04/10/2026
On Tuesday, we continued to celebrate National Graduate Student Appreciation Week. The College of Engineering saw a packed house for its "standing room only" event, "A Trek in Geoenvironmental Engineering at the Interface of Academia and Industry." The featured speaker was the distinguished Dr. Craig Benson, a global authority with over 40 years of experience in environmental research and waste management. While his technical expertise is vast, his primary message to the students was deeply human:
"Build positive interactive relationships with people to help shape a clean and safe world that we envision for the next generation."
Simultaneously, the College of Education held a thought-provoking virtual session titled "The 5th Loop: Value of Perceptual Differences in Educational Systems," led by the renowned Dr. Erin Lynch.
Dr. Lynch’s presentation focused on the necessity of diverse perspectives in driving systemic change. She challenged participants to:
Integrate every voice to influence final outcomes.
Analyze experiences through the lens of different social groups.
Practice empathy by stepping outside of one’s own perspective to shift how we view the world.
The Bottom Line: As Dr. Lynch perfectly summarized, "Inclusion is the start, but integration and perspective are the goals."
