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February 24, 2020 |
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In This Issue: Small Group of Recently Resettled Refugees Treated to “Great Event” on Campus Student Leader Antonio Rodriguez Emphasizes Benefits of On-Campus Early-Voting Location Dr. Mureen Shaw to Make Community Engagement Presentation at International Conference Why Should We Care About the Census? Students Get Answers at Campus Democracy Project Forum Tomorrow’s Deliberative Dialogue Forum Focuses on Sex Education in Florida Schools Dr. Celeste Landeros Gives Informative, Entertaining Presentation on “Service-Learning as Carnival” Application Deadline for Service-Learning Faculty Fellows Program Participation is March 2 Fundraising Walk to End Epilepsy Takes Place on March 14 at Zoo Miami |
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Small Group of Recently Resettled Refugees Treated to “Great Event” on Campus Lowest number of refugees to be resettled this year By Glenn Bowen On behalf of the university, the Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI) rolled out the welcome mat for a small group of resettled refugees earlier this month. Honors Program students were on hand to greet a dozen individuals who fled Colombia, El Salvador, and Honduras to seek refuge in the United States. So, too, was Barry Service Corps Fellow Minani Joseph, who, with his family, came to the The new On February 8, Welcome Day activities included games, crafts, and conversations in the courtyard of the Landon Student Union. Student Ambassadors Janika Koelblin and Tara Marinkovic took the visitors on a quick campus tour and shared information about applying to college. Experiential Learning Coordinator Liz James got the Honors Program involved in Welcome Day. Dr. Pawena (Winnie) Sirimangkala, the Honors Program director, and Dr. Lawrence (Larry) Byrne, a professor of English, were in attendance. “After my first CWS Welcome Day experience, what remained most vivid were the faces of the refugee guests whom I had the privilege to [learn] about,” Sirimangkala said. She added that her students had a positive interaction with the refugees and were well prepared to “further their own journey and commitment to social justice.” Renata Bresciani Ruiz, the CWS Miami marketing and fundraising specialist, called it “a great event.” In an email to the event coordinator, she wrote: “Thank you for such a great event. The families loved it and we are so grateful for you and the students that made this possible.” The number of refugees admitted to the Data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees analyzed by the Pew Research Center show that this would be the lowest number of refugees resettled by the United States in a single year since 1980, when Congress created the nation’s refugee resettlement program. CWS Global says the |
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Student Leader Antonio Rodriguez Emphasizes Benefits of On-Campus Early-Voting Location An early-voting polling location on While the polls at a nearby elementary school are fairly accessible on Election Day, getting there can be difficult for busy students with tests or exams during the day, Rodriguez was reported as saying. In a Chronicle article on February 19, writer Danielle McLean noted that Rodriguez and other students, as well as faculty members, have tried to encourage students to vote by inviting state political leaders to campus to speak and creating events that allow groups to ride to the polls. Despite the efforts, Rodriguez was reported as also saying, getting students to the polls when there is no nearby early-voting center can keep even civic-minded students away. Rodriguez is director of political affairs for the College Democrats of America and a co-chair – with Dr. Sean Foreman, professor of political science – of Barry’s nonpartisan Campus Democracy Project. Last year, Florida’s newly elected Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, signed a law requiring early-voting sites in the state to have “sufficient nonpermitted parking.” The Andrew Goodman Foundation, the League of Women Voters, and eight college students have since sued, McLean reported in her article, “In These States, College Student Say Republicans Have Made It Harder for Them to Vote.” |
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Dr. Mureen Shaw to Make Community Engagement Presentation at International Conference Dr. Mureen Shaw, assistant professor of nursing, will make a presentation on a community engagement topic at an international conference in July. Shaw will present a session titled “Interprofessional Collaboration Between a Sigma – founded in 1922 as Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing – promotes “global nursing excellence.” More than 800 nurse researchers, students, clinicians, and leaders focused on “evidence-based research” are expected to attend the conference, the organizers say. The International Nursing Research Congress – whose theme is “Transforming Global Nursing Research and Scholarship Through Connections and Collaborations” – will take place on July 23–27 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre. According to the organizers, the conference will “catalyze scholarship, connection, and innovation within the global nursing community.” |
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Why Should We Care About the Census? Students Get Answers at Campus Democracy Project Forum Why should we care about the census? Earlier this month, representatives of the U.S. Census Bureau and the League of Women Voters of Miami-Dade County (LWV) answered that question. The census results affect funding for hospitals, schools, and emergency services as well as infrastructure such as bridges and tunnels. It also provides funding for community resources such as job training centers, child care centers, Head Start, and senior centers. “All those allocations of funds depend upon how many people we have,” an LWV representative told students, faculty, and staff members at a campus forum. “So, the more people we get counted the better off we are in terms of getting those funds.” Jane W. Moscowitz, the LWV representative, said further that businesses use U.S. Census Bureau data to locate facilities like supermarkets, develop new housing, and locate offices. Emphasizing that “everyone counts,” Moscowitz described participation in the census as “easy, safe, and important.” She pointed out that the census form can be completed online, by phone, by mail, and in person. A lawyer, Moscowitz noted that the census form does not ask for citizenship or immigration status, and that personal information is protected by federal law. In the decennial census, “we count everybody living here, even the undocumented,” said Mark Swanson, the Broward partnership specialist for the U.S. Census Bureau. “We don’t ask whether you’re a citizen or not. But you need to be counted.” Swanson acknowledged that “the fear factor” regarding the census was “extreme.” He said Title 13 makes it a crime for the U.S. Census Bureau to share census data with anyone, including law enforcement and other federal agencies, and Title 44 keeps census data sealed for 72 years. The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan organization founded in 1920, when women got the right to vote. The organizing committee for Barry’s Campus Democracy Project (CDP) hosted the forum titled "Census 2020: Why Should I Care, Anyway?" Raquel Zeitun Levy, a recruiting assistant for the U.S. Census Bureau, and Lee Ferreri, a 2010 census worker, attended the event. Dr. Tisa McGhee, an associate professor of social work, said Barry was among the universities that had contributed to Miami-Dade County’s 2020 Census Action Plan. A member of the Miami-Dade County Census Task Force, McGhee said her participation provided an opportunity to “really look at some of the basic information that students need to know.” Dr. Sean Foreman, a professor of political science and co-chair of the CDP Committee, gave the welcome. Dr. Jalane Meloun, a professor administration, and member of the CDP Committee, facilitated the forum. Here is a link to the livestream recording: <https://barrylive.mediasite.com/mediasite/Play/d2cfc44c91674e3ea9ee4458f69251ef1d>. |
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Tomorrow’s Deliberative Dialogue Forum Focuses on Sex Education in Florida Schools During the current legislative session, the Florida Legislature is expected to debate the idea of a uniform, comprehensive, and age-appropriate sex education curriculum that will apply statewide. Sex education has long been controversial in the Against that background, the CCSI will host a forum in the Deliberative Dialogue Series tomorrow (Tuesday, Feb. 25). Titled “Comprehensive Sex Education in Florida Schools: What Should Be Required?” the forum is slated for 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. in Andreas 112. Students and alumni, faculty and staff, and community members will participate. The event is free and open to the public. |
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Dr. Celeste Landeros Gives Informative, Entertaining Presentation on “Service-Learning as Carnival” Dr. Celeste Landeros, professor of English and Humanities, gave a special presentation on “Service-Learning as Carnival: Cultural Humility and the Aesthetics of the Invitation” on February 12 in the Weber Grand Hall. Her musical and narrative performance was part of the Faculty Seminar Series on Transforming Lives through Scholarship. Landeros is director of Carnival Arts, a former Service-Learning Faculty Fellow, and a current facilitator of the Faculty Learning Community for Engaged Scholarship. The high note of her presentation was her excerpts from “Siren Song,” a massive carnival procession she created about seven years ago. “Siren Song” protested income inequality by staging a battle between consumer wealth and cultural wealth. The carnival procession took place at Miami Beach; the costumes and props were later displayed in a major exhibition at the Miami International Airport. For “Service-Learning as Carnival,” Landeros treated “Siren Song” as a case study that explored the cultural humility demanded by carnival performance and the aesthetics of the invitation to community members to participate in collaborative service. Academic administrators and faculty members joined Landeros in her singing and Haitian-born master drummer Catelus “Ton Ton” Laguerre in providing beats and rhythms. Earlier in her presentation, Landeros noted that carnival provided cover for enslaved Africans and indigenous peoples to preserve their performance traditions that were otherwise prohibited by slavers and colonizers in the Since 2008, through Carnival Arts, several hundred Barry students have assisted more than 150 local artists in sharing drumming, dancing, and mask-making traditions from carnivals around the world with an estimated 1,500 youth living in crisis shelters across the state of University President Dr. Mike Allen and Provost Dr. John Murray attended the event in the Weber Grand Hall. |
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Application Deadline for Service-Learning Faculty Fellows Program Participation is March 2 The Center for Community Service Initiatives is inviting faculty members to apply for participation in the Service-Learning Faculty Fellows Program during the 2020–2021 academic year. Each faculty member awarded a fellowship receives a three-credit course reduction each semester (fall and spring). The Service-Learning Faculty Fellows Program is designed primarily to enhance the quality of service-learning courses and to promote the scholarship of teaching and learning based on the pedagogy. The Service-Learning Fellows attend seminars and also participate in the Faculty Learning Community for Engaged Scholarship. |
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Fundraising Walk to End Epilepsy Takes Place on March 14 at Zoo Miami The Epilepsy Foundation will be hosting Walk to End Epilepsy: This is an admission-free event – a day of fundraising, fellowship, and fun. However, registration is required. “We will have educational resources, face painting, pumpkin painting, food, music, games, and lots of special prizes,” the organizers say. The mission of the Epilepsy Foundation is to lead the fight to overcome the challenges of living with epilepsy and to accelerate therapies to stop seizures, find cures, and save lives. |
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Community Engagement News
Posted On : February 24, 2020
