Hofstra Family Link: March 12, 2010 Housing Deposits and Applications Online Tashika’s Speech Hofstra for Haiti Late Fee for Outstanding Balances 61st Annual Shakespeare Festival Hofstra Siblings, Hofstra Pride Student Health 101: Parent Issue, March 2010 _____________________________________________________ Housing Deposits and Applications Online In the last Family Link, I explained the room selection process for 10‐11. As you know, $300 housing deposit is due by Thursday, March 18, 2010, 5 p.m., for students wishing to homestead their rooms, or April 9, 5 p.m., for students going through the lottery process. First, your student has to pay the $300 housing deposit, and then he or she can complete an online application. Please note that it could take up to 24 hrs for the system to recognize the deposit payment so students may not be able to immediately access the application if they had just submitted the deposit payment online. HOW YOUR STUDENT CAN PAY THE HOUSING DEPOSIT ONLINE Log into his or her portal at http://my.hofstra.edu From the Navigation menu on the left, choose 'Hofstra Online' Click on Hofstra Online Information Systems Click on the section header for the Student Payment Center 'STUDENT PAYMENT CENTER | MORE |' Click on the My Payment Center button A new browser will launch and a tab will appear. Choose the Deposits tab at the top. On the Deposit tab, select the Housing Deposit (Make sure the term is for next fall) Payment Amount ‐ $300 Select Payment Method and complete payment HOW YOU, PARENTS, CAN PAY THE HOUSING DEPOSIT ONLINE Go to http://my.hofstra.edu Click on E‐Bill button Click on Deposits tab on top Follow directions for housing deposit for fall 2010 HOW YOUR STUDENT SUBMITS THE HOUSING APPLICATION ONLINE Log into his or her portal http://my.hofstra.edu Click on Hofstra Online Tab Scroll down to the Residential Programs/MORE menu Click on Residential Programs Room Application If you have questions, please call Residential Programs at (516) 463‐6930. _____________________________________________________ Tashika’s Speech As promised, here is the speech given by Hofstra student Tashika Lordeus during the Black History Month Opening Reception. All of us in audience were immensely touched by it. My name is Tashika Lordeus, I am an athletic training major, the Vice president of the Hofstra Gospel Ensemble and a Resident Assistant in the graduate Residence Hall. I, one day hope to become an ear‐nose‐throat specialist. Hofstra Family Link 03/12/2010 Page 1 of 3 I am also a Haitian American, a proud daughter of two immigrants. Growing up, I have always straddled two worlds: one of being American‐born and the other of being of Haitian descent. Traditions that I practiced at home were not always appropriate for my school setting and vice versa. Honestly, I had real difficulties combining the two worlds that I was a part of. Comments like : “ Oh I didn’t know you were Haitian…you don’t look like one” OR “You’re a fake Haitian” didn’t help. How could I make having black rice and a hamburger on the same plate a cohesive meal? My older sister, who was born in Haiti, always utilized Black History Month as an opportunity to recognize that Black History branched beyond that of black people from America to include people of African descent everywhere, including the Haitian people. For instance: François‐Dominique Toussaint Louverture a man whose very name means ”the awakening of all saints" was a political and military leader of the Haitian Revolution. Louverture is comparable to Colin Powell, a man who also served his country in both the military and political realms. Jean‐
Jacques Dessalines was the first ruler of the free nation of Haiti, he was an earlier Haitian precursor to our own President Barack Obama. Or take for example, Emeline Michel is a captivating performer, versatile vocalist, accomplished dancer, songwriter and producer who can easily stand strong with such greats as Dorothy Dandridge or Josephine Baker. Edwidge Danticat is a Haitian‐born author who shares the same spirit of storytelling that is encompassed by others such as Zora Neale Hurston and Maya Angelou. As Marcus Garvey once said, The Black skin is not a badge of shame, but rather a glorious symbol of national greatness. I am not ashamed to share the same lips as those who sang spirituals that said “through hard trials, tribulations, persecutions, I am determined”, the same lips of Martin Luther King Jr. that spoke out: almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better. I’m not ashamed to share the same eyes as those who have seen a whole city under water due to broken levees or those who have seen hundreds of thousands of people March on Washington in the name of equality. I’m not ashamed to share the same hands as those who worked plantations fields day after day with nothing to show for it or the hands who pioneered heart surgery or the hands that wrote : “The night is beautiful, so the faces of my people. The stars are beautiful, so the eyes of my people. Beautiful, also is the sun. Beautiful, also, are the souls of my people.” I am not ashamed to share the same skin that welcomes the sun from Jamaica to Senegal, from Haiti to Somalia, from Brooklyn to Barbados. So in parting I have this to say: I am part of a resilient people. Regardless of the tragedies that fall upon us like gravity We stand firm like a tree with deep roots. We drink to life. Eat and be merry. We are more than our characteristics and facial features. Our exteriors may look hard but we are a gentle people In times of tragedy? We help each other like siblings With a "No man left behind" mentality. My soul lies tied to Haiti So when I'm dead and buried, my soul will travel great distances To the place where it had its origin. ____________________________________________ Hofstra for Haiti Students, staff and faculty have so far raised, through various events and fundraisers, over $11,000 for the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. President Rabinowitz promised to match that amount on Hofstra’s behalf. If you want to contribute, please call (516) 463‐4698. ___________________________________________ Late Fee for Outstanding Balances Please be advised that a $100 Late Payment Fee will be assessed on March 16, 2010 to all student accounts that have an outstanding balance. In addition to accruing a late payment fee, students who have an outstanding Spring 2010 balance will not be permitted to register for classes or secure housing for the upcoming Fall semester. Please advise your students to Hofstra Family Link 03/12/2010 Page 2 of 3 log in their portal accounts at www.My.Hofstra.edu to see if any changes have been made to their accounts since their last billing statement and to view their Spring 2010 balance. If your student has questions regarding the balance on his/her account, please be sure to contact the Student Financial Services at 516‐463‐8000 or at [email protected] __________________________________________ 61st Annual Shakespeare Festival A new imagining of Twelfth Night, set in post‐Civil War South, is the featured production of Hofstra University's 61st Annual Shakespeare Festival, March 11 to 21 at the John Cranford Adams Playhouse. Director Peter Sander, a professor of drama and dance at Hofstra, writes that he grappled with how to present Twelfth Night in a "way that was clear, challenging and maybe a little innovative." A blues number by Otis Taylor off the film soundtrack from Public Enemies, Orsino and Olivia's excessive romanticism and sentimentality, and references to Toby being a retired soldier were among the seeds that inspired a unique post Civil War setting. Show times are 8 p.m. on Thursday, March 11; Friday, March 12 and 19; and Saturday, March 13 and 20; and 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 14 and 21. Tickets are $12, $10 for senior citizens (over 65) or matriculated non‐Hofstra students with ID. Members of the Hofstra community may receive one free ticket upon presentation of a current HofstraCard. The tradition of the Hofstra Shakespeare Festival began with noted Shakespeare scholar John Cranford Adams, president of Hofstra from 1944 to 1964. The first Hofstra Shakespeare Festival, featuring Julius Caesar, opened on March 22, 1950. Professional actors were used in many of Hofstra's early Festivals, but the outstanding, available student talent soon made this not necessary. This is the fifth time Twelfth Night has been performed on the Hofstra stage, tying it with Romeo and Juliet for the most repeated Festival play at Hofstra. The main Shakespeare Festival play is always accompanied by a Festival Musicale and a companion play. This year the Hofstra Shakespeare Festival Musicale is "The Ideas of Mars," performed by the Hofstra Collegium Musicum, a student ensemble that presents concerts of early music, directed by Professor of Music William E. Hettrick. The companion play is a new one‐hour Julius Caesar titled The Ides of March, adapted by Hofstra Professor Maureen Connolly McFeely. This is the third year the Festival has featured a one‐hour adaptation of a Shakespearean play, designed to introduce young theatergoers to the works of the Bard. "The Ideas of Mars" and The Ides of March will be performed together at the John Cranford Adams Playhouse on March 13 and 20 at 2 p.m., plus there will be a special performance of The Ides of March on March 18 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10, $8 for senior citizens (over 65) or matriculated non‐Hofstra students with ID. Tickets for the March 18 performance of The Ides of March are $6. Members of the Hofstra community may receive one free ticket upon presentation of a current HofstraCard. For tickets and more information about any of the performances associated with the 61st Annual Shakespeare Festival, please call the Hofstra Box Office at (516) 463‐6644 or visit www.hofstra.edu/drama _______________________________________ Hofstra Siblings, Hofstra Pride Our Hofstra siblings came in record numbers to this year’s Siblings Day on February 20. We had 110 students and their siblings participate in the program. They attended a winning Men’s Basketball game, watched a movie, ate at late night breakfast, tie‐dyed t‐shirts, and attended a student talent show. Many of them said that they had a lot of fun! _______________________________________ Student Health 101: Parent Issue, March 2010 http://readsh101.com/hofstra‐pp.html ______________________________________ Best wishes, Branka Kristic Director, Parent and Family Programs, Hofstra University ______________________________________________________________________________________________ If you want to unsubscribe from parent e‐mail list, please reply to this e‐mail ([email protected]) and write UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject field. Hofstra Family Link 03/12/2010 Page 3 of 3