The Rollins Report

As a Rollins College senior and resident of Winter Park, it’s hard not to notice the symbiotic relationship between the Winter Park community and the school itself. The ‘college quarter,’ extending from the west side of campus, means Rollins students living off-campus typically share at least a sidewalk, if not more, with Winter Park residents. Park Avenue, the heart of downtown Winter Park, runs directly into our campus. Naturally, boundary lines tend to blur.

These factors have inspired a partnership between The Observer and Rollins’ weekly student newspaper, The Sandspur, culminating in this monthly column. As editor-in-chief of The Sandspur, I work to ensure students are informed about the goings-on of Rollins; it only makes sense to do the same for members of the larger community that houses us.

Maintaining this awareness includes presenting information about events, particularly as Rollins has recently acted as a venue for well-known figures such as Jane Goodall and President Barack Obama, providing rare and unique experiences to those in attendance.

The Sandspur focuses not only on reporting news and happenings around campus, but also on providing an outlet for students to voice opinions and interact with one another. As a student publication, we welcome a wide variety of ideas and understand the importance of sustaining discourse and maintaining relationships within a community.

That said, residents of Winter Park should have every opportunity to engage with members of Rollins on a regular basis, and vice versa. This column seeks to facilitate those opportunities by informing readers of The Observer about the many Rollins events that are open to the public and free of charge.

Halloween Howl

Halloween Howl, a safe, daytime Halloween celebration, will be Saturday, Oct. 27, on Mills Lawn from 2 to 5 p.m.

First Friday at the Cornell

The Cornell Fine Arts Museum, located on campus, hosts various events throughout the year that should be taken advantage of by students and community members alike. Among these is First Friday at the Cornell, providing later hours and free admission on Nov. 2, from 4 to 8 p.m. The museum will also be welcoming Dr. Ena Heller’s lecture, “Reading the Bible Aesthetically,” on Nov. 8, from 7 to 7:30 p.m.

Honorable Melanne Verveer

The Honorable Melanne Verveer, the United States’ first Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues, will discuss her part in the advancement of roles of women in economic and political processes around the world through integration into foreign policy, as well as the larger issue as a whole in “The Smart Thing to Do: Advancing Women and Girls around the World,” at Knowles Memorial Chapel on Monday, Oct. 29, at 7 p.m.

Martin Luther King III

Also taking place at Knowles Memorial Chapel, as part of the Winter Park Institute, Martin Luther King III will speak about his humanitarian work and equality in “Continuing the Legacy: The Civil Rights Struggles of the 21st Century,” on Nov. 15, from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.

I look forward to seeing readers of The Observer at Rollins events in the future. More information is available at thesandspur.org and rollins.edu, and I can be reached at [email protected]

Hana Saker is the editor of The Sandspur – Florida’s oldest college newspaper – and a senior at Rollins College.