July 12, 2021
IN THIS ISSUE
- Barry Representatives Attend National Institute Focused on Campus Centers Promoting Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation
- Professor Greenbaum’s Students Improve Websites of Four Local Community Organizations
- CCSI Will Coordinate Projects for Various Days of Service Next Academic Year
- Community Engagement Symposium Held Seven Times in Eight Years
Barry Representatives Attend National Institute Focused On Campus Centers Promoting Truth, Racial Healing, And Transformation
Team Selected From Anti-Racism And Equity Coalition
A five-member team represented Barry at the recent national institute focused on preparing colleges and universities to establish centers for promoting racial equity and healing on campus and in the wider community.
Organized by the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), the 2021 Institute on Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) Campus Centers also supported the ongoing work of existing centers.
Representing Barry at the four-day virtual event last month were Courtney Berrien, associate director of the Center for Community Service Initiatives; Dr. Pamela Hall, an associate dean and director of the Africana Studies Program in the College of Arts and Sciences; Amanda Knight, associate athletic director and senior woman administrator; Ginette Melchiorre, executive assistant in the Division of Business and Finance; and Roni Bennett, executive director of South Florida People of Color.
The team members were drawn from Barry’s Anti-Racism and Equity Coalition (AREC). An AREC co-chair, Berrien was the team leader.
Barry’s President, Dr. Mike Allen, established AREC in July 2020 in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and the ensuing protests across the United States. The Coalition’s purpose is to achieve an anti-racist, equitable, and inclusive community at Barry and in the wider community.
Dr. Phyllis Scott oversees the work of AREC as part of her role as special advisor to the president on matters of race and equity.
Barry was one of only three institutions in Florida to participate in the AAC&U institute.
Hosted by individual colleges and universities, and in partnership with AAC&U, TRHT Campus Centers pursue the shared goal of “preparing the next generation of leaders and thinkers to break down racial hierarchies and to dismantle the belief in a hierarchy of human value.” Each center implements its own “visionary action plan,” based on the TRHT framework, to promote racial healing through campus–community engagement.
The curriculum for the institute was focused on developing and refining transformative action plans to advance the five components of the TRHT framework: narrative change, racial healing and relationship building, separation, law, and economy.
The W. K. Kellogg Foundation partners with AAC&U to support the establishment of TRHT Campus Centers. More than 30 TRHT Campus Centers have been established since the project began.
Professor Greenbaum’s Students Improve Websites Of Four Local Community Organizations
Sant La Haitian Neighborhood Center is one of the community organizations that benefited from the experiential learning project in Dr. Andrea Greenbaum’s class.
Students taking the Technical and Scientific Research, Writing, and Editing course during the spring semester improved the websites of four local community organizations.
Supervised by their professor, Dr. Andrea Greenbaum, the students removed old content, reorganized information on the web pages, displayed program and resource information more prominently, and made other key information more accessible to the browsing public.
A New Start: Financial and Social Services, Haitian Youth and Community Center of Florida (HYCCF), Sant La Haitian Neighborhood Center, and Fed Fam 4 Life benefited from the students’ work. Before putting their knowledge and skills to work, the students met with community partners to review each organization’s mission, vision, and services.
Nadie Mondestin, executive director of HYCCF, and Andrew Hoo, executive director of A New Start, praised and thanked the students for their service.
Reporting on their projects, the students said that, in some instances, they decluttered web pages. They also added the organization’s mission statement and location details to homepages. In addition, they added contact details, links to social media accounts, and donation links.
Shannon Haropolous, who helped to update the Sant La website, appreciated the opportunity to connect with the community. Her teammate, Phylecia Etienne, learned about resources available from the community partner.
Brianna Lopez and Constanza Garassino worked on the HYCCF website; Savannah Starling and Kaylin Donovan paired off for their assignment to Fed Fam 4 Life. They all learned effective ways of interacting with community partners.
Johanne Saint-Juste, who worked on A New Start’s website, thanked all community partners for the opportunity to learn and serve.
A professor of English, Greenbaum commended her students for delivering high-quality service to each community partner.
CCSI Will Coordinate Projects For Various Days Of Service Next Academic Year
ABOVE: President Allen (center) and his wife Beth (left) joined volunteers at the inaugural Founders’ Day of Service on November 6, 2019, at Historic Virginia Key Beach Park.
BELOW: Each year, projects for International Coastal Cleanup Day and MLK Day of Service engage volunteers in service to the community.
The Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI) will coordinate projects for designated days of service during the 2021–2022 academic year.
The designated days include (Barry) Founders’ Day of Service and International Coastal Cleanup Day in November; Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service in January; and Sustainability Saturday in April.
For further information, contact CCSI Associate Director Courtney Berrien via email at cberrien@barry.edu.
Community Engagement Symposium Held Seven Times In Eight Years
Lead presenters at the Community Engagement Symposium included (from left) Dr. Robert G. Bringle; Dr. Dwight E. Giles, Jr.; Nadinne Cruz; Dr. Patti H. Clayton; and Dr. Caryn McTighe Musil.
During the first 10 years of Barry’s Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI), the Community Engagement Symposium was held seven times. The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) forced the cancellation of the 2020 event.
The inaugural symposium was held on March 12, 2014 and was organized around the theme, “Campus–Community Engagement: Making Connections and Commitments.” Dr. Robert G. Bringle, former executive director and then a senior scholar of the Center for Service and Learning at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis, was the lead presenter.
The seventh annual Community Engagement Symposium—based on the theme, “Engagement in Purposeful Projects: From Awareness to Action”—took place earlier this year, on March 25. Dr. Caryn McTighe Musil, a distinguished fellow with the Association of American Colleges and Universities, was the lead presenter.
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The poster session of the annual Community Engagement Symposium provides an opportunity for students to share their civic engagement experiences and the related learning outcomes.
The CCSI, which is marking its 10th anniversary this year, hosts the annual Community Engagement Symposium. The goals of the event are to (1) discuss community engagement in the context of Barry’s Quality Enhancement Plan; (2) elucidate community engagement concepts such as experiential learning, service-learning, community-based research, and engaged scholarship; (3) share strategies for effective university–community partner collaboration; and (4) explore methods of evaluating community engagement outcomes for campus and community stakeholders.
The poster session of the annual symposium provides an opportunity for students to share their civic engagement experiences and the related learning outcomes.
BARRY SERVICE CORPS: The Barry Service Corps will be expanded next academic year and the civic leadership cohort will be strengthened.
DELIBERATIVE DIALOGUE: Over the years, forums in the CCSI-organized Deliberative Dialogue Series brought stakeholders together to grapple with a variety of social issues.
ENGAGED DEPARTMENT AWARD: During the CCSI’s first 10 years, there were nine winners of the community engagement award in the Engaged Department category.
Apply to become a mentor (aka Big): https://bbbsmiami.org/volunteer/apply/
For assistance with GivePulse—the community engagement platform—contact the CCSI’s Liz James at ljames@barry.edu.
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