December 7, 2020
IN THIS ISSUE
- Reflections on the Elections: Campus Democracy Project Organizers Report Achievements, Challenges
- Osly Lopez, Andrea Zambrano, and Sumayyah Malan Win Vote Art Contest 2020
- Engaged Department: One of Seven Categories of Awards for Community Engagement
- Miami-Dade Truth, Education, and Reconciliation Steering Committee Marks 100th Anniversary of J.B. Harris Lynching
- Conference Offers Opportunity for Student and Faculty/Staff Presentations of Community-Engaged Work
Reflections on the Elections
Campus Democracy Project Organizers Report Achievements, Challenges
20 students registered to vote, report says
“We made strides to ensure we will not let hate and divisiveness win,” said student leader Isaly Ortiz. “There is still work to be done; we are far from the finish line.” Ortiz is a co-chair of the CDP Committee.
About 20 students were registered as new voters this year, the Campus Democracy Project (CDP) Committee has reported. The report said 10 online civic education events related to the 2020 elections took place.
“We held virtual events and the technology connections and discussions were largely positive,” the report said. Events included an Election Day Walk to the Polls, with the theme “Exercise Your Right … Exercise Yourself,” and an art contest.
The CDP report indicated that earlier planning, greater campus involvement, and more-frequent social media posts would have improved the election-related outcomes.
The report was submitted to the Students Learn Students Vote Coalition at the National Conference on Citizenship (SLSV), which gave the CDP a $1,000 contribution this year.
SLSV is the self-described “national hub and largest nonpartisan network in the United States dedicated to increasing college student voter participation.” The SLSV funds were used for promoting and hosting pre-election CDP events.
Dr. Sean Foreman, professor of political science (being interviewed here by a local TV news crew), is a co-chair of Barry’s Campus Democracy Project (CDP) Committee. The CDP is a civic learning and democratic engagement project of the CCSI.
Reflecting on the elections, CDP Committee Co-chair Isaly Ortiz said: “There was much more at stake than who would be our next president. There were issues on the ballot. There was an option to vote for divisiveness or to vote for inclusivity. I believe that, as a country, we made strides to ensure we will not let hate and divisiveness win.”
Ortiz noted that more of her peers were excited and engaged in the elections this year. “I personally think that my peers began to realize that we could no longer be silent, we had to engage, and we had to vote,” she said.
The student leader said: “I am proud that Barry University continues to make strides in being an inclusive institution. On campus there have been more efforts to have these conversations that have not always been had in the past.”
Ortiz added: “There is still work to be done, [because] we are far from the finish line. We made improvements, but we have to continue to have these conversations around politics and inclusivity.”
“Walk to the Polls” on Election Day (Nov. 3) was one of the get-out-the-vote events organized by the Campus Democracy Project (CDP) Committee this year. The CDP, which includes the Bucs Vote initiative, is designed to promote voter registration, education, and mobilization.
The CDP is a civic learning and democratic engagement project of the Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI). The nonpartisan project includes voter registration, education, and engagement in elections at the national, state, and local levels.
This year, the CDP received financial support also from Ask Every Student and the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge.
Ask Every Student seeks to create processes, systems, and tools to answer the question, “What would it take to ask every student on campus about participating in our democracy?” The organization does so by collaborating with leaders of higher education institutions who are “working to make full participation a reality.”
The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge strives to change civic culture and institutionalize democratic engagement activities and programs on college campuses, “making them a defining feature of campus life.”
Osly Lopez, Andrea Zambrano, And Sumayyah Malan Win Vote Art Contest 2020
VOTE. That’s the main message conveyed by Andrea Zambrano’s graphic design entry in the CDP Vote Art Contest. Osly Lopez, the first prize winner in the Photography category, explains her entry: "This picture is meant to represent the 100 years women spent to finally get the ability to voice their opinions and vote." Sumayyah Malan is the winner of the $150 first prize for studio art.
Osly Lopez, Andrea Zambrano, and Sumayyah Malan are the winners of the Campus Democracy Project (CDP) Vote Art Contest. The students have been awarded the first prize of $150 for photography, graphic design, and studio art, respectively.
In the Photography category of the contest, Tashfia Noor took second place and received $100 while Franklin Hounnou took home the third prize of $75.
The same amount of prize money was awarded in the Graphic Design and Studio Art categories. For graphic design, Alejandro Palacios was awarded both the second and third prizes. For studio art, Malan also received the second prize while Daniela Riccelli won the third prize.
“Art transcends partisan squabbles, lifts spirits, and creates bridges of beauty,” noted Dr. Jalane Meloun, a CDP Committee member, who conceived the contest in the run-up to the recent elections. “I wanted to offer all Barry students the opportunity to imbue themselves with positive election excitement.”
Meloun, a professor in the School of Education, added: “Creating art offers a sense of unscripted, genuine freedom, ever a hallmark of the United States. Art reflects a vote for unification, not divisiveness. “
“Art transcends partisan squabbles, lifts spirits, and creates bridges of beauty. … Art reflects a vote for unification.” – Dr. Jalane Meloun
The CDP Vote Art Contest was “a great way to ‘reach people where they are at,’ which was a main theme of voter outreach efforts in 2020,” said Dr. Sean Foreman, professor of political science and a co-chair of the CDP Committee. “Conscious efforts were made by civic leaders to talk to voters in language that appealed to them personally. For nursing students, that meant a focus on healthcare policy. For business students, talking more about taxes and regulatory policies. For artists, providing an outlet where they could creatively express their thoughts about voting was a natural fit. It also provided new lenses through which to view the importance of voting and more diverse examples of what the elections meant to people coming from different life perspectives.”
Both Foreman and Isaly Ortiz, the other CDP Committee co-chair, thanked all Vote Art Contest participants and congratulated the seven prize winners, who “showed their creative flair during these unusual times.” They also thanked the Department of Fine Arts for promoting the contest.
Engaged Department: One Of Seven Categories Of Awards For Community Engagement
The eighth annual Community Engagement Awards Ceremony will be held in March. Students, faculty, and staff members, as well as community partners, are invited to submit nominations by the January 29 deadline.
Engaged Department is one of seven categories of community engagement awards in which nominations are being accepted. The nomination deadline is January 29.
The Engaged Department Award is presented to a department (within a division, college, or school) for achievements in advancing the community engagement goals of the University, educating students for civic and social responsibility, and improving community life. Departments in which faculty and staff members engage in significant community/public service, individually or collectively with students, are prime candidates for this award.
The winner of the Engaged Department Award for 2020 is the Center for Earth Jurisprudence (CEJ) in the Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law.
CEJ has implemented its Community Resiliency Through Green Infrastructure project with community partners and created the Spring Hill Resiliency Team to give the community a more effective voice on issues of climate adaptation.
CEJ provides opportunities for Barry Law students to engage with the community on workable solutions and practical applications of their skills for meaningful community change. The center hosts an annual Ecological Immersion Academy, which incorporates academic instruction with an immersive experience.
Other Categories of Awards
The other categories of awards are Community Impact, Community Partnership, Community-Based Research, Community-Engaged Scholarship, Community Engagement Educator, and Service-Learning Faculty.
The Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI) has issued a call for nominations for the 2021 Community Engagement Awards. Students, faculty, and staff members, as well as community partners, are invited to submit nominations by the deadline.
The CCSI will host Barry’s Eighth Annual Community Engagement Awards Ceremony in March. It is likely that the event will be held remotely, the organizers say.
The nomination forms are available at the CCSI website. For additional information, contact Dr. Glenn Bowen in the CCSI at gbowen@barry.edu.
Miami-Dade Truth, Education, And Reconciliation Steering Committee Marks 100th Anniversary Of J.B. Harris Lynching
The Miami-Dade County monument sits outside the National Memorial to Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama, waiting to be “reclaimed” by the county and brought to Miami for public display. A full report on the TEAR event to mark the centenary of the J.B. Harris lynching will be published in next Monday’s Community Engagement News.
Community leaders and Barry representatives got together during the Thanksgiving weekend to memorialize a racial lynching that took place in Miami-Dade County 100 years ago.
The Miami-Dade Truth, Education, and Reconciliation (TEAR) Steering Committee hosted the Zoom event as part of that its ongoing work to document cases of racial terror, educate the public, and bring the wider community together in dialogue for healing. Participants honored J.B. Harris with a moment of silence at 2:15 p.m., the documented time of his death.
Courtney Berrien, associate director of the Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI), is a co-chair of the TEAR Steering Committee. Dr. Victor Romano, an associate professor of sociology, is a committee member.
A full report on the event will be published in next Monday’s Community Engagement News.
Conference Offers Opportunity For Student And Faculty/Staff Presentations Of Community-Engaged Work
The IMPACT Conference provides an opportunity for presentations of community-engaged work by students and faculty/staff (“administrators”). The 2021 conference organizers have called for workshop proposals, which should be submitted by January 8.
Workshop topics may include equity and access, social entrepreneurship, leadership development, inclusion and diversity, social media and technology engagement, sustainability, social justice, and volunteer management.
The virtual conference will be held March 4–6, the organizers have announced.
Held annually, the national conference brings together college students, nonprofit sector professionals, campus administrators, and teams of service members to share experiences, stories, and resources related to their work for social change.
For answers to questions regarding the submission and selection of workshop proposals, contact the IMPACT Workshops Committee at workshopimpact@gmail.com.
The conference is being offered free of charge. For more information, visit the registration page at the IMPACT website.
Contact Brittney Morales, Barry Service Corps program facilitator, at BriMorales@barry.edu.
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