August 16, 2021

IN THIS ISSUE

• Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement Initiatives to be Enhanced This Academic Year
• President Praises Program Targeted to Future Women in Local Community
• Church World Service South Florida Highlights Student Leader’s Civic Engagement
• Service-Learning and Other Community Engagement Publications Collected, Classified, and Shared
• Barry Volunteers Have Supported Hurricane Relief Efforts Over The Years
• Immokalee-Based Alliance for Fair Food Offering Internships, Job Opportunities

Civic Learning And Democratic Engagement Initiatives To Be Enhanced This Academic Year

Bucsvote Reorganized To Emphasize Student Leadership

Barry’s civic learning and democratic engagement initiatives will be enhanced this academic year with the reorganization of the student leadership component of the Campus Democracy Project (CDP) and a streamlined process of project implementation.

Meanwhile, Holly Kachler, a senior majoring in political science, has been selected as a co-chair of the Campus Democracy Project (CDP) Committee. She will serve alongside Dr. Sean Foreman, professor of political science, throughout the fall semester. 

BucsVote is the student leadership component of the CDP. Among participating student leaders are Barry Service Corps Fellows serving on the Civic Health Team and students who receive externally funded fellowships.

The presidents of the Barry College Democrats and Barry College Republicans are expected to participate in the CDP through BucsVote.

Present plans call for BucsVote to play a more active role in implementing CDP-related voter registration, voter education, and voter engagement efforts.

Kachler served as a fellow for the Campus Election Engagement Project (CEEP) and, through that role, on the CDP Committee. A national nonpartisan project, CEEP helps college and university administrators, faculty, staff, and student leaders engage students in federal, state, and local elections.

CEEP says its fellows work “to promote a more equitable and inclusive democracy, and to overcome the ever-changing barriers to voting.” They assist their fellow students with registering to vote and navigating the voting process, and they distribute nonpartisan voting guides as well as host get-out-the-vote events.

As part of Barry’s community engagement strategy, a major program, project, and event have been established specifically to promote civic learning and democratic engagement. The Barry Service Corps emphasizes civic learning and service, with the BSC Fellows receiving specialized training for civic leadership roles.

The CDP is the major project emphasizing democratic engagement while the Deliberative Dialogue Series provides forums for dialogue and deliberation towards addressing salient social issues. Such issues are usually addressed through democratic engagement practices such as advocacy and activism.

The first major event on the CDP calendar for the 2021–2022 academic year is scheduled for Constitution Day, September 17. Constitution Day is an American federal observance that recognizes the adoption of the United States Constitution and those who have become U.S. citizens. The CDP Committee will host a presentation and discussion on “Finding Justice in an Unjust World.”

CDP events this year will include the observance of three new “Civic Holidays.” In addition to National Voter Registration Day (September 28), the CDP calendar will include National Voter Education Week (October 4–8), Vote Early Day (October 23), and Election Hero Day (November 1). 

With support from the Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI), the CDP Committee will apply for the Voter Friendly Campus designation again this year. Last academic year, Barry was designated as a Voter Friendly Campus for 2021–2022. The designation was given by Fair Elections Center’s Campus Vote Project and NASPA–Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. 

CCSI Associate Director Courtney Berrien has supervisory responsibility for co-curricular civic learning and democratic engagement initiatives, including the CDP.

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President Praises Program Targeted To Future Women In Local Community

Barry University President Dr. Mike Allen has praised the work of a local nonprofit organization targeted to future women. He noted that Girls Inc. of Greater Miami does excellent work in providing mentoring relationships, safe spaces, and evidence-based programming to girls.

Dr. Allen met with Virginia M. Akar, the organization’s founder and chief executive officer, and Laurie Kaye Davis, the chief operating officer, on campus last Wednesday (August 11).

“We look forward to collaborating with Barry University to inspire all girls to grow up strong, smart and bold,” Ms. Akar would say later.

Others participating in the meeting were Susan “Sue” Rosenthal, Barry’s vice president of business and finance, and Dr. Glenn Bowen, executive director of the Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI).

Girls Inc. was established in 2017 to provide girls with “a safe, consistent, nurturing space to help them understand and manage adversity, develop strengths, set realistic goals, build healthy relationships and manage conflict productively.” The nonprofit organization recently became a Barry community partner.

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Church World Service South Florida Highlights Student Leader’s Civic Engagement

For several years, the civic engagement of a Barry student leader has been featured on the Church World Service (CWS) South Florida home page. 

Back in November 2015, Barry Service Corps Fellow Presler Maxius facilitated youth activities sponsored by the agency in Miami Lakes. Then a junior majoring in psychology, Maxius maintained his commitment to supporting CWS work focused on assisting refugees and immigrants who were beginning new lives in this region. 

As a senior the following year, Maxius developed a focused project to fulfill a Barry Service Corps fellowship requirement. He showcased the outcomes of his project titled “Building Awareness About a Lack of Mental Health Support Available to Refugees” in a poster presentation at Barry’s Third Annual Community Engagement Symposium.

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Service-Learning And Other Community Engagement Publications Collected, Classified, And Shared

During the first 10 years of the Center for Community Service Initiatives, CCSI staff collected, classified, and made available a large number of publications covering service-learning and other approaches to community engagement. 

Publications shared via the Community Engagement Management System and direct distribution include books, journal articles, fact sheets, and brochures. 

The CCSI marked its 10th anniversary during the spring semester and summer terms of the 2020–2021 academic year. 

Feature pieces in Community Engagement News highlighted CCSI-organized programs implemented, events held, and milestones reached.

A four-part pictorial report, “Community Engagement at Barry Over the Years,” was published in the newsletter issues of April 19, April 26, May 3, and May 10.

On June 7, the newsletter put the spotlight on Barry’s Community Partnership Award, won by 22 community partners over the years. And on June 28, the newsletter listed 26 faculty winners of community engagement awards in the categories of Service-Learning Faculty, Community-Based Research, Community-Engaged Scholarship, and Community Engagement Educator.

The July 6 issue of Community Engagement News listed the nine staff members who have won Barry awards for community engagement. The two awardees in the Community Engagement Support subcategory were also listed.

On July 12, the focus was on the annual Community Engagement Symposium. The event was held seven times during the first decade of the CCSI. The newsletter feature article identified the theme and lead presenter for each year’s symposium. 

The following week, the focus shifted to the Deliberative Dialogue Series. Since 2012, forums in the series have brought stakeholders together to grapple with a variety of social issues.

On July 26, one of the 10th anniversary feature pieces provided a retrospective look at the Community Engagement Fair. The event drew community partners to campus for a workshop and a showcase of their volunteer service opportunities.

Also in the July 26 issue of this newsletter and continuing the following week was a feature story on the civic engagement immersion experiences provided by Alternative Breaks.

Last week, newsletter readers were reminded that during the first 10 years of the CCSI, students supported the work of Church World Service (CWS) South Florida, the agency handling the resettlement of refugees locally.

Some of the hurricane relief efforts involving Barry volunteers are summarized in a separate story in this issue (see below).

Recent issues of Community Engagement News are available in the archive.

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Barry Volunteers Have Supported Hurricane Relief Efforts Over The Years

Over the years, Barry volunteers and donors have supported hurricane relief efforts locally and abroad.

In October 2016, in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, a group of volunteers from Barry and St. Thomas universities traveled to the Florida Keys to lend a hand with the restoration efforts. Each of the 52 volunteers was assigned to one of three sites: San Pedro Catholic Church in Tavernier, John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo, and Crane Point Hammock Museum and Nature Trail in Marathon. 

Later, a Barry group delivered dozens of bottles of water and packages of paper towels to Guadalupe Center in Immokalee. They also assisted Guadalupe Social Services with the delivery of food to migrant farm families in the southwestern Florida community. 

Also in 2016, Barry University Athletics and the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee collected donations as part of the university’s efforts to provide relief in Haiti in the wake of Hurricane Matthew. All donations from the main campus were delivered to Amor en Acción and the Notre Dame D’Haiti Catholic Church in Little Haiti, Miami. 

At the same time, a social work student at Barry’s Palm Beach site, chipped in. Magalie Williams, who planned to pursue a career in international social work, volunteered in support of Color for Hope’s I Stand with Haiti, an initiative to restore and sustain the lives of those affected by Matthew.

The university lent its support to a disaster relief drive to assist people affected by Hurricane Michael in October 2018. Organized by Miami Shores Village, Hurricane Michael Disaster Relief was aimed at collecting specific hygiene and food items, which were turned over to Feeding South Florida in November. 

One of the Alternative Spring Break projects in 2019 contributed to Operation Clean Sweep in Millville, an unincorporated community in the Florida Panhandle’s Bay County, where the effects of Hurricane Michael were still evident. Volunteers donned orange vests and work gloves and then worked together to pick up storm debris and other litter.

Dorian hit The Bahamas on September 1, 2019, as a Category 5 hurricane, causing flooding and mass destruction on the northwest islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama. Barry students, faculty, and staff assisted with relief and repair efforts.

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Immokalee-Based Alliance For Fair Food Offering Internships, Job Opportunities

The Alliance for Fair Food is offering internships as well as fulltime job opportunities. Three- to five-month internships are available in Immokalee, Florida. Interns receive a modest monthly stipend and free housing.

The deadlines for this year’s summer and fall internships have passed. Spring internships typically run from January to May, and applications are due by December 15.

Questions about the internship program should be directed to the Alliance for Fair Food office via email at organize@allianceforfairfood.org or telephone at 239-657-8311. 

The fulltime positions are national faith organizer, student/farmworker alliance coordinator, and development coordinator. 

The national faith organizer coordinates the involvement of people of faith in the Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ Campaign for Fair Food. The Student/Farmworker Alliance position is responsible for coordinating the involvement of students and youth in the Campaign for Fair Food. And the development coordinator handles fundraising and development matters aimed at advancing the Campaign for Fair Food. 

The Alliance for Fair Food is a national network of people working in partnership with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers for farmworker justice. Information on internship and job opportunities is posted at the organization’s website.

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