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Barry University Receives National Recognition for Commitment to Diversity
Barry University has been recognized as a higher education institution committed to diversity.
Minority Access, Inc. presented a “Committed to Diversity” certificate to the university during a special luncheon at the 16th National Role Models Conference in Baltimore, Maryland, recently. Dr. Glenn Bowen, director of Barry’s Center for Community Service Initiatives, accepted the certificate from Andrea D. Mickle, president of Minority Access.
Barry’s student population consists of 32 percent Black non-Hispanic, 29 percent Hispanic, 20 percent White non-Hispanic, 9 percent unknown/unreported, 8 percent nonresident alien, and 1 percent Asian, with the remainder being students of other races, or of two or more races. The university promotes and celebrates diversity through programs and events such as the Africana Studies Program, the Institute for Hispanic/Latino Theology and Ministry, the Office of International and Multicultural Programs, and the Festival of Nations.
“Barry University offers a living and learning community that … encourages a diversity of perspectives and life experiences,” said Dr. Scott F. Smith, vice president for student affairs, who submitted the university’s diversity profile to Minority Access.
Dr. Smith cited Barry’s core commitment of “inclusive community,” which states in part: “Embracing a global world view, the University nurtures and values cultural, social and intellectual diversity, and welcomes faculty, staff, and students of all faith traditions.”
Barry is one of 43 colleges and universities that Minority Access recognized this year for their commitment to diversity. The luncheon at which they received national recognition featured Congressman Elijah E. Cummings as the keynote speaker and recipient of the organization’s Humanitarian Award.
Minority Access is a national nonprofit organization whose work is focused on increasing diversity, decreasing disparities, and reducing environmental injustice in higher education, government, and the business sector.
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Official Launch of 75 Acts of Service Set for Saturday
The official launch of 75 Acts of Service will take place this Saturday, October 24, at the start of Make a Difference Day activities. The launch will take place in Room 111 of the Andreas Building on the university’s main campus in Miami Shores.
Bank of America is the major sponsor of 75 Acts of Service. A representative of the bank will speak at Saturday’s event, scheduled to start at 8 a.m.
As part of Barry University’s 75th Anniversary Celebration, the Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI) is facilitating 75 Acts of Service throughout the 2015–2016 academic year. This is a coordinated series of community service opportunities through which the University is reaffirming its commitment to collaborative service with the community.
Implementation of this initiative is well underway, and the CCSI has prepared a complete list of opportunities for service.
Make a Difference Day service projects and reflection activities are organized to address hunger, human rights, and environmental issues. Among the community partners scheduled to participate are Church World Service, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, EcoTech Visions, La Paloma Neighborhood Association, Life of Freedom Center, Little Haiti Optimist Club, Miami Bridge: Youth & Family Services, PACT (People Acting for Community Together), and Urban GreenWorks.
For further information, contact CCSI Associate Director Courtney Berrien cberrien@barry.edu or 305-899-4017.
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Biology Course Approved for Service-Learning Designation
A research course in biology, BIO 295/395/495-06, has been approved for the service-learning designation. Dr. Stephanie Bingham, an associate professor of biology, is the course instructor.
“The goal of the service-learning component of this course is to apply lessons learned through research to the broader context of fostering a love of learning and discovery, and encouraging engagement in and excitement for science,” Bingham explained. Students will be assigned to North Miami Elementary School, where they will assist with science homework and science-fair projects.
“Each research student will also prepare a presentation of his or her research for the 5th graders and prepare a related hands-on activity for these students,” Bingham further explained. She said the college students will be required to describe their research project in such a way that an elementary school student can understand it.
“If they can explain their research at all levels – at the level of the sophisticated expert in the field all the way to the grade schooler or layperson – this is an indication that they have a thorough grasp of the subject they are studying,” she added.
“Service-learning-designated courses reflect the thoughtful integration of service into the curriculum,” said Dr. Glenn Bowen, director of the Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI). “They demonstrate the value of applied learning, student engagement with the community, and critical reflection.”
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Faculty Learning Community to Meet on October 28
The Faculty Learning Community for Engaged Scholarship (FLC) will meet for a seminar on Wednesday, October 28, from 2:00 to 3:15 p.m., in Adrian 208. The FLC and its Engaged Scholarship Seminars are open to all faculty members.
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Barry Group Takes Trip to Immokalee for Fall Break
A group of 26 students and six faculty/staff members took a Fall Break trip to Immokalee to learn about the work of organizations promoting fair wages and working conditions for farm workers.
The trip also served as a social justice immersion for theology students and a leadership retreat for Barry Service Corps (BSC) fellows. The theology students visited Guadalupe Social Services while the BSC Fellows participated in a leadership workshop on exemplary leadership practices.
The entire group heard presentations and had discussions with Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) members Leonel Perez, Julia De la Cruz, and Lupe Gonzalo and Student/Farmworker Alliance (SFA) coordinators Natali Rodríguez and Yaissy Solis. Perez explained that, in its work, the CIW uses “popular education” (a concept grounded in class, political struggle, and social transformation) and a community radio station,Radio Conciencia, giving farm workers a voice in matters that affect their lives.
They also toured sections of the community. Located in Collier County, Fla., Immokalee is an agricultural community and home to a large number of migrant farm workers.
Taking the trip were 10 theology students and a theology course instructor, Dr. Marc Lavallee; 16 BSC fellows and their advisor, Courtney Berrien; Karen Stalnaker, director of Campus Ministry; and Dr. Glenn Bowen, Caitlin Geis, and Andres Quevedo, staff members of the Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI).
- Theology students: Ronald Almanzar, Kenyatta Blaise, Brianna Cook, Nashay Craig, Sarah Lyles, Timothy McLemore, Maura Padron, Estefania Rodriguez, Sheineca Rollack, and Johneeka Simpson – visited Guadalupe Social Services. - BSC fellows: Akil Andrews, Emmanuella Carriere, Mickaelle Celigny, Kevin Dalia, Seretse Davis, Gilberte Jean-Francois, Alberto Liriano, Nylisha Matos, Presler Maxius, Christian Mesa, Paola Montenegro, Christopher Riker, Donte Roberts, Matenin Sheriff, Quayneshia Smith, and Alejandro Tobon.
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Students Lead “Fair Food” Demonstration in North Miami
Barry Service Corps Fellows Paola Montenegro and Quayneshia Smith were leaders of a “Fair Food” demonstration in North Miami recently. The demonstration was part of the Student/Farmworker Alliance’s (SFA) National Week of Action (September 27–October 4) called “Schooling Wendy’s.”
Demonstrators gathered in front of a Wendy’s restaurant to agitate for the fast-food chain’s participation in the Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ (CIW) Fair Food Program. “Schooling Wendy’s” called attention to the chain’s “failure to make the grade.”
Participation in the Fair Food Program, or “making the grade,” requires the signing of an agreement with the CIW to support a living wage for Florida farm workers who harvest tomatoes that Wendy’s buys.
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Forum Generates Ideas for Improving Police-Community Relations
The first forum in the 2015–2016 Deliberative Dialogue Series generated several ideas for improving police-community relations.
Participants recommended civil rights education for youth, diversity training for law enforcement, mandatory body cameras for police officers, opportunities for youth and law enforcement to interact in positive settings, mentoring opportunities for young Black men, and improved research on violent acts committed by police officers. The establishment of Neighborhood Resource Offices to support community policing was recommended as well.
Titled “The Police and the Community: Who is Protected and Served?” the 90-minute forum brought together former law enforcement officers, community partners, students, alumni, faculty, and staff members.
A five-member panel offered perspectives that helped to guide the dialogue and deliberation among nearly 100 attendees. Among the panelists were John Buhrmaster and Dr. Michael J. Alicea, veteran law enforcement officers. A former deputy chief and interim chief of the Criminal Investigations Division of the City of Miami Beach Police Department, Buhrmaster, is the director of public safety and emergency management at Barry.
Alicea, who worked with the Miami and Coral Gables Police Departments, is an adjunct faculty member in Barry’s School of Social Work. He has provided the list of recommendations from the forum to the advisory board of the School of Social Work’s new Center for Human Rights and Social Justice.
Also on the panel were Ajahni Johnston, a Barry student who took part in protests last year after his relative Michael Brown was killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri; Cassandra Jiles, a member of PACT (People Acting for Community Together), who spoke about her involvement in initiating the Miami Gardens Neighborhood Resource Offices; and Ezra Dieuveille, the senior youth prevention specialist at Gang Alternative.
Gang Alternative is a community-based organization that focuses its program on adolescents in Little Haiti. Youth from high schools enrolled in Gang Alternative’s Building Leaders of Character (BLOC) program also took part in the forum.
Dr. Victor Romano, an associate professor of sociology at Barry and the chairperson of the Miami-Dade County Commission on Human Rights, facilitated the dialogue.
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Community Partners Come to Campus for Fall Fair
Twenty-three community agencies participated in the recent Community Engagement Fair in the R. Kirk Landon Student Union on Barry’s main campus.
Representatives provided information on agency programs and services. They also outlined volunteer and course-based service opportunities available to students.
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CCSI Newsletter
Posted On : October 19, 2015
