Fail Forward Panel Set for Nov. 9

The University of Scranton will host a Fail Forward Panel discussion on Tuesday, Nov. 9, at 7 p.m. in the McIlhenny Ballroom of the DeNaples Center. At the event, which is part of the University’s Resilient Royals initiatives, the panelists will share stories of some of their past struggles and failure as well as how these challenges have shaped their lives.

Panelists are Michelle Maldonado, Ph.D., dean of the College of Arts and Sciences; Jeff Gingerich, Ph.D., provost and senior vice president for academic affairs; Tara Hamilton-Fay, faculty specialist, biology; and Randy Shemanski, associate director of athletics.

The Fail Forward event is part of a collaborative community effort to help students better develop resilience, practice self-compassion, and understand how to cope with failures. The initiative stems from the results of an earlier National Collegiate Health Assessment, which revealed a need to improve student’s resilience and self-compassion. As a result, Student Life staff at Scranton and faculty partners developed the Resilient Royals initiative to help foster skill development through peer education, resilience training embedded in the classroom curriculum, and signature events, such as the Fail Forward Panel.

Earlier this year, the University’s Resilient Royals initiative earned the Jesuit Association of Student Personnel Administrators’ 2021 Ignatian Medal for Outstanding Academic Partnership.

Doors to this semester’s Fail Forward Panel open at 6:30 p.m. Free t-shirts will be distributed to the first 250 students.