Manchester University’s Office of Alumni Relations will host four virtual events in January. Photos provided by Manchester University.

Press Release

NORTH MANCHESTER — Manchester University’s Office of Alumni Relations will host four virtual events during the month of January, showcasing alumni and student stories.

All events will be held at 7 p.m. on Microsoft Teams. Links will be sent via email after registration.

Wednesday, Jan. 8: Connie Snyder Mick, ’94, Ph.D

Mick directs the Poverty Studies Interdisciplinary Minor at the University of Notre Dame and serves as the Director of Academic Affairs for its Institute for Social Concerns. Her teaching and writing explore causes, consequences, and effective responses to all dimensions of poverty, including economic, spiritual, and social exclusion.

Her talk will connect her Church of the Brethren background with Catholic Social Teaching in the work to abolish poverty, which she practices in traditional classrooms, in the community, and in prisons. Register here.

Tuesday, Jan. 14: Rachel Kurtz Gross, ’74

When Gross graduated from Manchester College, she wasn’t sure what her majors in psychology and peace studies would lead to. It turned out to be the Death Row Support Project, which she founded and then led from 1978 to 2023.

Now her daughter, Heidi Gross, ’02, is supporting the project, which provides pen pals for people under sentence of death in the U.S. Rachel and Heidi will talk about the project’s goals and what they’ve learned from some of the thousands of people who have participated. Register here.

Tuesday, Jan. 21: Dean Heather Twomey, ’96, and Gilbert College of Business students

Twomey and Gilbert College of Business students will share about their January session experiences traveling to Italy, Switzerland, and Paris, where they learned about international business practices. They will share their goals going into the course, what they learned about the business practices in Europe, and how they compare to the practices in the U.S. They will also discuss their experiences with new cultures in the three European countries. Register here. 

Tuesday, Jan. 28: Members of Manchester’s Model UN Organization

The goals of the Model UN are to provide students the skills and opportunities to represent a country delegation in a simulation of a United Nations Security Council meeting and try to shape the current international system through decision-making and consensus-building.

Manchester’s Model UN group recently participated in the Indiana Consortium for International Programs Model UN Security Council conference at IU Kokomo, where four Manchester delegates were selected by their peers (80 students from five universities) to receive awards for their performance. Register here.