Iona in Mission, Winter Break 2018-19
During the recent break between fall and spring semesters, 46 Iona College students and six faculty and staff members engaged in four Iona in Mission immersions in India, Ireland, Peru, and Washington, D.C.
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. - During the recent break between fall and spring semesters, 46 Iona University students and six faculty and staff members engaged in four Iona in Mission immersions in Kolkata, India; Dublin and Belfast, Ireland; Lima, Peru; and Washington, D.C. The international immersions were hosted by the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers and their various ministries.
In India, students teamed up with Br. Steve Rocha and the Nine is Mine children’s rights campaign. They facilitated education sessions on human rights at St. Joseph’s High School in Kolkata. The Iona group also served as volunteers at Mother Teresa houses of hospitality throughout the city.
In Peru, Iona students built relationships of solidarity through home construction and family visits, and ran a day camp for children of the Fe Y Alegria school, sponsored by the Christian Brothers in the Canto Grande barrio in Lima.
In Dublin, students served at the Fr. Peter McVerry outreach center for homeless and heroin addicts as well as the Wheatfield Place of Detention. In Belfast, the group was hosted at the Westcourt Center which provides educational programs to young people who have fallen through the cracks of the educational system. The Ireland walked in the footsteps of Blessed Edmund Rice, visiting various heritage sites in Waterford, Callan, and Dublin.
The Washington, D.C., immersion took place at the Pilgrimage, a downtown church committed to homeless education and awareness. Iona students and staff embarked on a transformative week of action and reflection with our neighbors who are poor in the nation’s capital. The Pilgrimage seeks to help young adults connect their faith with social awareness and action. In doing this, the Pilgrimage hopes to build communities where people are invested in eradicating hunger, homelessness, and poverty.
Read more about the Iona In Mission immersion trips.
ABOUT IONA
Founded in 1940, Iona University is a master's-granting private, Catholic, coeducational institution of learning in the tradition of the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers. Iona's 45-acre New Rochelle campus and 28-acre Bronxville campus are just 20 miles north of Midtown Manhattan. With a total enrollment of nearly 4,000 students and an alumni base of more than 50,000 around the world, Iona is a diverse community of learners and scholars dedicated to academic excellence and the values of justice, peace and service. Iona is highly accredited, offering undergraduate degrees in liberal arts, science and business administration, as well as Master of Arts, Master of Science and Master of Business Administration degrees and numerous advanced certificate programs. Iona students enjoy small class sizes, engaged professors and a wide array of academic programs across the School of Arts & Science; LaPenta School of Business; NewYork-Presbyterian Iona School of Health Sciences; and Hynes Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation. Iona is widely recognized in prestigious rankings, including The Princeton Review’s 2025 national list of “The Best 390 Colleges” and The Wall Street Journal/College Pulse’s “2024 Best Colleges in America,” which ranked Iona at #66 in the nation overall and #8 in the nation among Catholic schools. Iona’s LaPenta School of Business is also accredited by AACSB International, a recognition awarded to just six percent of business schools worldwide. In addition, The Princeton Review recognized Iona’s on-campus MBA program as a “Best Business School for 2023.” Iona also offers a fully online MBA program for even greater flexibility. In July 2021, Iona announced the establishment of the NewYork-Presbyterian Iona School of Health Sciences, which is now principally located on Iona’s Bronxville campus in collaboration with NewYork-Presbyterian. Connecting to its Irish heritage, the University also recently announced it is expanding abroad with a new campus in County Mayo, Ireland. A school on the rise, Iona officially changed its status from College to University on July 1, 2022, reflecting the growth of its academic programs and the prestige of an Iona education.