Humans of SNC
In Humans of SNC, I take inspiration from Brandon Stanton’s Humans of New York, a segment
on his social media platforms where he showcases authentic perspectives from a diverse range of
New Yorkers.
Fiona Laffey
I sat down with Fiona Laffey—one of SNC’s brightest students—and asked her about her
experience with the theater program here at SNC.
“Theater has changed my life. I started theater in about third grade, and I’ve always been
involved ever since. St. Norbert College has given me the opportunity to continue my
involvement in theater through the theater studies clubs such as Knight Theater. Theater has
made me a lot more confident in myself and in large groups of people. It’s made me a very social
person.
“[T]he sense of community that you can find in theater, you really do meet people from a lot of
different walks of life. Even at St. Nobert College you meet people from different majors you
probably wouldn’t interact with, people who just are interested in different things. So that’s a
really cool way that theater creates a sense of community. And I think also theater is a great form
of self expression. It really allows you to experiment with the physicality of your body and how
you can use yourself to create art, which I think is really cool.
“I work at the theater building, the Abbot Pennings Hall of Fine Arts, so I work as VPA staff.
Our operations staff, and it’s created such a sense of community for me, I’ve made so many
friends that I probably wouldn’t have had I not been in theater. We run a lot of events for St.
Norbert College. I feel like this job has given me the opportunity to see different concerts,
lectures, and performances that I wouldn’t otherwise see.
“[The] 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee through Knight Theater, which is a club here at
St. Norbert. …It’s a student run organization where we do everything, we have student directors,
designers, performers, producers, everything is all students. And it was such a lovely experience.
We do a show every J-term and it was so fun to do!” - Fiona Laffey ‘25
Natalie Elfner
In the atmosphere of a Catholic college, I sat down with Natalie Elfner, representative of St.
Norbert's Spectrum Alliance club, to speak about inclusion of LGBTQIA+ community on
campus.
“Spectrum Alliance is essentially the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) group on campus. It’s a place
where members of the LGBTQ+ community and those who are allies can feel safe and connect
with each other. Spectrum Alliance serves as a safe space especially at a school that has religious
affiliation. Sometimes it can be scary to express yourself especially at a place where the religion
has a history of oppression to those in the LGBTQ+ community. This club shows that not only
does the school accept these identities, but there are also people within the school that identify as
part of the LGBTQ+ community.”
“I am the secretary of Spectrum Alliance which means I do a lot of communication between the
E-Board and the members. I let people know what’s going on for the week. I offer myself as a
link or as a liaison between members, the E-Board, advisors, or anyone else that you may want to
get in contact with to make yourself more comfortable here on campus.”
“[on events] We have coming out week/coming out day on October 11th where we celebrate the
bravery that it takes for many people to come out to their families or their friends. On coming out
day we usually have a booth where people can take a picture next to a door that we’ve painted
rainbow to say “I’m coming out” or to show yourself as an ally. This past coming out day we had
ribbon on signs that showed what love means to you, because love doesn’t always have to be
romantic between a cis man and a cis woman. It could be between anyone, it could be between
friends, it could mean whatever you want it to.” - Natalie Elfner ‘25
