An inspiring message—believing that failing is always better than not even trying—welcomed students to the BLI Retreat.

An inspiring message welcomed students to the BLI Retreat. Photo by Reba Saldanha.

“Accompaniment” isn’t a buzzword at the AVŐïËù College School of Social Work—it’s a philosophy that guides how students, faculty, and staff learn, lead, and serve. 

That philosophy came to life this fall at three key gatherings: the Social Work, Latinx Leadership Initiative, and Black Leadership Initiative retreats.

Through storytelling, shared meals, and bonding activities, BCSSW community members embodied the School’s theme for the year, “Accompaniment in Action,” which emphasizes walking alongside others, sharing their burdens and hopes, and being renewed by genuine relationships.

On Cape Cod, more than 60 participants at the Social Work Retreat explored student formation, self-care, and professional discernment. At the Connors Center in Dover, Massachusetts, the LLI focused on identity, belonging, and radical kinship, while the BLI centered Black leadership, wellness, and collective empowerment. 

Students at the SSW Retreat participate in hands-on activites.

Students at the SSW Retreat participated in hands-on activites. Photo by Tim Correira.

Activities at the Social Work retreat included group discussions, hands-on craft projects, and walks along the beach. The pace balanced structured sessions with quiet reflection and free time, letting students connect with each other and the environment around them.

“The objective was graduate student formation,” said Teresa Schirmer, associate dean of student experience, who helped organize the retreat. “We wanted to foster and support holistic formation through intentional programming that incorporated intellectual, social, and spiritual dimensions.”

First-year student Ella Berdan praised faculty-led sessions on self-care, community, and Jesuit values in social work, saying that they made accompaniment less abstract and more tangible.

Students participate in hands-on activities at the SSW Retreat.

Students at the SSW Retreat participated in hands-on activities. Photo by Tim Correira.

“I really enjoyed hearing the faculty presentations,” said Berdan, who studies in the Mental Health field of practice. “I think they helped to make accompaniment in action a more concrete goal, rather than just a theme for the year.”

After the retreat, Berdan vowed to take intentional steps in her studies and fieldwork to embody the spirit of accompaniment in her day-to-day practice. In particular, she wants to foster community with the neighborhoods and populations she serves, building connections that honor their experiences and perspectives.

“One step I plan to take is learning more about the communities I am working within,” she said. “Especially as someone new to AVŐïËù, I think an important step to embodying accompaniment is learning more about the city and the people within it.”

A group photo from the LLI Retreat.

Fourteen students, faculty, and staff participated in the LLI Retreat. Photo by Bob Durling.

A few weeks later, the spirit of accompaniment continued at the LLI Retreat, which opened with a storytelling icebreaker, where students shared the histories behind their names—a simple act that sparked deep reflection on identity, culture, and family. 

“There was laughter, learning, and a palpable sense of belonging,” said Ximena Soto, assistant director of the LLI, a cohort-based program that prepares bilingual and bicultural social workers to accompany Latinx communities in creating solutions to complex social problems. 

Students also traced their personal and professional journeys through collage-making, walked through the Center’s forest, and gathered in a circle to share questions, anxieties, and wisdom—a space to be heard and seen.

Students at the LLI Retreat participate in hands-on activities.

Students at the LLI Retreat participated in hands-on activities. Photo by Bob Durling.

Beverly Burgos, a part-time student in the Latinx Communities field of practice, said that the exercises clarified what accompaniment looks like in practice.

“One moment that deepened my understanding of what it means to accompany others in their struggle and healing was when my cohorts shared their stories of resilience and how simply being seen and heard made a difference in their journey,” said Burgos, one of 15 students who participated in this retreat. “That moment reminded me that accompaniment isn’t about fixing someone’s pain, but about creating a safe and compassionate space where they can feel supported in their own process.”

Burgos connected the retreat to BCSSW’s Accompaniment in Action kickoff event with Fr. Gregory Boyle, who urged students to embrace “radical kinship,” a mutual relationship where the distinction between “service provider” and “service recipient” dissolves.

“His take on radical kinship set the tone for the summit,” Burgos said. “It felt like there was no better way to start a weekend centered on compassion, kinship, and transformative leadership.”

Students in the BLI pose for a group photo at the initiative's annual retreat.

Students in the BLI pose for a group photo at the initiative's annual retreat. Photo by Reba Saldanha.

That same weekend, the BLI welcomed 22 students to the Connors Center for activities rooted in Afrocentric principles, Black cultural traditions, and collective leadership.

The retreat opened with an ancestor acknowledgment and closed with a “web activity,” which mapped the network of support among BLI members.

During the web activity, participants stood in a circle and took turns sharing affirmations while passing a ball of yarn. Each strand connected them, forming a web that represented their support, connection, and shared experience.

Milan Smith, a second-year student in the Mental Health field of practice, said that the exercise reshaped how he thinks about accompaniment. 

“It became clear how deeply we are all linked through our struggles, our hopes, and our shared commitment to this work,” said Smith, a member of the BLI, a cohort-based program designed to support, develop, and prepare MSW-level practitioners to address issues facing the Black community. “That moment helped me understand accompaniment not just as being present for someone’s pain, but as holding space for their full humanity.”

BLI Program Coordinator Lujuan Milton echoed Smith, saying that the weekend exemplified accompaniment through stories, mentorship, and collaborative community activities. 

“From the ancestor acknowledgment to the student-led workshops,” she said, “participants experienced accompaniment not as a concept but as a lived practice rooted in shared community, mutual learning, and collective accountability.”

Across all three retreats, accompaniment wasn’t just a theme—it was a practice of being with peers, colleagues, and future collaborators. Whether through the reflective community at the Social Work Retreat, the storytelling circles at the LLI Retreat, or the web of solidarity at the BLI Retreat, participants experienced accompaniment as action: walking with, not ahead of, one another.

As one student who attended the Social Work Retreat put it in an anonymous survey: “This was a special time to make connections and have time for reflection. Thank you, all, for an excellent retreat experience; it was a special, thoughtful, and intentional way of beginning our BCSSW journey together.”

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