Aren’t Bennies extraordinary, too?
This is the opinion of Olayinka Fadahunsi ‘23, Mayte Rodriguez ‘23, Lizeth Pineda ‘23, Arzinda Abedu-Bentsi ‘23, Janet Millz ‘23, Hazel Curcio ‘23, Sydney Richter ‘23, Hayley Jarocki ‘23, Mariah Zeinstra ‘23, Capri Potter ‘23, Claire Boettcher ‘23, Alexie Horner ‘23, Grace Jesch ‘23, Grace Nulty ‘23, Emma Muller ‘23, Julia Geller ‘23, Janessa Nelson ‘24, Tianyu Fu ‘26, Emme Anderson ‘23, Mariko Hermerding ‘23, Samantha Dietrick ‘24, Ashlee Vyskocil ‘23, Julia Krystofiak ‘23, Risa Iida ‘23, Hannah Lysne ‘23, Olivia Reid ‘23, Lily Aamodt ‘23, Rachel Decesare ‘23, Ally Frantzick ‘23, Bridget Werner ‘23, Abigail Thompson ‘23, Allie Dempsey ‘23, Stephanie Holmgren ‘23, Katie Brewer ‘23, Jackie Townsend ‘23, Kate Fenske ‘23, Nayeli Bucio ‘23 and Perrin Thompson ’23.
On Monday, Jan. 30, CSB+SJU students, faculty and staff all opened their Outlook to an email entitled “Call for Nominations—Extraordinary Service Award (for SJU students)”.
As the title of the email easily implies, CSB+SJU is compiling nominations for their prestigious Extraordinary Service Award. The award is gifted to three sophomore, junior or senior Johnnies each year that show “Personal commitment to service through Benedictine values, a significant investment of personal time or talent and personal commitment to service which promotes social justice through one or more of the seven principles of Catholic Social Teaching.”
Not only does the award gift Johnnies who have invested in the common good of the campus community with a financial gift, but it more importantly allows Johnnies to feel appreciated for the hard work they have put into creating a better campus climate during their time here. This leaves Bennies feeling one way…undervalued and overlooked. After spending four years involved in clubs, organizations, campus ministries, Senate, athletics, residential assistants, orientation leaders and peer mentors, only our Johnnie counterparts can be recognized for their work.
We do not need to tell you that Bennies are an active and crucial part of our campus community. Bennies are known for their commitment to on-campus leadership to the point where we have even coined our own term—the ever-famous “Busy Bennie.” On average, Bennies tend to show more active on-campus engagement by attending more events and being involved in more activities. Much of the work Bennies partake in is not by choice but by necessity. At a predominantly white Catholic institution, Bennies from intersectional identities must work to create spaces where they feel heard. They must be presidents of clubs, Senate and work for campus organizations to do this.
So, what message are we sending to our Bennies when we fail to allow them to have the same recognition as their Johnnie peers? We must ask ourselves as a school: Are we continuing to uphold sexist precedents that value male achievements over others? Our campus continues to uphold the message of being supportive of Bennie voices but at the same time fails to do just that. We understand that the funding for the specific “Extraordinary Service Award” comes from a donor. But it costs nothing for CSB+SJU to create an award without financial benefits to acknowledge Bennies.
It is time for CSB+SJU to reevaluate awards and recognition such as the “Extraordinary Service Award” and allow for Bennies to be nominated for their hard work just like their Johnnie counterparts. After all, do we want to have a campus where you are disqualified from awards simply based on the basis of sex?