Faculty and Staff Involvement with Students
Building Bridges:
Students Organize Programs, Lectures
as They Reach Out to One Another and
the Community
Raquel Vargas was teetering on the edge.
She lived in what she calls a "bad neighborhood" in
downtown Los Angeles, she was the youngest of 10 children,
none of whom had gone to college, and her picture of
life after high school included any job, anywhere. "It
really didn't matter what I would do. Just work and
hang around with friends. That's all I thought about."
Her friends were gang members, she went to their parties
and she could have easily joined a gang herself.
Instead, in her senior year in high school, she joined her classmates on a field trip to Mount St. Mary's College.
Vargas has become one of the Mount's many success stories. A 1996 graduate in sociology, she served as a mentor to students at Alain LeRoy Locke High School in South Central Los Angeles during her junior and senior years, and this summer she is working as a counselor for homeless youth.
She is just one example of how a grant to a college can impact many lives.
"Raquel is a changed person. She's been transformed
in the last two years and it has to do with the the
Locke Mentor Program. She says she wants to give back
to the community," says Pam Haldeman, sociology chair.
"There are a number of young women in that program who
have blossomed because of their involvement. This whole
notion of being involved citizens in the community is
crucial in the lives of our students. No matter what
their major- business, science, nursing- I see being
out there as academic as what they do in here, you just
have to put it in a framework based on relevant theory
and practice."
That Mentor Program was established thanks to a grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and it has provided the place where students have applied the insights gained in the classroom. Every Friday after school, several Mount St. Mary's students travel to Locke where they talk to the students about a range of topics from how to apply to college to how to respond to pressure to join a gang.
Cliff Webb, a math teacher at Locke and the students' adviser, says he has seen a visible difference in his students since they have been meeting with the Mount St. Mary's students.
"I've seen improvements in grades and a greater respect
toward others. The girls at Locke look at the girls
at Mount St. Mary's and say: if they're doing it, maybe
I can too.' They can see the next step they can take
in their lives. The girls actually look forward to their
meetings and it's usually pretty tough to get them to
want to stay at school on a Friday afternoon," Webb
says. "This program definitely touches our students'
lives."
The mentoring is funded by the Hewlett Urban Engagement and Civic Responsibility grant initiative and is just one of many programs made possible by the grant and initiated by students at both Mount St. Mary's campuses. These events have been intended to help students collaborate, negotiate and join forces in order to present programs to their peers on professional development, cultural expression and discussion of contemporary issues.
Haldeman, the Hewlett grant program director since
its inception in 1994, has created a large, portable
bulletin board for all the fliers publicizing Hewlett-sponsored
activities initiated by students. It is overflowing
with multicolored handbills for such diverse activities
as a discussion on affirmative action, a lecture by
an author on Hispanics in Hollywood, a panel discussion
on domestic violence, a reading of Samuel Beckett's
works by an actor, a resume workshop and an International
Faire. In total, 20 activities were sponsored by student
groups during the 1995-96 academic year- triple the
number expected.
In addition, several academic departments collaborated on programs and activities such as philosophy, psychology, sociology, art, business, education and modern languages.
"It shows the potential was there, we just had to provide the inspiration and opportunity and it has just taken off," says Haldeman. "The first year of this grant I had to seek out clubs and groups to see if they wanted to sponsor activities, but this year they're coming to me รป my office has just been flooded with students," Haldeman says.
She hopes students gain a more sophisticated understanding of public issues and a desire to be involved in the community through Hewlett programs. The original motto of the program was "Building bridges with the community."
Several new clubs have formed and inactive clubs have been given new life. Club members come to Haldeman with written proposals for workshops, lectures, debates or other events they would like to co-sponsor with other clubs. "I've been impressed with the quality of proposals students have given me and the quality of the events. They really rose to the occasion. This is an active experience. It's taking their classroom learning and seeing it close up. It's giving their education relevance," she says.
It really brings excitement to our students
Students, faculty and members of the outside community have attended several of the Hewlett-sponsored events. "It really brings excitement to our students to have people here from the community. It makes them feel part of the whole. We're bringing community to the Mount and trying to take students out into the community," Haldeman says.
Not only are students involved in the activities sponsored by the Hewlett grant, but faculty members are integral to the programs as well, such as Sande Bunce, a sociology lecturer who is the adviser to the students who mentor at Locke High School.
"Faculty involvement has been a unique dimension to this. We need to close up the space between the podium and the row of chairs. We have to look for new environments for teaching what's important," Haldeman says.
"This is about being a member of the community and making a contribution to it, not just putting in hours. We're trying to help students look at this work as being part of a larger community," Haldeman added.
The program also has a strong problem-solving element and includes mediation workshops, which has been particularly important when students are working with peers who have different backgrounds and interests.
Whether it be in problem solving, volunteering side-by-side in a weekly program
or organizing a lecture from start to finish, the motto
of building bridges has applied to every part of the
Urban Engagement and Civic Responsibility Program- bridges
have been constructed between students, from students
to faculty and from students to the community. "We've
been pretty good at what we set out to do and we want
to do more," says Haldeman.
1995-96 Student Organization Events
1. Affirmative action discussion with Tim Wise, U.C. Berkeley, sponsored by ASB Cultural Co-Chairs, Latinas Unidas and the African American Council of Women.
2. Hispanics in Hollywood, by author Luis Reyes, sponsored by Latinas Unidas and Cultural Co-Chairs
3. The Clothesline Project: Domestic violence awareness, sponsored by Women Advocates for Knowledge and Empowerment, Residence Hall Association, Associated Student Body and Women's Studies Committee.
4. Career awareness panel dinner, sponsored by the Accounting Association and Students In Free Enterprise.
5. Panel discussion on domestic violence, sponsored by Psi Chi and the Sociology Club.
6. Student participation in the National Conference for Elected Women, attended by members of Women Advocates for Knowledge and Empowerment and Latinas Unidas.
7. A reading of Beckett by Ryan Cutrona, actor, organized by the philosophy department and sponsored by the Art Club and the Sociology Club.
8. The Asian Pacific Affiliation and the Vietnamese Student Association hosted the Southern California Pilipino American Student Association.
9. Interactive resume workshop conducted by Students In Free Enterprise, the Accounting Association and ASB at the Chrysalis Employment Center in Santa Monica and downtown Los Angeles.
10. International Faire, sponsored by the freshman class and ASB.
11. Asian Culture Night, sponsored by the Asian Pacific Affiliation and the Vietnamese Student Association.
12. Amnesty International Week of Action and Awareness, sponsored by Amnesty International Student Organization and the African American Council of Women.
13. Career panel dinner sponsored by the African American Council of Women and ASB in celebration of Black History Month.
14. Sounds of Black Heritage, gospel performance sponsored by the African American Council of Women and the Multicultural Advisory Council.
15. Career awareness panel dinner sponsored by the American Advertising Federation and the Accounting Association.
16. A Day at the Mount with Dolores Huerta, United Farm Workers leader, sponsored by Latinas Unidas and Women Advocates for Knowledge and Empowerment.
17. Participation in the National Hispanic Women's Conference at the L.A. Convention Center presented by the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation, attended by students in the Sociology Club, Latinas Unidas and Women Advocates for Knowledge and Empowerment.
18. Translating Latin American history, culture and language to young children through music, a workshop by Jose Luis Orozco, composer and musician in bilingual education sponsored by the Early Childhood Education Club and the Doheny ASB.
19. Suicide workshop, sponsored by Psi Chi and the Sociology Club.
20. Recycling program at Doheny Campus sponsored by the biology department and students
|
