Campus minister
at Salve Regina University keeps busy across campus
By
Melissa Silver
A minister,
a professor, a student and a friend -- all these pronouns fit the
description of one man. Meet Jose Del Val, one of two campus ministers
at Salve Regina University in
Newport, R.I.
Del Val came
to the United States from Argentina in 1996 with a "broad set of
goals most centering on teaching." While in Argentina he attended
St. Mary's College and obtained a bachelor's degree in humanities
and master's degrees in philosophy and theology.
Before arriving
at Salve, Del Val worked at the St.
Elizabeth School in Bristol, R.I., teaching music and Portuguese.
At the same time he taught at the Upper
Cape Cod Regional Technical School in Bourne, Mass. In 2003,
Del Val became a part of the Salve community, where he is studying
for his master's degree in holistic
counseling so that he can obtain a license in mental health.
He takes two to three classes a semester.
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Jose
Del Val
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Besides being
a student, Del Val is fluent in Spanish, English and Portuguese
and can read well in French, Italian, Latin and Greek.
As a campus
minister Del Val is involved with many projects. He is currently
working on four different events. One of the events he is helping
to organize is the alternative spring break offered by Salve every
year. It is a service and justice oriented project called the Christian
Appalachian Project, and Salve is one of the sponsors.
The program
consists of college students flying to Kentucky and Camden, N.J.,
where they will provide housing to less fortunate people by building
the houses or helping to repair them.
The students
have participated in various fund-raisers to earn money for their
airfare and other expenses. Students from colleges and universities
across the United States participate in this project, coordinating
with each school's spring break in March. Nine undergraduates, accompanied
by Del Val, will be going to Kentucky from Salve. Eight undergraduates
will be going to New Jersey.
Maria Jones,
an Administration of Justice major at Salve, will be attending the
alternative spring break for the first time. "I am very excited
to go because I have never been to Kentucky, am eager to learn much
about the Appalachian culture, and to help make a difference in
other's lives who are not as fortunate," Jones says.
Remembrance
is another event that Del Val is working on. This event is new to
Salve and was created to honor and celebrate the senior class and
its achievements throughout their four years.
Remembrance
will take place in Ochre Court on May 8, at the beginning of "Senior
Week," when senior students will celebrate their graduation through
a variety of events.
According
to Del Val there are two parts to the Remembrance project, one of
which will be prayer-oriented. The prayer will be about the experience
and growth of the senior class. "It is important for seniors to
celebrate not just with parties, but invite them to reflect on what
these years have been for them," Del Val says. A prayer for the
victims of Sept. 11 will be included in the program, as the seniors
were in their first month as freshmen when the terrorist attacks
occurred.
The second
part of the event will be talking about growth, and five or six
seniors have been invited to share their experiences of the past
four years at Salve.
Del Val also
is involved in a project called Outreach, which reaches out to youth.
"The spirit of the project is to create an atmosphere where youth
can be invited to Salve to get to know our campus but also to interact
with our students," Del Val says.
Lastly, Del
Val is involved in coordinating a group of 36 students who takes
turns being lectors, which involves reading parts of the Bible during
Sunday Mass. Del Val and the students come together before the Mass
and reflect on the readings. They try to extract one or two values
from the readings and think about how to apply those on campus.
While these
events take up a great deal of time in Del Val's life, he still
manages to find time to coordinate a Bible study for faculty and
staff. One of his greatest experiences at Salve, he says, is interacting
with the faculty and staff, which led to invitations to their lectures
in class. Del Val says he has attended classes in the English department,
as well as social work, sociology, philosophy, religious studies,
biology and chemistry.
Del Val leaves
an important message about being part of the Campus Ministry: "Ministry
is not something you can put on a piece of paper. There are ministries
all the time, like ministry takes place in the halls, streets and
the way you approach people."
