MONDAY, JULY 17

Welcome to your first full day of SUUSI 2023! We hope you newcomers are getting oriented and you regulars are catching up on lost time with familiar faces. Workshops and nature trips are in full swing today, so find your locations and be on time so you don't miss a moment!

Thank you in advance for helping us build a beloved community this week:

• Invite newcomers to join your table at mealtime or to sit by you at worship.
• Remember that we’re guests on this campus. Be pleasant and courteous to WCU staff and students. Respect their home. Do not complain, criticize, or make suggestions. Instead, call 66-ASK-SUUSI (662-757-8874) to bring your issues to SUUSI Staff.
• When SUUSI is at its most stressful for you (Dining hall back-up? Canceled event? Sudden downpour?), take a deep breath and reflect on the value of community. Assume that everyone around you is coming from a place of goodwill. Take another deep breath and then look for a loving way forward.
• If problems arise, help is always a phone call away: 66-ASK-SUUSI (662-757-8874) then press 1 for the general helpline, 2 for pastoral care / Covenant Accountability Team (CAT) or 3 for Star Car reservations.

MONDAY SCHEDULE HIGHLIGHTS

6 am - 8 pm: SUUSI Dining Hall Hours, Courtyard Dining Hall

8 - 8:30 am: Group Meditation, Blue Ridge 203

9 - 9:45 am: Morning Worship, We Come from the Mountain: Practices and

Rituals of Grounding, Hillside Grind

9:30 am - 6:30 pm: SUUSI Store and Artisans' Bazaar, Blue Ridge Conf. Ctr.

4 - 6 pm: Community Time: Gratitude & Joy, Central Plaza

7 - 7:45 pm: Evening Worship, Assessing the Landscape, Bardo

8 - 9 pm: Concert Hour with Joe Jencks, Bardo

9 - 11:30 pm: Cabaret, Bardo

10:30 pm - 1 am: Serendipity, Theme: Rainbow, Hillside Grind

11 pm - 3 am: Late Night Song Circle, Water Rock 3108

1 - 3:30 am: BBQuusi, Hillside Grind

Come One, Come All, to Community Time!

Join us daily from 4 - 6pm for fun for all ages at Community Time 2023! We welcome all to the quad to share, laugh and love with each other as we gather to share in activities, crafts, and other events. There are themes each day, though other spontaneous events are also welcome. Plan to bring games and musical instruments to share with your SUUSI community. We have some great plans in the works, but if you have any ideas or activities you would be interested in bringing to Community Time, don't hesitate to contact us at communitytime@suusi.org. We will do our best to fill your spiritual and emotional needs during this joyous community gathering! 

MONDAY: Gratitude & Joy Let’s begin the week with Gratitude & Joy! Please join us in making a Community Time banner to be used in next year's banner parade. We will also host conversations and craft projects centered around gratitude and joy to help us cultivate a vision for how we want to "turn our world around." Fun with temporary tattoos and SUUSI rocks will also be available. Community time is a great space to reconnect and meet new friends. We encourage you to bring your favorite activity/talent to share.

TUESDAY: Intergenerational Fair We are an intergenerational camp, so let's take Tuesday to explore what that means! Each age group will be hosting an activity or craft. We will all learn about what each program does all week and share an appreciation for the talents and gifts each of us brings to our community at every stage of life.

WEDNESDAY: SUUSI Pride Wear or bring your Pride swag and join our celebration of the fabulous LGBTQIA+ community. Face painting is provided by teen volunteers. Make banners and swag then join the walk at 5 pm

THURSDAY: SUUSI Community Arts Festival SUUSI is a place where imagination and creativity are in abundant supply. Come show off what you have been creating during SUUSI. If you have not had a chance to explore your creativity, come appreciate what others have brought to share and explore the art mediums we'll have available to get creative! We will have paint, pastels, colored pencils, markers, clay, a poetry station, and plenty of inspiration to get you started with your own creative practice.

FRIDAY: Share Your Talents We know SUUSI's got talent! Are you a singer, a poet, a dancer, a comedian, an artist, or an eternal being with some other talent? Bring an open spirit and your talents to Community Time on Friday. We will have several stations where people will perform or present their talents. We ask that you sign up at Community Time throughout the week, or use this Google form. You do not have to sign up to participate, but those who do will perform/present first.  

Concert Hour: Joe Jencks

Tonight’s Concert Hour begins at 8 pm in Bardo and features the wonderful music of Joe Jencks, a 25-year veteran of the international folk circuit, an award-winning songwriter, and celebrated vocalist based in Chicago. He has been a celebrated part of the SUUSI family for many years. Merging conservatory training with his Irish roots and working-class upbringing, Joe delivers engaged musical narratives filled with heart, soul, groove and grit. He’s written several #1 Folksongs including the poignant Lady of The Harbor. From folk festivals like Falcon Ridge, Kerrville, Mariposa, and Old Songs, to venues like Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, Jencks has enthralled diverse audiences with his approachable style, and is Joe is noted for his unique merging of musical beauty, social consciousness, and spiritual exploration. Visit his website: www.joejencks.com Concert hour will also be available on Zoom. Log into your SOLIS account for the Zoom link.

Come to Concert Hour, Stay for Cabaret

If you missed Open Mic Night on Sunday, come to Cabaret tonight to see more performances. Carla Ulbrich will start off the night and we have Betsy Bickel, Jon Powers and Amy Crouse-Powers, Neal Watz and Valerie DuBay, and Jill Stingray.

Evening Worship

As in past years, evening worship takes place in the Bardo Arts Auditorium from 7 - 7:45 pm. Bardo Auditorium is one of the locations where it is strongly recommended for non-performers to wear masks, and there will be a designated section of the audience where masks are required. Evening worship will also be available on Zoom. Log into your SOLIS account for the Zoom link. The theme of tonight's worship service is Assessing the landscape: How do we support each other at SUUSI and honor the many paths that bring us together? 

Signage Update: Important!

We are allowed to hang signs using blue painters tape (no other tape or adhesive) on glass surfaces and dorm room doors, but only in dorm buildings. Please do not post signs, flyers, etc. anywhere else on campus. Thank you!

Eat up!

The cafeteria is open daily from 7 am - 8 pm, and you may eat your meals at any time during those hours. If you want to dine outside the cafeteria or in your room, just bring $5 plus 35 cents tax (cash or card) to put down as a deposit for the Green To Go boxes. Each meal, bring back the dirty box and take a new clean box. At your last meal, bring the receipt (you did save the receipt, right?) and the final box back and get your $5 deposit back.

Food allergies, sensitivities, or other dining hall concerns? Come to the Dining Accessibility Meetup today at 9:30 am to meet and take a brief tour. Meet upstairs at the dining hall past the elevator by the cash register. For more information, email access@suusi.org. 

One Number to Reach Them All!

SUUSI Helpline, Pastoral Care/Covenant Accountability Team, Star Car--it's all one number: 66-ASK-SUUSI (662-757-8874)

Press 1 for SUUSI Helpline: We are at your service from 6am-10pm to answer your questions. After hours, leave a message and we will get back to you the next day. For emergencies, please call 911. If you would rather email, send to help@suusi.org. If you would like to talk in person, come to the SUUSI Office. We are open from 8:30 am - 2 pm in Balsam 230.

Press 2 for Pastoral Care and Covenant Accountability Team (CAT): When any need for pastoral care or conflict resolution arises, our nurture staff ministers and covenant accountability team are here to help 24/7.

Press 3 for Star Car: Need a ride? Star Car golf carts are available from 8:15 am - 1 am. Advance reservations strongly encouraged. Need a ride before 8:15 am? Call before 10 pm the day before. Questions: email accessibility@suusi.org.

Make-up Mugbook Photos

Did you miss the Mugbook station at Check-In? Come to the SUUSI Office today from 10:30am - 12:30pm or 2:30 to 4:30pm to say Cheese for the Mugbook camera.

Pair-A-Dice Hours

Pair-A-Dice, SUUSI’s board and card game room, will be open from noon - 10 pm, Monday through Thursday and noon - 5 pm on Friday. Come see us in Balsam 330, 302, and 305! Just $5 for the whole week for those 14 and up and free for those 13 and under.

New! Daily Pair-a-Dice Puzzles

Come to Pair-a-Dice every day, Monday through Thursday, for a new puzzle (crossword, jumble, logic puzzle, etc.), and submit your answers by Friday at noon. Custom T-shirts will be awarded on Friday to those who turn in the most correct answers. Puzzles need not be complete, partial success counts toward your goal! Put your name on your answer sheet and bring it back to Balsam 302 at the game checkout table. You can catch up on puzzles you missed, but once you submit your answers, you can’t redo that puzzle. Email games@suusi.org if you have questions.

Get Your Dance On

CACHE, our 14+ dance club, isn't being held every night this year, but if you're 21+ Serendipity will satisfy your craving to move! Serendipity is located at Hillside Grind and will be open from 10:30 pm - 1 am. If you're ready for a little dress-up, Serendipity's theme tonight is rainbow. Let's see you shine!

Serendipity's Silent Disco Option

Come celebrate SUUSI by dancing with your friends at Serendipity. You can choose to dance either indoors to speakers or just outside on the grass of the Hillside Grind Coffeehouse, wearing one of the 25 headsets SUUSI has rented.

Ballroom Hour+ New Location

Ballroom Hour+ is moving to 6:30pm-8pm Monday through Friday. We are located in the fully air conditioned Campus Recreation Center Studio 1. We call it Ballroom Hour+ because of the extended time (1.5 hours), because we will be playing a mix of Ballroom, Swing, Latin, and Country for your partner dancing pleasure and because we will run a short dance lesson during the evening. For Monday, the lesson will teach the Foxtrot and Rumba basic steps.

Drink Tickets

To enjoy drinks (alcoholic or non-alcoholic) at Serendipity, you must have drink tickets. Cash and/or charge cards will NOT be accepted at Serendipity. Tickets are $2 each, and drinks vary in terms of the number of tickets required. Purchase drink tickets at the following times and locations:

9:30 am – 6:30 pm: Monday - Friday, SUUSI Store, cash/card

8:00 pm – 9:30 pm: Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at Concert Hour, cash/card

9:30 pm – End of Cabaret: Sunday - Friday, cash only

Transition Worship Services

Tuesday evening: We will mark the cycles of our lives and remember those we have lost. If you would like us to remember someone from our community who has died in the last year, please email nurture@suusi.org no later than noon Tuesday.

Thursday evening: We will mark various life transitions within our community. This includes child dedications, teen bridging, and other important transitions. This year, this celebration will include those who wish to have their new names, pronouns, and/or gender identities recognized and celebrated by the SUUSI community. If you would like to be part of this celebration, or if you have a child to be dedicated, please email nurture@suusi.org no later than noon Thursday. (Please note that teens who are bridging will be coordinated by the Teen Director, teens@suusi.org.)

Connections Circles

Interested in a Connections Circle? Already registered for one? If it's raining Monday, all groups will meet in Blue Ridge 302. If it's not raining, we'll meet outside in front of the dining hall. Cynthia Landrum will be available to orient afternoon groups at 4 and 5 pm. Look for her at a table right outside on the Balsam/Blue Ridge side of the Dining Hall or just look for Connection Circles signs to help guide you!

Support Spaces

The Nurture staff provides three spaces where members of the SUUSI community may seek peace, support, and connection. All will be open 24/7 Monday-Friday, with gatherings planned at specific times.

Meditation Room: Blue Ridge 203

The Meditation Room is a peaceful space for quiet contemplation and rest. Group meditations will be led by Rev. Kimi Riegel on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 8 - 8:30 am.

OASUUS Lounge for BIPOC: Blue Ridge 202

The OASUUS Lounge offers safe space for SUUSI BIPOC (Black, indigenous, and people of color) to gather, talk, reflect, meditate, and replenish in body or spirit. This space is family friendly and all ages are welcome. Watch the NUUS for announcements about specific planned gatherings.

Addiction and Recovery Space: Blue Ridge 230

You're invited to participate in a hosted Recovery Support Meeting tonight from 5:30 - 6:30 pm and a hosted Twelve-Step Support Meeting on Tuesday from 10 - 11 am. At these initial meetings, we will plan out a schedule of meetings for the rest of the week.

Accessibility at SUUSI

Dining Accessibility Meet-up: Food allergies? Too noisy in the Dining Hall? Need a hand carrying dishes? Check in at 9:30 am today near the elevator upstairs in the Dining Hall for our Dining Accessibility Meetup.

Accessibili-Buddies: Able to carry a plate for someone in the Dining Hall? Willing to be a friend to someone during Community Time? Please let us know at access@SUUSI.org!

Special needs? Please be sure to let us know! Email access@suusi.org to fill out our form so that we may help you have a great SUUSI!

SUUSI LIttle Fidget Library Bins: Take a Fidget, Leave a Fidget! Look for our gray bins with yellow flowers for some helpful sensory tools. 

Each year, our talented teens put on a musical theater production for the whole SUUSI community, called Teen Way Off Broadway. Join us on Friday at 8pm for our single show! Each day this week, you will find a clue in the NUUS for what the theme of the show is this year. Today’s clue:

Lindsay and Daniel will end our run as TWOB Directors this year, so we’re taking some time to reflect.

Think you know the theme? Send your guesses to twob@suusi.org. The first person to guess correctly will get a shout out in the NUUS!

SUUSI Covenant 

The SUUSI Covenant helps us live into our promises as a community – remembering that our documents, policies, and processes for how best to become Beloved Community grow along with us and change as our understanding deepens. Here are the primary promises. For further points on how we live into these promises, see our full SUUSI Covenant by clicking HERE.

• Safety: We are all responsible for creating an emotionally, physically and spiritually safe space for all participants.

• Trust: We offer our authentic selves, allowing ourselves to be vulnerable and holding the vulnerability of others with the greatest care.

• Validation: We see, hear, and value each other for who we are with all the expressions of our identities.

• Affirmation: We show appreciation for the gifts each person brings to the community.

• Accountability: We strive to act as if everything we do matters for the well-being of our SUUSI community.

• Reconciliation: We agree to enter into truth and reconciliation processes when conflicts or disagreements arise.

Tomorrow's NUUS will share more about the SUUSI Covenant and Accountability Team Charter. You can also learn more HERE.

SUUSI Board of Trustees Opportunities and Events

Want to help make SUUSI the best it can be? Serving on the Board is a great way to contribute to this gathering we love so much. On Thursday, we'll elect one Adult Trustee for a three-year term and one Youth Trustee for a two-year term. Want to run? For more information, contact the elections coordinator at elections@suusi.org. Nominations must be submitted to elections@suusi.org by noon tomorrow. Nominees must also submit a candidate introduction to the SUUSI NUUS (nuus@suusi.org) by 1pm the same day.

Not sure who to vote for in the Board election? There will be an Adult Board Candidate Forum in the Coulter Recital Hall on Wednesday from 5 - 6 pm. Candidate bios will be printed in the NUUS on Wednesday morning, so you’ll have the opportunity to follow up with questions Wednesday evening. This is also your opportunity to ask current Board of Trustee members anything about SUUSI. Come be an informed participant and voter!

Finally, the SUUSI Board wants your input! Come to the Board Town Hall also on Wednesday in Coulter Hall from 4 - 5 pm. SUUSI occasionally has to find a new location — whether we stay at WCU a little longer or look to move elsewhere in the Southeast, we want to know what factors matter most to you in host sites and locations. Specifically, what would make SUUSI a safe and welcoming space for you? While everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend this forum, we especially encourage people of color, people with disabilities, and LGBTQIA2S+ people to attend, as we aim to center these identities and perspectives in this conversation. Hosted by Ivy Breivogel, board member and assistant director of the Young Adults program.

Artisans' Bazaar

Open Monday - Friday from 9:30 am - 6:30 pm in the Blue Ridge Conference Center C/D (next to the SUUSI Store), you can find SUUSI's community of artists! Perhaps you need a gift for your pet sitter, a friend at SUUSI, or even yourself! We have some new and returning artists. A few artists have provided bios to help you get to know our smaller community. Check them here on the SUUSI website.

Free Zentangle Demo

Monday from 9:30 - 11:30 am and 1:30 - 3:30 pm drop by the Artisans’ Bazaar and get a free Zentangle demonstration lesson from Cindy Landrum, a Certified Zentangle Teacher who has been doing this meditative spiritual doodling practice for about ten years.

Shop at the SUUSI Store, Raise $ for SUUSIships

Besides satisfying your cravings for great books and awesome music, the SUUSI Store provides ways for you to help make the SUUSI experience available to those who might otherwise not be able to afford it by raising money for SUUSIShips. One of the easiest ways is through our KISSES FOR SUUSISHIPS program. Whenever - and wherever - you make a purchase through the SUUSI Bookstore, simply round up to the nearest dollar (or more). We’ll donate that amount to SUUSIships, and give you a FREE KISS (of the Hershey chocolate variety). You can also support SUUSIships by entering the SUUSI Store Raffle - and have the chance to win either a basket full of CDs donated by all of our fabulous musicians OR a $100 Gift Certificate to the SUUSI Store! Tickets are 1 for $1.00, 12 for $10.00 or 25 for $20.00. Winning tickets will be drawn Thursday night at 10:00 pm at Cabaret - although you do not need to be present to win - with all monies collected going to SUUSIships! Know someone who is celebrating something this week, or someone you want to thank for something? Get them a SUUSI Store Gift Certificate, available in any amount!

Youth and Youth Parents

Remember this morning's mandatory meeting for Youth parents in Killian Building, next to University Center, from 9 - 9:30 am. If you have youth, make sure one parent or guardian attends! 

Also be sure to fill out a Participant Locator Form and hang it on your door. Cell phone coverage here can be spotty, so we need a backup way to find you if your child needs you.

Middlers

All Middlers will start off their SUUSI with a Middler Ingathering from 9 - 10:15 am in Forsyth 305. And especially for 13s today is an all-day bonding trip until 4:30 pm and Art Time at Bardo Arts Center 150 from 7 - 9 pm.

Teens

For those signed up, TWOB (Teens Way Off Broadway) and School of Rock rehearsals start today! Also this afternoon from 3 - 8:30 pm is the Teen Adventure nature trip.

Young Adults

This afternoon from 1 - 4:30 pm, come along on a YA/Median trip to East LaPorte Park, a local river off campus where there will be food and fun! And for those who signed up for School of Rock, rehearsals begin today!

Then this evening, come to the YA Water Communion worship event led by the YA chaplain from 9 - 10 pm in Water Rock 4108. Water worship is a YA-specific Water Communion worship event, led by the YA Chaplain. If you are able, bring water from somewhere significant you have been in the last year; we will combine all of the water and redistribute a mixture of all of the meaningful places we come from and have traveled to.

Medians

This afternoon from 1 - 4:30 pm, come along on a YA/Median trip to East LaPorte Park, a local river off campus where there will be food and fun!

This evening from 8 - 10 pm, come to Water Rock 1008 for evening baking of cookies, brownies, and breads to share with everyone who gets hungry after the dining room closes! Then return to Water Rock 1008 from midnight - 2 am for a late night snack (YAs welcome too!)

Daily Connection Circles for Adults 26 years-old+

We know that sometimes we can feel lost in the larger SUUSI community; join a connection circle and deepen your experience by making a daily connection with others in a small group. Groups are self-guided, using materials provided by the Nurture staff that will help guide conversation and create space for your spirit. After your initial meeting today, once you are in a group, you will determine exactly when and where to meet each day. The age limit for this event begins at 26 years old because the Young Adult program offers a similar program for adults aged 18 to 25. Lunchtime (#1080), noon - 12:30 pm; Afternoon (#1081), 4 - 4:30 pm; and Dinnertime (#1082); If it's raining Monday, all groups will meet in Blue Ridge 302. If it's not raining, we'll meet outside in front of the dining hall.

As always, find the latest information about SUUSI at suusi.org