The ELI Weekly
The Weekly Newsletter of the English Language Institute
Volume 145, Issue 11
August 4, 2021
Commencement
It’s around the corner!
Congratulations and thanks, everyone! This will be the last issue of the Weekly for the Summer Term, 2021. Congratulations on making it to the end of this crazy semester! We hope you learned more English, made some wonderful friends and had some fun, as well. You should all be very proud of yourselves and we’d like to celebrate this accomplishment at our Commencement Ceremony on Friday. At the ceremony, we will recognize our scholarship and award winners and reflect back on one of the most unique times the ELI has ever experienced.
The ELI Commencement Ceremony will be held on Friday, August 6th, in the Reitz Union Room 2355. Students, Language Assistants, teachers, and administrators, please join us for this special occasion.
When: Friday, August 6th, from 10:00 a.m. to 12noon.
Certificates and Grades
Semester certificates will be available immediately after the Commencement Ceremony at the Reitz Union, and grade reports will be available in my.ELI by Monday, August 9th. Certificates can also be picked up in the ELI Main Office when it re-opens at 2pm. If you would like a friend or family member to pick up your certificate for you or you would like us to mail your certificate to a US mailing address, you should email Min at minsang921@ufl.edu. If you need a hard copy of your certificate sent to you to an international address by FedEx you should email your name, exact mailing address, and phone number to StudyEnglish@eli.ufl.edu. You will also have to pay a $25 certificate shipping fee.
Reminders from the Office
ELI Main Office Hours: Friday, August 6 (Commencement Day), the ELI Main Office will be closed until 2pm. From August 9-12, the ELI Office will be open from 9:30am-3:30pm. August 16-20, the office will be open from 9am-4:30pm. Regular office hours from 8am-4:30pm will resume on August 23.
Returning for Fall C: Please remember that all returning students must check in online using my.ELI between August 23-27. If you do not check in, you are not guaranteed a space in the class and you will have to pay a $100 Late Check in Fee. Remember, if your plans have changed for the summer, you should email Daryl at studyenglish@eli.ufl.edu to let him know.
Fines and Fees: Every ELI student should log in to ONE.uf.edu and look at the “Charges Due” section to see if they owe any fees to the university. These will be charges from outside the ELI, for example, visiting the Student Health Care Center. If you have a scholarship, it will not pay these charges.
Your I-20: Make sure your I-20 does not expire on August 15th if you will study at the ELI after this summer semester. Contact Daryl if you need to extend your I-20.
Gatorlink: Remember, if you are not returning to the ELI in the fall, you will not be able to access your ufl.edu email address, one.uf.edu, Canvas, or other gatorlink services after September 1st.
Birthdays
The following are ELI Birthdays for the period August 4-31:
Students:
August 23: Hatim Alzahrani
August 26: Ibis Tarazona Hurtado
August 27: Valeria Peña Sanchez
Staff:
August 13: Megan Forbes
August 28: Victoria Dolce
Manners and Culture
Q: Why do Americans use the phrase “African American” instead of “Black” to name dark-skinned people?
A: It is considered by some to be more a more specific description of racial identity than Black. However, some scholars argue that it’s better to use the term Black since there any many groups who could identify as Black in the US: some whose ancestors were enslaved and brought here against their will centuries ago who may no longer have a strong connection to Africa, those who themselves came from Africa and still have a connection to the continent, and those who come from South American, Caribbean, or other countries around the world. It is also now common to hear people refer to themselves with the phrase “Person of Color” (POC) or the acronym BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color) because it represents a broader, multiracial group of non-white people–basically, anyone who identifies as non-white. It’s okay to ask your friends how they identify. For more information on this topic, you can visit this site: https://antiracism.ufl.edu/
Quote of the Week
Life is a circle. The end of one journey is the beginning of the next.
Joseph M. Marshall III
For a PDF Copy of the Weekly, click here: SS2111