I Dined and Discovered

Author: Beckie Scanlan

This school year, the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Greg Budzban, started a series called “Dine and Discover”. The first Thursday of every month he hosts a light lunch with a discussion on a topic in the Catholic faith. This past topic was “Thirsty?” where Greg would discuss Jesus’s encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well in the Gospel of John.

This past Thursday I finally had to opportunity to attend. There was a decent sized crowd – a really great amount for the deep conversations to come. I was one of two students among faculty members from diverse academic backgrounds. A range from the School of Engineering to Environmental Studies to Student Affairs.

First, we all chatted while we ate soup and salad. Then we took turns reading through the selected passage. Greg explained parts of it before opening up the discussion to allow us to talk about parts that stood out to us.

It was so neat to be involved in this conversation. Typically, while students are around faculty members, we feel they are higher up than us. But not here. Here, we were all on the same level.

It was so interesting hearing the insights from each person in that room. Due to the diversity, it brought forth some rich discussion I would not have the opportunity to have outside of this series.

Next month, March 7th, the topic is “Seeing is Believing,” discussing Jesus’s encounter with the man born blind. Finally, April 4th will be titled “Eternal Life?” and will look into Jesus’s encounter with Lazarus. Each is held at noon in the Morris University Center. If you have the time, it will definitely be worth it to check it out!