CCSI Newsletter

In This Issue:

Students to Support Farmworker Justice Efforts During Spring Break

Journal to Publish Paper on Barry Service-Learning Project

Registration for One-Day Conference in Progress

African American History Workshops Continue in Hollywood

Deliberative Dialogue on Food Access Scheduled for April 7

Students Come to Campus for Shadow Day

Students to Support Farmworker Justice Efforts During Spring Break

Twelve Barry students are spending spring break in Immokalee,Fla., where they will support projects that promote farmworker justice.

The students, all participants in Barry’s Alternative Spring Break program (ASB), are slated to work primarily with the Student/Farmworker Alliance, supporting farmworker rights campaigns organized by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW). ASB is scheduled for March 1–6.

Members of the Barry group will teach lessons on literacy and health activities to children of impoverished farmworkers attending the Immokalee CommunitySchool, a charter school operated by the Redlands Christian Migrant Association (RCMA). They will also do volunteer work with three community agencies that provide support to farmworker families. The agencies are St. Mathew’s House, the Shelter for Abused Women and Children, and Guadalupe Social Services.

“Beginning in October 2014, ASB members have prepared for the experience by attending weekly meetings designed to provide information about human rights issues in the industrial agriculture system,” said Courtney Berrien, associate director of the Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI). “Related human rights issues include modern-day slavery, harassment in the fields, and low wages.”

During the meetings, the ASB group heard from Steffano Montano, service-learning coordinator for the Department of Theology and Philosophy; a local high school student who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border as an unaccompanied minor; and civil rights attorney John de Leon. A past president of the Greater Miami American Civil Liberties Union, de Leon established his legal practice in partnership with Fernando Chavez, son of Cesar Chavez, the late labor leader and civil rights activist. The firm has successfully represented farmworkers in cases about immigration, labor law, and criminal law in South Florida and California.

In the fall semester, ASB group members also worked with the Student/Farmworker Alliance in support of the CIW’s Fair Food Program. Sophomore Quayneshia Smith, a leader of the ASB group, helped to coordinate a fair food demonstration on Nov. 22 in Coral Gables, where group members marched in solidarity with farmworkers.

ASB group members are Smith and Alejandro Tobon, the co-presidents; Keiara Greene-Williams; Victoria Hoelscher; Sarah Jeanty; Mayra Martinez; Paola Montenegro; Peter Nwokoye; Latania Richardson; Qiwen Su; Tamara Vuckovich; and Rajon Wright.

Berrien, who is advisor to the ASB group, and Dr. Marc Lavallee, assistant professor of practical theology, are accompanying the group during spring break. Lavallee was an active ASB member during his undergraduate studies at the Saint Anselm College.

Journal to Publish Paper on Barry Service-Learning Project

A paper titled “The Use of Photovoice for Exploring Students’ Perspectives on Themselves and Others,” by Dr. Pamela D. Hall (Psychology) and Dr. Glenn A. Bowen (CCSI), has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Ethnographic & Qualitative Research.

The paper focuses on a photovoice project in a service-learning course in the Department of Psychology. Students took photographs reflecting their experiences and perspectives on their service to marginalized groups in the local community.

Students Come to Campus for Shadow Day

Fourteen students of the Van E. Blanton Elementary School in Miami participated in a “Shadow Day” program on Barry’s main campus on February 17.

Described as “fun and educational,” the program included a campus tour, classroom and laboratory activities, and lunch in the Roussel Dining Hall. The visitors spent time observing their college counterparts and learning about college life.

Dr. Gilbert Ellis, associate professor of biology, provided a biology lab inspired by his Biology of Crime course. The lab involved starch testing in saliva detection utilizing toothpicks and envelopes. In real forensic testing, saliva detection is used to detect cheek cells that may contain DNA.

Dr. Tamara Hamilton, associate professor of chemistry, provided the visiting students with a “Chemistry You Can Do” lab experience. In the chemistry lab, the visitors particularly enjoyed making an “Alka-Seltzer rocket.”

Drs. Laura Finley and Victor Romano, associate professors of sociology and criminology, coordinated Shadow Day in consultation with Mrs. Margaret Grizzle, a well-known volunteer from the local community.