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The McKelvy House Scholars invite the campus to join them in a dinner discussion of “Public Perception of Homelessness” and lunch with the homeless Tuesday.
Dinner will begin 5:15 p.m. at McKelvy House, 200 High Street. Marquis Scholar Richard Lear ’06 (Stroudsburg, Pa.), a double major in French and government & law, and Kaydence Cowley ’07 (Littleton, Col.), a mechanical engineering major, will lead the discussion at 6:30 p.m. Homemade soups, bread, and ice cream cone cupcakes will be served.
As a precursor to the talk, the campus community is welcome to join the scholars on a trip to the Safe Harbor Easton shelter and have lunch with the homeless. The group will meet 12:20 p.m. in front of Farinon and walk down to the shelter.
The students observed at previous discussions that some McKelvy-ites speak as if they are distant from the impoverished life, so for their discussion they want to focus on this experience. Cowley says she has befriended homeless people in Denver and would like to dispel misconceptions about them and their situation.
Lear and Cowley ask students to think about the last time they passed by a homeless person asking for money on the street:
Did you give them money?
Were you afraid it would be spent on alcohol and drug addictions? Or did you consider that they might be providing for a family or trying to save to get a job or an apartment or even some nicer clothes to try to get a job?
Are they really homeless, or are they just using a cheap trick to get your money the easy way? Would their time be better spent looking for a job rather than sitting on a corner asking for money?
Or perhaps they suffer from mental illness or another tragic problem (for example, there are a large number of war veterans who are homeless due to various problems related to their experiences) preventing them from having a stable lifestyle?
How do other countries deal with this problem of homelessness, if it is indeed a problem? Is there a better or worse way for America to handle this issue? For example, do our shelter systems work to adequately support our homeless population and help to get people off the streets?
Links to suggested readings for this topic and more information about the McKelvy House Scholars program, as well as downtown Easton businesses, are available on the group’s blog web site.
Since 1962, the McKelvy House Scholars program has brought together Lafayette students with a wide range of majors and interests to reside in a historic off-campus house and share in intellectual and social activities. Weekly Sunday and occasional Wednesday dinner discussions that engage the students in debate and exchange of ideas are the hallmark of the program. Most members also contribute to the annual McKelvy Papers, written on a topic of each person’s choice. McKelvy Scholars participate in activities together such as field trips to plays, concerts, and exhibits, and sponsor events for the campus as well.
Previous discussions:
March 5 – Fashion as Expression of Identity
Feb.19 – Social Darwinism
Feb.12 – Stereotypes
Feb. 5 – Reading as a Virtue
Jan. 29 — Sexuality
Nov. 20 — Value of Performing Arts
Nov. 13 – Blogging
Nov. 9 – Neoconservatism
Oct. 30 – Christian Right
Oct. 26 – Social Groups
Oct. 23 – The Shape of Things
Oct. 19 – Women in Creating and Sustaining Peace
Oct. 16 – “Slow Food” Movement
Oct. 12 – Hugo Chavez
Oct. 9 – Molecular Nanotechnology
Oct. 5 – Folk Music as Vehicle for Social Change
Sept. 25 – Freedom and Other Remembrance Issues
Sept. 20 – The Powerful Thrust of Language on Civic Arousal
Sept. 14 – Apathy
Sept. 11 – Why Do We Care about One Another?