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Organized by the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, the blessing ceremony helps to create a positive atmosphere for the new academic year
Organized by the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, the blessing ceremony helps to create a positive atmosphere for the new academic year

College Hosts Blessing Ceremony to Welcome New Academic Year

Chase Congleton
Chase Congleton
Organized by the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, the blessing ceremony helps to create a positive atmosphere for the new academic year
Organized by the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, the blessing ceremony helps to create a positive atmosphere for the new academic year
Traditional healer Miguel Flores, Jr. led a blessing ceremony for Native and non-Native students

To support medical students as they prepare for the new academic year, the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion organized a blessing ceremony for Indigenous and non-Indigenous students.

Miguel Flores, Jr., a Native American traditional healer and spiritual leader, speaks prior to the ceremony
Miguel Flores, Jr., a Native American traditional healer and spiritual leader, speaks prior to the ceremony
Miguel Flores, Jr., a Native American traditional healer and spiritual leader for more than 30 years, led the ceremony. He is a member of the Pascua Yaqui and Tohono O’odham tribes.

“It sets the tone to the students that they are not alone in their academics, and there are people that are here willing to support them,” Flores, Jr. said. “The ceremony helps ground us and set up the space with a good mind, heart and spirit.”

Flores, Jr. said that he considers it an honor to perform the ceremony and help the students achieve success.

The University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix hosted the ceremony in the Grand Canyon outdoor space before classes Aug. 3. This is the sixth time that the ceremony has taken place on the college’s campus.

Niomi Tsingine, a first-year medical student, and Christopher Danny, a second-year medical student attended the blessing ceremony. Both are members of the Navajo Nation.

Tsingine said the blessing ceremony is a good start to the year and felt a sense of camaraderie with her community.

“I felt very relaxed,” Tsigine said. “Early morning is where you get the biggest blessings from, and I really felt that this morning, especially being surrounded by people who have the same values.”

Indigenous and non-Indigenous students and staff from across the Phoenix Bioscience Core campus attended the ceremony
Indigenous and non-Indigenous students and staff from across the Phoenix Bioscience Core campus attended the ceremony
Christopher Danny said the blessing ceremony empowers him to pray for a successful future and bring his culture to the college with him. “It gives me a chance to voice my opinions to the higher power that centers us to the way we were brought up,” Danny said. “It’s a familiar feeling that we get to experience.”

Rudy Smith works in the lab of Shalini Sharma, PhD, and is a member of the Navajo Nation. He said that the blessing ceremony is a great way to honor Native American students in an authentic way and pray for future successes.

“The ceremony is a way to re-center myself and practice mindfulness in a way that feels authentic to my upbringing,” Smith said. “For me, it means a chance to pray for success for the coming future.”

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About the College

Founded in 2007, the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix inspires and trains exemplary physicians, scientists and leaders to optimize health and health care in Arizona and beyond. By cultivating collaborative research locally and globally, the college accelerates discovery in a number of critical areas — including cancer, stroke, traumatic brain injury and cardiovascular disease. Championed as a student-centric campus, the college has graduated more than 800 physicians, all of whom received exceptional training from nine clinical partners and more than 2,700 diverse faculty members. As the anchor to the Phoenix Bioscience Core, which is projected to have an economic impact of $3.1 billion by 2025, the college prides itself on engaging with the community, fostering education, inclusion, access and advocacy.