The Student Leadership, Involvement and Community Engagement office (SLiCE) is now accepting applications for the 21st annual Campus Step Up: a social justice retreat. The retreat will take place on Jan. 15 and go through Jan. 17 at the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park.
Campus Step Up is a retreat focused on cultural diversity and cross-cultural communication. The retreat offers participants an environment to consider topics such as education, social justice, multiculturalism and global issues. During the two and a half day experience, CSU community members lead discussions and activities aimed at self-reflection within communities.
Niamh O’Shea, graduate coordinator for co-curricular leadership at SLiCE, coordinated and implemented last year’s retreat.
“Our goal is for students to come away with a better sense of how they can contribute to making the change they want to see,” O’Shea said.
According to O’Shea, student participants return to Colorado State after the retreat with a better sense of self-awareness and more initiative on campus within student organizations and among their classmates.
Alex Canfield, a junior social work major, has attended the retreat twice.
“It helped me have a better understanding and self-awareness of the way I interact at CSU and the rest of the world,” Canfield said.
Brady Stump, a sophomore mechanical engineering major and the student recruitment coordinator for SLiCE, has never been on the retreat but thinks that Campus Step Up is an important event for students to attend.
“In the growing world we live in, it is becoming increasingly important to have a mindset focused on globalization and cooperation, and Campus Step Up champions those ideals,” Stump said.
Funding for the retreat is covered by student fees, and transportation, food and lodging are covered for the participants accepted into the program. The application for new and returning participants is due Nov. 5 by 5 p.m.
Collegian Reporter Zara DeGroot can be reached at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @Zaradegroot.
