Briar Cliff University Media Announcement

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – Briar Cliff University students and staff recently returned from spring break mission trips to poverty stricken areas of the U.S. and Central America.

BCU’s seventh annual mission trip to Morton, Miss., was led by Sister Shirley Fineran, OSF, assistant professor of social work at Briar Cliff. Joining Sister Shirley were BCU students Kielan Dittmar, Gretna, Neb.; Tierra Hodges, Sioux City; Katie Hunt, Alton, Iowa; Nicole Kollasch, Swea City, Iowa; Richard Miller II, Chicago, Ill.; Sherin Parambaloth, Chicago, Ill.; Jeremy Schindler, Hinton, Iowa; and Nancy Tatou, Sioux City.

While in Morton, the team tutored high school students, worked at an adult day care center and assisted with EXCEL, an elementary after-school tutoring program, which is staffed and directed by the Sisters of Saint Francis of Dubuque, Iowa. The mission group also participated in sessions on poverty, immigration and the effects of prejudice and racism. En route to Mississippi, they toured the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tenn., where they learned about the impacts of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.

“Briar Cliff students used their competence and endurance in preparing high school students for the Mississippi state senior exam, which is a very difficult and important test,” said Sister Shirley. “It was my privilege to be with the students as they shared their talents and spirit with the people of Morton, Miss.”

Another Briar Cliff mission group recently returned from Santa Rosa, Honduras, after completing the BCU’s sixth annual water project in the Central American country. Located two hours from Tegucigalpa, the capitol of Honduras, Santa Rosa has a population of 250.

On the mission trip to Honduras were BCU students Samantha Bock, Allen, Neb., Michaela Carew, Fargo, N.D.; James Coffin, Rapid City, S.D.; Lauren Laferla, Omaha, Neb.; Monica Mondragon, Sioux City; Sarah Olberding, Carroll, IA; Morgan Sullivan, Jackson, Neb.; Isaac Tubbesing, Bern, KS, Danny Zach, Columbus, Neb. Traveling with the students were Sister Janet May, OSF, BCU director of Campus Ministry; Gil Ridenour, BCU associate campus minister and instructor of theology; 2006 BCU alum Sarah Wolf, Des Moines, Iowa, and her father, Ralph Wolf, Mason City, Iowa; Kenneth Tubbesing; Isaac Tubbesing’s father, Bern, Kan.; Emily Spain-Lavender of San Francisco University, San Francisco, Calif.; and guide Frank Seivert of Elkton, S.D.

The BCU mission team dug trenches and installed pipelines to transport clean water to the village of Santa Rosa. The Briar Cliff community; the Sisters of Saint Francis of Dubuque and Mission Honduras Le Mars helped fund the cost of supplies for the water project. While in Santa Rosa, the mission team also distributed clothing and other necessities to the townspeople.

“The students on the Mississippi and Honduras mission trips learned so much from the people and about the importance of relationships amidst poverty,” said Sister Janet. “It is a transforming experience for all of us.”

Enrollment at Briar Cliff University is over 1,100 students from 28 states. Students are educated in the Franciscan tradition of excellence in the liberal arts and career preparation in an environment of care, compassion and openness to all. For more information, please visit www.briarcliff.edu.