A Message from Kesha Williams, Director of Parent and Family Relations
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Dear Blue Jay Families,
I write with bittersweet news: After 4 ½ years at Johns Hopkins, I will be leaving the university at the end of March.
I have thoroughly enjoyed meeting, working, and assisting you and your students as they experience their journey through Hopkins. We have been through so much together, particularly as we pushed through the pandemic. I know at times it was painful, but I so appreciate and respect the commitment, passion, and support that you have shown for your students.
I want to also acknowledge all the kindness extended to me by our families. The compliments, cards, and words of encouragement have meant so much and kept me going at a very challenging time.
Thank you for allowing me to be a part of this very special Blue Jay family; I will forever have fond memories of my time at Johns Hopkins. I wish you and your students all the best moving forward.
In my absence, please reach out to Emily Calderone at bluejayfamilies@jhu.edu or 410-516-9912 for assistance.
Kind Regards,
Kesha Williams Director of Parent and Family Relations
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Blue Jay Family Ambassador Q&A with Priya Vijay
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The Blue Jay Family Ambassador Program provides parents and families of Hopkins students the opportunity to volunteer their time to help with campus events and outreach activities, both in the Baltimore area and in their home communities. Additionally, many Ambassadors serve as contacts for other families who have questions about the Blue Jay Family experience. Participating in the program is a great way to connect with the university and build relationships with fellow Blue Jay Families.
We spoke with Priya Vijay, mother of Subhasri Vijay WSE '25, about her service as an Ambassador and how she's stayed in touch with the Hopkins community from her home in Dubai.
Tell us about your family and your students.
My student is currently a freshman studying Computer Science. She’s very approachable, maintains a great attitude with her schoolmates, and she’s very willing to come out of her shell to approach professors whenever she has difficulties with her studies. She is also very artistic and makes beautiful flower punch crafts and artistic pieces.
Our family is so proud to be a Blue Jay family. We have no doubt that Johns Hopkins is a prestigious research institution and I’m so happy that my student gets to be here. We try to provide her as much understanding and moral support as we can, especially now that she’s far away. We call each other almost every day, sometimes even a couple of times a day, and she tells me about the little things like cooking and classes. It really makes a difference.
Why did you decide to join the Blue Jay Family Ambassador Program?
The Blue Jay Family Ambassador Program is a great platform for me to share my experience, especially as an international Blue Jay parent. It provides me with a great opportunity to help other parents. I know how difficult it is for parents to send their kids away from home, so I want to boost and encourage them and create a sense of community. It helps me feel supported as well!
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Resources to Support Student Well-Being
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Student Health and Well-Being offers resources across eight facets of well-being: emotional and mental, physical, social, sexual, spiritual, environmental, financial, and professional. Students can select from a single offering of a program or service, a series where they can refine their skills over time or identify self-directed opportunities that they can engage with when their schedule permits. Here are just some of the resources that are currently available:
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- Chat with a Counselor is an online drop-in service mental health service that offers informal, confidential, and one-on-one visits for students to meet with a Johns Hopkins University Counseling Center staff member. If your student has questions about mental health, wants to get strategies for managing stress/academics/life, or wants to find resources that fit their needs and identities, encourage them to come chat with us!
- The O’Connor Center for Recreation and Well-Being hosts over 50 Group Fitness classes every week. Our Group Fitness classes are accessible to students at any fitness or ability level. From a fully-equipped F45 studio to stress-relieving yoga classes, there is something for everyone.
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Reopening of the Hopkins Food Pantry
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This February, our Office of Student Outreach and Support opened the Hopkins Food Pantry, an on-campus resource for those in the Hopkins community who may be facing food insecurity. Begun as a student-run enterprise, the food pantry now has the partnership of the Maryland Food Bank and a new location in The LaB, which can be found on the ground floor of Homewood Apartments at 3003 N. Charles Street.
To access the pantry, Hopkins affiliates can fill out an application through SOS (shopper anonymity is respected).
The JHU Food Pantry is open Mondays from 8 a.m.–3 p.m. and Tuesdays from 3–8 p.m., and the shelves will be stocked with new items on the first Friday of every month.
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Student Involvement Fair Wrap-Up
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On February 4, the Office of Leadership, Engagement, and Experiential Development held their biannual Student Involvement Fair, the first time the event has been held in person since the spring of 2020. The fair was an opportunity for both new and returning students, undergraduate and graduate, to interact, meet, and mingle with over 200 registered student organizations and university departments.
Building on the success of the online format of the last two years’ Student Involvement Fairs, this year a Virtual Fair was held from January 10–February 4, giving students a chance to identify the organizations that most interested them before attending the in-person event. All in all, the fair was a resounding success, drawing approximately 1,000 students!
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Class of 2022 Commencement Corner
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- Family and friends of the Class of 2022 are encouraged to submit photos and videos to be featured in the Commencement ceremony. Details are available on the content submission page.
- Our Family & Friends page has links to frequently asked questions, hotels offering discounted rates, details on event accessibility, parking and transportation information, and suggestions to help you commemorate your graduate’s moment.
- The Commencement Undergraduate Checklist contains information on ordering graduation-related items, including class rings, graduation announcements, senior portraits, and academic regalia.
- Graduates will receive an email in early March to record their name and RSVP for the ceremony. Providing a name recording ensures correct pronunciation of their name as they cross the stage.
- Make sure your graduate marks their calendars to purchase their cap and gown during Grad Fair April 7–9 at Johns Hopkins Barnes and Noble Bookstore.
- The university-wide Commencement ceremony will be Sunday, May 22 at 6:30 p.m. at Homewood Field on Johns Hopkins Homewood campus. In the event of inclement weather, the ceremony will be postponed to Monday, May 23 at 9 a.m. See the schedule of events for additional Commencement-related events.
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March 21–25 — Spring Break
May 2–6 — Reading days
May 9–17 — Final exam period
May 22 — University Commencement
October 14–16 — Family Weekend
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Upcoming Webinars
The next session in the Blue Jay Family Webinar series is A Conversation with the Deans and Disability Services on March 9 at 7 p.m. EST. Attendees will meet our administrators, learn more about academic support resources, and discuss how students and their families can work with the Office of Academic Advising and Student Disability Services to ensure equitable access to education and opportunities in and out of the classroom.
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Dean of Student Development Andrew Wilson departing JHU
Andrew Wilson, who joined Johns Hopkins as dean of student development in 2015, has been named associate vice president for student success at Loyola University Chicago. His last day at Johns Hopkins will be April 1. Read more at the Hub.
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Summer Financial Aid Application Process: Virtual Lunch & Learn
If your student is interested in applying for summer financial aid, or would like to learn more about the changes, available funding, and the summer aid process, encourage them to join Student Financial Services for a brief Virtual Lunch and Learn Event on Monday, March 14, from 1–2 p.m. (EST). Online registration is now open for this session.
Please note the summer aid application will become available in early March 2022; funding will be limited on a first-come-first-serve basis.
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Upcoming Events Supported by the Hopkins Parents Fund
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HopArt Presents Dear Evan Hansen and Postmodern Jukebox
The HopArt program takes a small group of students to a local arts performance, followed by dinner with a Hopkins faculty member. The program, which is generously funded by the Hopkins Parents Fund, allows students and faculty to interact in a social setting, while also showcasing the best of Baltimore’s vibrant arts scene.
This March, students can attend a performance of the Tony Award-winning musical Dear Evan Hansen or see Postmodern Jukebox perform jazzy, 1920s-style versions of familiar pop hits at the Hippodrome Theater. Students can learn more and enter the ticket lottery on the HopArt website.
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Foreign Affairs Symposium 2022
The Foreign Affairs Symposium’s 25th speaker series, titled “Shattered Reality: Reimagining the Future”, highlights the diplomats, journalists, activists, leaders in international organizations, government officials, and public health experts fighting to rebuild from the crises that have forever changed the reality that we live in. Be it human rights violations, economic recession, the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban, gender violence, climate change, or the COVID-19 pandemic, each speaker is committed to pushing forward positive change with courage, perseverance, and ambition.
The next speaker will be Dexter Filkins, an award-winning combat journalist and correspondent, on Thursday, March 10, followed by civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen on Thursday, March 17.
Students can learn more and RSVP to attend by visiting the FAS page in HopkinsGroups.
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(T) 410-516-7355
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