Saint Michael's College

Men's Ice Hockey vs Southern New Hampshire
2026-01-16 19:00 - 22:00, 2026-01-17 15:00 - 18:00 (America/New_York)
Men’s Ice Hockey vs Southern New Hampshire South Burlington, VT

Women's Ice Hockey vs Saint Anselm
2026-01-16 19:20 - 22:20, 2026-01-17 15:20 - 18:20
Women’s Ice Hockey vs Saint Anselm South Burlington, VT

Nebraska Notch Snowshoe Hike
2026-01-17 08:00 - 15:00 | Adventure Sports Center, VT
Enjoy an easier day hike through a beautiful valley on the edge of Mt. Mansfield. No prior hiking experience needed.
Included in all of our programs:

An inclusive, supportive environment for experiencing and learning.
State-of-the-sport instruction from student-instructors and working professionals.
Top-of-the-line technical equipment and outdoor clothing.
Opportunities to challenge yourself.

Sugarbush Van
2026-01-17 08:45 - 16:00 | Adventure Sports Center, VT
Get a free ride to Sugarbush. Pre-registration at the Adventure Sports Cetner is requested. With insufficient signup (less than 5) programs will be cancelled on the Friday morning before the trip.

Alpine Skiing Colby Carnival
2026-01-17 09:00 - 12:00
Alpine Skiing Colby Carnival Carrabassett Valley, ME / Sugarloaf Mountain

Men's Swimming & Diving at Assumption
2026-01-17 13:00 - 16:00
Men’s Swimming & Diving at Assumption Worcester, MA

Women's Swimming & Diving at Assumption
2026-01-17 13:00 - 16:00
Women’s Swimming & Diving at Assumption Worcester, MA

Women's Basketball at Pace
2026-01-17 13:30 - 16:30
Women’s Basketball at Pace Pleasantville, NY

Men's Basketball at Pace
2026-01-17 15:30 - 18:30
Men’s Basketball at Pace Pleasantville, NY

Ice Climbing with the Adventure Sports Center
2026-01-18 07:00 - 17:00 | Adventure Sports Center, VT
Take a trip to beautiful Smugglers Notch and experience this incredible sport. We’ll start with lower angle terrain and transition to more difficult climbs as your skills and comfort level builds.
On any trip you’ll get:

An inclusive, supportive environment for experiencing and learning.
State-of-the-sport instruction from student-instructors and working professionals.
Top-of-the-line technical equipment and outdoor clothing.
Opportunities to challenge yourself.

Our World House: Social Justice Tabling
2026-01-19 08:30 - 11:20 | Dion Family Student Center
Our World House: Social Justice Tabling with Students and Projects from Local High School Groups (Colchester, Essex, Rock Point, South Burlington, and Winooski)

MLK Convocation Welcoming Remarks
2026-01-19 09:00 - 09:35 | Roy Room, Dion Family Student Center
Welcoming Remarks with Fr. Michael Carter, SSE; Vernita Weller, Senior Success Advisor & Parent Liaison; Tide Gully ’27, President of Diversity Coalition; Dr. Richard Plumb, SMC President; Dr. Gretchen Galbraith, Provost.

From Chaos to Community: Growing the Vision, Skill, and Courage to Care for Our Common Home
2026-01-19 09:45 - 10:50 | Roy Room, Dion Family Student Center
From Chaos to Community: Growing the Vision, Skill, and Courage to Care for Our Common Home with Kristyn Achilich, M.S., M.Ed., Senior Instructor of Education and Director, Leahy Institute for the Environment
Drawing from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s call to choose “community over chaos” in The World House and Pope Francis’s invitation in Laudato Si’ to care for our common home, this talk explores how interdependence can become our greatest strength. This presentation invites us to move beyond fear and fragmentation toward collective action—developing the vision, skills, and courage to live together justly and sustainably in a world that demands both. Through the work of the Patrick & Marcelle Leahy Institute for the Environment, Achilich models how vision can become practice, inviting us all to explore and embrace our shared interdependence.

Home Improvement: Building a House for All People in an Environment That Can Sustain All Life
2026-01-19 11:00 - 11:50 | Roy Room, Dion Family Student Center
Home Improvement: Building a House for All People in an Environment That Can Sustain All Life with Fr. David Theroux, SSE, Vice President, Edmundite Mission
Dr. King’s image of a “world house” addresses the need to live with each other in nonviolence so that all may thrive, a world in which the rich care for the poor and the common good of all is valued above the good of the individual or tribe alone, as opposed to warring with each other such that mutual annihilation takes place. Pope Francis imagines the common good of all and the thriving of all peoples in terms of an environment that can sustain humanity, providing for humanity a home in which all can live with equal access to the world’s goods. However, care for the environment is what will provide for all humanity a common home where all can thrive. For Pope Francis, how we care for the environment demonstrates our care for all people, rich and poor alike.

The World House Community Mural with Creative Commons Art Club
2026-01-19 11:30 - 13:30 | Lobby, Alliot Student Center
All are welcome to contribute to this year’s celebratory mural and help paint the foundational layers of our World House ecosystem.

MLK Convocation Musical Celebration
2026-01-19 12:15 - 13:20 | Green Mountain Dining Room, Alliot Student Center
Musical Celebration with the Saint Michael’s Gospel Choir directed by Vernita Weller, M.A.T., M.A.R., Senior Success Advisor & Parent Liaison and the Vermont Freedom & Unity Chorus directed by Maria Rinaldi ’00, Web Support Specialist
In a world filled with division and hate, Vermont’s Freedom & Unity Chorus brings people together through the power of music to spread the message of unity, hope, and harmony. This chorus with a social conscience takes its message out into the community to perform songs representing the ongoing struggle for racial, social, economic, and environmental justice. From soulful ballads to powerful anthems, they sing to ignite change and inspire audiences to make the world a more welcoming place to be.

I Am Vermont Too Photo Booth
2026-01-19 13:00 - 16:00 | First Floor Lounge, Dion Family Student Center
I Am Vermont Too photo booth with Sha’an Mouliert, M.Ed., Coordinator & Photographer of the I Am Vermont Too photo-story exhibit

MLK Day Creative Space
2026-01-19 13:00 - 17:00 | Creative Design Studio, Saint Michael's College Dion Student Center
MLK Day Creative Space – Button making, shirts, laser cutting, and more.

From Chaos to Community: Reclaiming the World House in a Divided Age
2026-01-19 13:30 - 14:20 | Roy Room, Dion Family Student Center
From Chaos to Community: Reclaiming the World House in a Divided Age with Stephon Boatwright, PhD, Assistant Professor, Political Science & International Relations.
Dr. Boatwright’s talk will explore Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision of the World House as a moral response to the crises of interdependence in an age of renewed nationalism and populism. King foresaw that humanity’s greatest challenge would not be technological but ethical: learning to live together within a shared global home. Today, as the rhetoric of division grows louder, his warning feels prophetic. The talk examines how King’s call for cooperation transcends borders and ideologies, urging the creation of systems of belonging that replace exclusion with justice. Drawing connections between King’s “triple evils” of racism, materialism, and militarism and the global inequities of our time, Dr. Boatwright highlights how fellowship, not nationalism, remains the foundation for humanity’s common future.

“How a House Becomes a Home”: Bringing Community Into Classroom Teaching and Learning Experiences
2026-01-19 14:30 - 15:20 | Roy Room, Dion Family Student Center
“How a House Becomes a Home”: Bringing Community Into Classroom Teaching and Learning Experiences with Jolivette Anderson-Douoning, PhD, Director, Institute for Equity & Justice and Hip-hop and Afrobeat artist Edwin Owusu, M.A., Lecturer and Speech & Debate Coach at University of Vermont
Dr. Anderson-Douoning and Mr. Owusu discuss their process for working together across institutions (SMC and UVM) to offer students engagement across disciplines using public speaking, debate, and culture education learning labs. Bringing the lived experience into the classroom provides students with opportunities to study history and make history while still in college.

Planting New Seeds: the Journey of the Black Farmer from Sharecropping to Black Farmer Prosperity
2026-01-19 15:30 - 16:20 | Roy Room, Dion Family Student Center
Planting New Seeds: the Journey of the Black Farmer from Sharecropping to Black Farmer Prosperity with Dale Bell, Associate Programs Director, Comprehensive Community Development, Edmundite Missions
This presentation traces the transformation of Black farmers from the era of sharecropping – where many worked land they did not own under exploitative conditions – to the modern pursuit of land ownership, agricultural independence, and economic stability. Grounded in the teachings of Dr. King and the work of the Edmundite Missions, it examines the challenges Black farmers have historically faced, including limited access to resources, discriminatory lending practices, and generational barriers to ownership. Despite these obstacles, the narrative emphasizes the resilience, skill, and determination of Black agricultural communities as they reclaim their agricultural legacy. New initiatives, including impact grants, heirs property workshops, entrepreneurship training and community programs, are helping to support and empower Black farmers by expanding access to equipment, education, capital, and land. Through these efforts, Black farmers are planting new seeds of opportunity – transforming historical hardship into modern prosperity and building a stronger, more equitable future in agriculture.

MLK Beloved Community Reception
2026-01-19 16:30 - 17:00 | Archway Lounge, Dion Family Student Center
MLK Beloved Community Reception celebrating local BIPoC-owned caterers

MLK Convocation Keynote: Tuning in to Our Communities: Improving Our Collective Sensibilities of Humility, Care and Relationality
2026-01-19 17:00 - 18:30 | Roy Room, Dion Family Student Center
Tuning in to Our Communities: Improving Our Collective Sensibilities of Humility, Care and Relationality with Bindu Panikkar, PhD, Associate Professor, Rubenstein School of Environment & Natural Resources, University of Vermont
How do we strengthen our relational capabilities centered in care, humility, and collective wellbeing? The word humility comes from the Latin root—humus, earth, soil, ground. Humility means being grounded, being of the earth, it means an awareness of our place within a larger world. Practicing humility requires recognizing our limitations, acknowledging our interdependence, and valuing the contributions and knowledge of others. It is also the willingness to be changed through relational encounters. Humility in relations grounds us, allowing care, attentiveness and reciprocity to circulate, and serves as a powerful antidote to domination, extraction, and hierarchy.
In this talk, Dr. Panikkar makes the case that tuning in to our communities requires understanding what divides us and what erodes our collective capabilities of care, relationality, and humility. To guard against the theft of relationality, we must adopt attunement of care, listening, repair, reciprocity, and attentiveness as practice to rebuild our relational capacities necessary for collective wellbeing in a fractured world.

Master of Arts in Teaching Open House
2026-01-20 16:00 - 18:15 | Farrell Room, Saint Edmund’s Hall
Learn how to earn your master’s degree and teaching license or additional endorsement in one year through St. Mike’s Master of Arts in Teaching program. With an excellent reputation and job placement rate, competitive pricing, an inclusive and supportive learning community, evening classes, and the option to spread the program over multiple years, the MAT will support you in meeting your professional goals. This event includes opportunities to meet current faculty and students and attend a graduate education class.

Community & Networking Event: Dale Bell and the Journey of the Black Farmer from Sharecropping to Black Farmer Prosperity
2026-01-20 17:30 - 19:00 | Pomerleau Alumni Center
Dale Bell is the Associate Programs Director for Comprehensive Community Development at Edmundite Missions in Selma, Alabama. He invites the Vermont farming and food community to gather to build connections and support the Black Farmer Initiative in Rural Alabama.
Dale will speak on “Planting New Seeds: the Journey of the Black Farmer from Sharecropping to Black Farmer Prosperity.”
This presentation traces the transformation of Black farmers from the era of sharecropping – where many worked land they did not own under exploitative conditions – to the modern pursuit of land ownership, agricultural independence, and economic stability. Grounded in the teachings of Dr. King and the work of the Edmundite Missions, it examines the challenges Black farmers have historically faced, including limited access to resources, discriminatory lending practices, and generational barriers to ownership. Despite these obstacles, the narrative emphasizes the resilience, skill, and determination of Black agricultural communities as they reclaim their agricultural legacy. New initiatives, including impact grants, heirs property workshops, entrepreneurship training and community programs, are helping to support and empower Black farmers by expanding access to equipment, education, capital, and land. Through these efforts, Black farmers are planting new seeds of opportunity – transforming historical hardship into modern prosperity and building a stronger, more equitable future in agriculture.

The Farm at SMC: Food, Community, and Education
2026-01-21 15:30 - 16:30 | Institute for the Environment, Saint Edmund’s Hall
The Farm at SMC: Food, Community, and Education
Expanding upon Kristyn Achilich’s “From Chaos to Community: Growing the Vision, Skill, and Courage to Care for Our Common Home,” presentation, this talk with will hone in on one particular pillar of the Institute for the Environment’s offerings: the Farm. Framing this campus growing space as one that is co-created for and by our community, we will explore the ways in which the Farm serves our common home (both here on our campus and beyond), providing opportunities for place-making, self-development, and deep connection.

Fireside Chat: The World House - the Interrelatedness of All Things
2026-01-21 17:00 - 18:00 | Roy Room, Dion Family Student Center
Fireside Chat: The World House – the Interrelatedness of All Things with Olivier Niyonshuti ’25 and Jeffrey Ayres, PhD, Director of the Institute for Global Engagement.
Mr. Niyonshuti, a native of Rwanda and recent SMC alum, will share his lived experiences navigating multiple cultures and communities, exploring how global interconnectedness shapes personal identity, community responsibility, and collective action.
