a Leadership Fellow. She also served on the leadership team of Davidson’s campus activities board. Alex will be serving Salem College as the Student Center Leadership Graduate Assistant, working closely with the Salem Student Center staff, and supporting Salem’s Campus Activities Board. Both Celeste and Alex are pursuing master’s degrees in Student Affairs in Higher Education at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Alan Mueller
Assistant Dean of Students for Student Activities, Leadership, and Intercultural Education
