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Student Leader Quayneshia Smith to Receive State-Level Award for Service
Barry student leader Quayneshia Smith has been selected for
The award annually honors a student in each of the three higher education sectors – state university system, Florida college system, and independent colleges/universities – for outstanding service to Florida’s communities.
Smith, who will be recognized for service as a student at an independent college/university, will receive the award on November 17. She will be among students, faculty, administrators, and institutions honored at Florida Campus Compact’s 25th Anniversary Awards Gala in Tampa.
A senior majoring in social work, Smith was a recipient of Barry’s Community Impact Award in 2015.
Since August 2014, she has been participating in the Barry Service Corps Fellows Program. Coordinated by the Center for Community Service Initiatives, the program is designed to foster civic learning and leadership.
Smith also serves on the executive board for Alternative Breaks, a student-led civic engagement organization. She contributed to the restructuring of the Alternative Breaks program to emphasize long-term relationships and community impact, and she coordinated community service trips to such places as New Orleans and northwestern
As part of a service-learning course in the School of
In addition, Smith is a member of the national steering committee for the Student/Farmworker Alliance. The SFA supports efforts to improve wages and working conditions for farmworkers, especially those based in Immokalee, the southwest Florida farming community.
“Quayneshia is one of those students who in the past several years have been essential to the momentum being built towards achieving further victories in our work,” said Natali Rodriguez, an SFA national coordinator. “From organizing city-wide protests to engaging her campus community, to launching educational campaigns, to coordinating immersion trips to Immokalee, Quayneshia has deeply rooted herself in this work.”
Rodriguez said Smith offered motivation, support, and a spirit of solidarity that ultimately benefits farmworkers.
“She understands the difference between charity and justice; that we are not looking for someone to ‘help’ or ‘save’ farmworkers, but, instead, we are looking for a partner to work with farmworkers,” Rodriguez added.
Barry University President Sister Linda Bevilacqua, OP, PhD, said Smith has consistently encouraged civic-mindedness among her peers and has promoted social justice as the ultimate goal of collaborative service. She praised Smith’s “outstanding record of engagement and commitment to excellence.”
Florida Campus Compact is the state affiliate of Campus Compact, a national organization that advances the public purpose of colleges and universities by deepening their ability to improve community life and to educate students for civic and social responsibility. The Florida affiliate is composed of more than 50 college and university presidents who are committed to helping students develop the values and skills of active citizenship through participation in public and community service.
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Barry Student Selected as Campus Election Engagement Fellow
Barry senior John Powell has been awarded a fellowship with the Campus Election Engagement Project. He is one of 29 CEEP fellows selected from four states.
As a CEEP Fellow, Powell will organize voter registration, voter education, and get-out-the vote activities in conjunction with Barry’s Campus Democracy Project. Voter education activities will be focused on election candidates and issues.
A Stamps Scholar, Powell is pursuing a political science degree with minors in Spanish and French. He is passionate about international affairs and is interested in advanced studies in international development and global policy.
“I am excited about being a CEEP fellow at Barry,” Powell said. “It gives me an excellent platform to engage, mobilize, and educate my fellow students about the importance of having their voices heard this election season.”
CEEP describes itself as “a national non-partisan project that helps
In 2012, CEEP worked directly with 250 schools and indirectly with 500 other schools through its partner organizations. Through its outreach during the 2014 midterm election, CEEP engaged 280 schools directly and 680 schools indirectly.
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Community Partners Coming to Campus for Tuesday’s Fair
Some of Barry’s community partners will come to campus this Tuesday, Sept. 20, for the Community Engagement Fair.
This showcase segment of the event will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the atrium of the R. Kirk Landon Student Union. Community partners will provide information on opportunities for off-campus experiential learning such as service-learning, community-based research, practicum assignments, and internships.
A workshop for community partners is scheduled for 9 a.m. Fabio Naranjo, an instructor in the School
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All Set for Wednesday’s Deliberative Dialogue on Pre-Election Rhetoric
This academic year’s Deliberative Dialogue Series will begin on Wednesday,Sept. 21, with a forum focused on current political discourse.
Titled “Political Discourse in this Election Season: Rhetoric, Rights, and Responsibilities,” the 90-minute forum will be held in Room 111 of the Andreas Building on Barry’s Miami Shores campus, beginning at 4 p.m.
CCSI Associate Director Courtney Berrien has provided this context for the forum: “Name-calling, scapegoating, and attacks on candidates’ families and physical appearances are prevalent this election season. At the same time, the media has replaced complex analysis with sound bites and simplistic representations, labeling blocks of voters as ‘extreme right’ or ‘extreme left,’ rather than breaking down differences in values and public policies. Should the convictions of a candidate and his or her supporters be dismissed as hateful rhetoric and incitement to violence? What can be inferred about American culture and intergroup relations from the acrimonious dialogue? Have off-color remarks and insults always been a mainstay of American elections? Are the candidates, the voters, or the media to blame?”
Panelists will include Dr. Sean Foreman, professor of political science and co-chair of Barry’s Campus Democracy Project; Christopher Riker, deputy campaign manager for Scott Fuhrman for Congress and chair of the Florida College Democrats’ Progressive Caucus; and Roberta Shevin, executive director of MCCJ (formerly the Miami Coalition of Christians and Jews).
Dr. Lawrence Byrne, associate professor of English, will be the moderator of the forum.
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Students Engage in Collaborative Service on Freshmen Experience Day
Freshmen Experience Day introduced Barry’s graduating class of 2020 to the university’s core commitments of collaborative service and social justice by engaging the students in community-based service projects.
The new students rendered service at schools and parks and with nonprofit organizations as part of the university’s orientation program.
Organized by the CCSI in partnership with the Center for Student Involvement, the service projects focused on creating positive spaces for learning, preserving and maintaining public spaces, addressing hunger and food access, and supporting initiatives that promote human rights and dignity.
At Doctors
Dr. Isolyn Hillhouse, principal of Lillie C. Evans K-8 Center, said the parents and students were happy and surprised to see the transformation of the school grounds.
“It was a pleasure to host the student volunteers for Freshmen Experience Day,” Hillhouse said. “They did a terrific job beautifying our school.”
Students contributed to the upkeep of parks and neighborhood gardens by removing non-native species, installing pedestrian pathways, and collecting garbage. The projects were completed at Haulover
Miami-Dade Parks and Recreation Administrative Officer Lauren Breckenridge thanked the volunteers who served at
“They were a very hard-working group and they accomplished a lot that day,” Breckenridge said.
The students completed projects designed to increase access to healthy food at Feeding South Florida, Miami Beach
There were two projects designed to promote “just relationships and human dignity.”
In addition, a group of students interacted with residents at Sinai Plaza Nursing and Rehabilitation
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Students Prepare for Civic Leadership Roles in Local Community
Students enrolled in the Barry Service Corps Fellows Program recently received specialized training to prepare them for civic leadership roles in the local community.
The 23 students received training in diversity and cultural competency, explored pathways to social change, discussed specific social issues, and visited community agencies.
BSC fellows are selected mainly from participants in the current year’s Federal Work-Study Community Service Program.
For information on Federal Work-Study Community Service, contact Program Coordinator Valerie Scott at vscott@barry.edu or 305-899-3657.
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Veterans Affairs Medical Center Thanks Barry Students for Cards
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Miami has thanked Barry students for the cards they sent to patients recently.
“Your thoughtfulness reflects the concern that you feel for our Veterans and for the service they provided to all of us while in service to our country,” wrote Mernie E. Williams, acting chief for voluntary service at the medical center.
In a letter to the CCSI, Williams added, “Without your support, we could not provide for the smaller niceties that make hospitalization more bearable.”
Students created thank-you and get-well cards for the medical center patients, and the CCSI sent them to the Miami VA Healthcare System.
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CCSI Newsletter
Posted On : September 19, 2016
