The iconic statue of the first president in Maxwell’s first-floor foyer is flanked by a new collection of portraits from Robert Shetterly’s “Americans Who Tell the Truth” series. It is part of the the school’s wide-ranging effort to make its physical space more representative of its diverse community.

For nearly a century, in the north entrance to the , a lone statue of President George Washington greeted all who entered the school. A former farmer, land surveyor, American Revolutionary War hero and first president who presided over the Constitutional Convention, his presence stood as an important reminder of the duties and responsibilities of Maxwell students as citizens.

Two years ago, other voices and individuals joined the first president in the building foyer with the installment of a collection of portraits from Robert Shetterly’s “Americans Who Tell the Truth” series, part of the Maxwell School’s wide-ranging effort to make its physical space more representative of its diverse community. Now in its second installment, the exhibition of portraits flanking the famous founder—titled “A Conversation with George Washington”— is designed to further contemplation and discussion around the topic of citizenship.

A portrait of Emma Tenayuca is among those included in the latest installation of Robert Shetterly’s series. At age 16, Tenayuca became a vocal advocate for Mexican American and other workers in her home state of Texas.

Some might be surprised to see contrasting figures like gold-medal Olympian and world heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali, who was stripped of his titles and sentenced to five years in prison for refusing to serve in the Vietnam War, amid his fight for civil rights for Black Americans. “We wanted to get viewers to want to learn more about how and why someone like Muhammad Ali has something to say about citizenship,” says historian , who spearheads the effort as the school’s associate dean for diversity, equity and inclusion.

The surprise is intentional, but not intended to be confrontational. According to the artist’s website, “The portraits are the opposite of hot takes or quick opinions. They invite you to ponder a person, their words, the issues that inspire their life’s journey, work, activism and imagination. And then they welcome you into that vital conversation—across time and space—about what it means to be an American citizen.”

The update also includes portraits of famous and lesser-known activists working in the areas of disability rights, environmental sustainability, rural issues and voting rights, among others.

“The latest batch of portraits emerged out of ones the school considered from the first iteration of the collection,” says , who works alongside McCormick as the school’s strategic initiatives specialist for diversity, equity and inclusion. “We wanted to include folks who represented issues we felt were important to members of our community.”

“We also always have two portraits that put accountability on the table, in this case from the military for veterans and from an investigative journalist,” adds McCormick, referring to Paul Chappell and Ida Tarbell, respectively.

McCormick and Williams are in discussions with Maxwell colleagues to organize a series of events that relate to the new installation. On Oct. 8, Professor , director of the Program for the Advancement of Research on Conflict and Collaboration, led a workshop on Civic Skills for Civic Life that modeled the objectives of the conversation with Washington. In the spring they will host additional workshops guiding conversations around challenging topics like equity and responsibility.

In addition to , the second collection includes:

• 
  Diagnosed with ALS in 2016, Barkan shifted his activism from economic and labor reform to America’s health care system; he spent the last seven years of his life advocating for Medicare for all.
• 
  A prolific writer, Berry raises awareness of the destructive effects of large factory farming on rural communities, among other issues. A fifth generation Kentucky farmer, he cultivates his land with horses and organic methods of fertilization.
• 
  After leaving active duty, the former Army captain became focused on the idea that society should train individuals to wage peace like they train soldiers for war. He has authored six books and is founder of the Peace Literacy Institute.
• 
  As the first Black woman in Congress, “Fighting Shirley” introduced more than 50 pieces of legislation and fought for racial, gender and economic equality. She was the first Black woman to seek the Democratic nomination for president, winning 28 delegates despite being barred from televised debates.
• 
  A biologist and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Kimmerer blends science and Indigenous wisdom to advocate for a deeper relationship to the land and legal recognition of��Rights of Nature. A Distinguished Teaching Professor at the State University of New York’s College of Environmental Science and Forestry, she works with the Haudenosaunee people of Central New York on land rights actions and restoration.
• 
  A chief strategist of the campaign for the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote, Paul employed “deeds not words,” like pickets and hunger strikes, to promote Federal reform. Subjected to arrests, beatings and forced feedings, she and other members of the National Women’s Party continued to fight until its passage.
• 
  Stanton helped organize the first U.S. women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York, drafted the women’s bill of rights and championed women’s suffrage. She also worked to reform laws governing marriage and property, as well as education and religious issues.
• 
  Among many influential works, Tarbell’s 19-part series for McClure’s “The History of the Standard Oil Company,” an expose on how the business monopoly exploited the public, is known as one of the 20th century’s most important works of journalism.
• 
  Tenayuca became a vocal advocate for Mexican American and other workers in her home state of Texas at age 16. Blacklisted following the largest riot in San Antonio’s history, Tenayuca left the state, returning 20 years later as a teacher for migrants.

Graduate-level learning, research and creative activities can also occur throughout the community as students work with local residents of all ages and backgrounds through partnerships with a variety of local organizations.

Graduate-level learning, research and creative activities take place in classrooms, labs and studios on the Syracuse University campus, but they also occur throughout the community as graduate students work with local residents of all ages and backgrounds through partnerships with a variety of local organizations.

The and the (EHN) in the College of Arts and Sciences are two campus resources that help graduate students find volunteer opportunities and carry out community-based research initiatives.

The Shaw Center is the University’s hub for experiential learning, matching student volunteers with community needs. Administrative coordinator says volunteers work at the University’s and other community locations, including the , , and (SCSD) schools.

EHN annual research assistantships and summer and winter fellowships provide arts and humanities that align with graduate scholarship, coursework and community-building. About 35 graduate students are currently involved across a range of programs, says , EHN founder and director.

Lauren Ashby

Lauren Ashby, a Ph.D. student in sociology, works with Data Warriors, a club at SCSD’s Nottingham High School that uses math and mapping to advance social justice and address local issues. She previously ran a summer research program for SCSD students on geographic information systems (technology that creates, analyzes and plots data to a map).

The community engagement and participatory research Ashby’s EHN-associated projects provide are important to her research, which looks at educational segregation and inequality, she says. “I have been able to work with incredible high school students who want to make real change in their communities. I’m diving right into what I am passionate about and I share that beyond academic spaces. Partnering with students pushes scholarship in new directions and provides new insights,” she says.

Lauren Cooper

Lauren Cooper, a Ph.D. candidate in English, specializes in the climate history of the Romantic period and its relationship to Romantic literature. She works mainly with first-generation immigrants, new Americans and other traditionally underserved populations.��Through her work with Write Out, she has helped area youth share their stories��while also enjoying literature. Her “Ecologies of Writing” project, she partnered with to offer students a way to respond to human-induced environmental and climate change.

Community-engaged projects provide a needed real-world lens to balance climate crisis and environmental justice questions against the literary responses to those issues, Cooper says. “Engaged humanities work provides a really valuable mode of making sure we’re centering questions and voices grounded in our contemporary moment and the community around us, even as we conduct specialized research,” she says.

Caroline Dollar

Caroline Dollar, a master’s student in public administration in the , started reading with kindergarteners and second graders at SCSD’s Delaware Primary School through the United Way of Central New York’s program. She travels to and from the school using Shaw Center transportation.

Learning about some of the challenges many SCSD children face, Dollar felt moved to help address them, she says. “I love to read, and I enjoy sharing that love with the students, so I decided to get involved with the community. I honestly just feel good about spending a little bit of my time each week giving back and connecting with the kids.”������

Graduate film student Monae Kyhara leads students in a filmmaking workshop activity.

Monae Kyhara, a master’s film student in the (VPA), helped pilot a filmmaking workshop, “Teens with a Movie Camera.” She worked with Evan Bode G’23, a VPA film and media arts graduate who is now a VPA instructor.

The project encouraged teens to use their smartphones as an artistic instrument and a form of self-expression.

Monae Kyhara

The experience was an enlightening and rewarding one, she says. “It allowed us to expand artist conversations with young artists and was an opportunity for both parties to learn from each other and grow in our love of the arts through pedagogy and practice.

Diana Varo Lucero volunteers at La Casita Cultural Center to read stories with young children. (Photo by Edward Reynolds)

Hosting Shaw Center weekly story times at La Casita Cultural Center helped Diana Varo Lucero, a master’s multimedia, photography and design student in the , stay connected to her community. She is producing a documentary for her master’s project. ��

Diana Varo Lucero

“I chose to volunteer because part of my values as a storyteller and a creative is to use my platform to give back to my community and provide a space for other people to tell their stories,” Lucero says. “I think that to create impact, we must actively become involved with our communities. La Casita has given me the space to learn and become involved. I have met welcoming people, built a supportive community and have discovered my ability to work with different age groups. I’m also still able to work towards contributing to local communities.”

Syracuse City School District students work on an experiment

The initiative, Syracuse University Physics Emerging Research Technologies Summer High School Internship Program (SUPER-Tech SHIP), is a partnership between the Department of Physics in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Syracuse City School District (SCSD). , professor and chair of physics, is principal investigator. The co-principal investigator is , professor and associate chair of physics.

“This program will allow us to really increase the impact we can have on both the local community of high school students who might be interested in future STEM careers, and also on our Syracuse University undergraduate and graduate students who work alongside them and use the experience to develop as mentors, teachers and scientists,” Soderberg says.

Jennifer Ross

Through SUPER-Tech SHIP, student interns will be exposed to skills and concepts related to quantum information, semiconductors and biotechnology during a six-week program. It’s based on a run by the physics department during the summers of 2022 and 2023. That program, Syracuse University Research in Physics (SURPh), engaged SCSD students and recent graduates in six-week, paid internships, during which they worked alongside faculty researchers in physics labs and classrooms. Ross developed it after then-student Ruell Branch ’24 told her that his former classmates at SCSD’s Henninger High School would love to experience hands-on learning in the University’s physics lab.

“I am very invested in exposing people to the positives of physics and science—especially people who have been historically excluded from the field due to cultural stereotypes,” Ross says. “I want people to have opportunities, and this program is a way to give people opportunities to learn about other career paths.”

SUPER-Tech SHIP, like SURPh, seeks to create STEM career pathways for historically excluded groups by involving them in authentic research experiences and providing mentoring and peer networks. The SCSD student body is 48% Black, 15% Latino and 1% Indigenous; 85% of students are economically disadvantaged. To recruit students to the program, physics faculty members will visit SCSD classrooms to promote participation. Applications will be evaluated based on a student’s persistence and grit, rather than science experience.

Mitchell Soderberg

Following an orientation “boot camp,” interns will work in pairs on long-term research projects in the labs. Ross says interns may work on biotechnology in biophysics labs, looking at the mechanical nature of bacteria; particle detection, using semiconductor technology and novel detection schemes; or astrophysics, working to understand how black holes collide and tear apart stars.

Past participants in the SURPh project will return to serve as peer mentors and participate in research with current interns. The interns will also benefit from seminars on science topics, professional development workshops, lunch-and-learns with speakers from the University and the industry and weekly activities to introduce them to different areas of campus. The six weeks will conclude with a poster session and a celebration event attended by the interns’ friends, family members and teachers.

Ross says encouraging the next generation of creative problem-solvers to work in tech is essential in order for the U.S. to remain competitive in the high-tech industry, and that “creativity requires diversity in thought and that often comes from diversity in thinkers.”

She also notes the program’s synergy with the impending arrival of Micron Technology in Central New York. “Micron will need many workers for the fabrication and production factory, and the exposure the students will get will help them to understand the fundamental science and the cutting-edge technologies that microchips support,” she says. “It is the right thing to do to develop our local economy by training the folks in our community who have outstanding potential to make the world a better place through high-tech solutions to the world’s problems. Syracuse is the right place for this development to take place.”

The work of nearly 40 artists aged six to 12 who have participated in the center’s free will be displayed. The opening event and reception take place on Friday, April 19, at La Casita’s facilities at 109 Otisco Street, Syracuse. The event is free and open to the public.

Tere Panaigua

, executive director of the at Syracuse University, says center staff take great pride in the young artists’ accomplishments. “The children’s achievements are remarkable, and programming like this allows everyone involved to gain knowledge and understanding about different creative works as well as about each other. It is a wonderful way to learn more about the many cultures that abound in our city and our region and how people make connections through art.”

More than 200 Syracuse University students serve as interns and volunteers in the programs, working together with faculty members and community artists to help youngsters in the program with a range of art projects and musical and dance performances. The children who participate include residents of the City’s West Side, Syracuse City School District students, and those from other parts of Syracuse and neighboring towns.

Paniagua says the program is valuable for more than just the way it teaches children about the arts. “The children are engaged in a culturally centered, safe environment where they are learning and gaining new skills. They also are working with older students who mentor them and provide them with some amazing role models.”

The event will highlight the work of these activities:

Open Studio (artmaking): This workshop is led by graduate student Bennie Guzman G ’25, a College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) creative art therapy major and youth programming coordinator for La Casita since 2018. Guest artists who collaborated with Bennie in designing and facilitating workshops include , associate professor of film at VPA, who facilitated a two-week animation film workshop; and , a Syracuse teaching artist who exhibited at this year’s Latino Futurism show and who led a comic book illustration workshop. Two undergraduate students assisted in the workshop programming: Sidney Mejía ’24, a political science major in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, and Ana Aponte ’24, Gonzalez, a dual major in communications and rhetorical studies and women’s and gender studies in VPA and the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S).

Danza Troupe: This dance ensemble will perform at the reception. It is led by Syracuse University student Gabriela Padilla ’25, a biochemistry major in A&S who has been the program’s dance instructor and choreographer for the past two years. She and the troupe plan a show for the opening event that features an about La Casita. The song was written by Alexander Paredes, who recently completed an executive Master of Public Administration at the Maxwell School and is now using his optional practical training year to work in administration at La Casita.

Children in the afterschool arts program study piano with instructor and undergraduate student volunteer piano instructor Myra Bocage ’26. (Photo by Edward Reynolds)

Children in the program’s piano and violin workshops will also perform along with their instructors, recent VPA violin performance graduate student Tales Navarro ’G 24 and piano instructor Myra Bocage ’26, an advertising major at the Newhouse School of Public Communications.

Students involved in the dual language literacy programs at La Casita include Andrea Perez Ternet ’24, a human development and family science senior in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, who is completing a capstone internship at La Casita, and Diana García Varo G ’25, a graduate student in the multimedia, photography and design program at the Newhouse School.

La Casita, an arts and education center supported by Syracuse University, was established in 2011 as a cultural bridge for Latino/Latin American communities on campus and throughout the Central New York region.

From left to right, the Falk College team of students Rylee Pepper and Kristen Davis and professors Lynn Brann and Rachel Razza lead an activity with Universal Pre-Kindergarten students from Elbridge Elementary School as part of the Mindfully Growing program.

Do you like broccoli?

“I touched broccoli with my feet.”

You like eating watermelon, what does it smell like?

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What does snow taste like?

“B���dz����DZ���.”

Welcome to a Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) Age 4 classroom at in Elbridge, New York, where it’s true that kids say the darndest things but with their five senses–sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch–they’re also learning healthy eating habits through the Mindfully Growing program.

The program’s curriculum is being taught by a team of professors and students from Syracuse University who, throughout this school year, have been visiting the UPK Age 4 classrooms at Elbridge Elementary on Thursday mornings. On the morning where broccoli was on the children’s minds, professors and and doctoral student Kristen Davis focused on touch as they hid baby carrots, clementines, and pea pods in a box and the children used their sense of touch to guess what they were.

After guessing the type of food, the children are able to taste it.

After the food was pulled from the box, the children were able to taste it and discover that this healthy stuff isn’t so bad after all.

“The program is getting the students in touch with different ways to experience food,” Davis says. “They’re seeing food in a different way, connecting with where it comes from and ways they can slow down and enjoy it.”

Slowing down and enjoying the food is where the “mindfully” part of the Mindfully Growing program comes into play. The nutrition component is paired with mindfulness practices, which can foster greater empathy and communication skills, improve focus and attention, reduce stress and enhance creativity and general well-being.

“It works because the kids get excited about being included in activities that their friends are enjoying,” says Elbridge UPK Age 4 teacher Mark MacLachlan. “So, when they are offered to try raw shell peas with all of their friends at school, it’s an easy sell.

“Most of the kids really enjoyed them, too,” MacLachlan says.

A Mindful Journey

The Mindfully Growing curriculum was created by Brann, associate professor and Chair of the at the , and Razza, associate professor and chair of the Department of (HDFS) at Falk College whose research focuses on the benefits of mindfulness-based programs for promoting resilience in schools and communities.

The initiative is funded by the Pediatric Nutrition Practice Group of the , and Brann and Razza recently received a grant from the MetLife Foundation through the to ensure the curriculum resonates with marginalized populations.

Brann says the curriculum is focused on 4-year-olds because it’s trying to get young children to develop an understanding of where food comes from and increase their acceptance of a variety of foods before they get set in their ways. The 10 lessons start with the origin of plants, fruits and vegetables, moves into using senses to explore foods, and finishes with lessons on hunger vs. fullness and sharing food together.

“It’s a good time to get them to explore food, and we do a tasting pretty much every lesson so they get an opportunity to try something new,” Brann says. “With this group, almost every one of them has tasted the food and several of them have asked for more, which is pretty exciting to see them being so open to it.”

From left to right, the Falk College team of Rachel Razza, Colleen Smith, Christina McCord, Rylee Pepper, Lynn Brann, and Kristen Davis delivered the Mindfully Growing lessons at Elbridge Elementary School this spring.

Razza says with preschool children ages 3-5, there’s a significant increase in executive function skills, so they’re better able to delay gratification and inhibit their impulses. Thus, the interventions offered by the Mindfully Growing curriculum are important to introduce to this group of students.

“Can they control their impulses and self-regulate overall and also in the food context?” Razza says. “Lynn and I have been working to determine the overlaps between these two areas and how we can use intervention to simultaneously enhance both of them.”

While Brann, Razza and Davis are with one UPK class for 30 minutes, the other class is having a 30-minute yoga lesson with yoga instructor Colleen Smith from BeLive Yoga (beliveyoga@icloud.com) and undergraduate student Christina McCord from Falk College’s . Smith, who has been teaching yoga and mindfulness to preschool children in the for several years, helped connect Brann and Razza to Superintendent James Froio and Elementary School Principal Brooke Bastian because, as Smith says, she “continues to be impressed by their support of students and their willingness to offer yoga and programs or events that supplement the students’ daily education.”

In her yoga sessions, Smith says she helps the children learn how to self-regulate their bodies, breath and even emotions as she tries to “meet the children where they are” by matching their energy level and then bringing them to a brief time of rest.

“One thing that can be difficult for them is trying new experiences and foods,” Smith says. “The yoga and mindfulness lessons can help children pay attention to their bodies, thoughts and breath in the moment so they can self-regulate and make healthy and appropriate choices when presented with new or challenging experiences like a mindful eating lesson.”

Bastian, who’s in her fourth year as principal and 11th in the district, says Elbridge Elementary School has a unique UPK program because it offers a full day for both 3- and 4-year olds. Bastian says she and the teachers have enjoyed the partnership with Syracuse because they know the positive impacts that early intervention can have on students. “Mindfulness is a focus in UPK to help promote self-regulation, and when mindfulness is approached in a holistic��way it can have a greater impact,” Bastian says. “We want children to develop��healthy habits in general so food, which is highly��motivating, is a great way to begin that mindful journey.”

For the remainder of this story on the Mindfully Growing program, please visit the .

The College of Law is adding a to its clinical legal education offerings beginning in the Fall 2024 semester.

The Housing Clinic will operate in partnership with and the to provide representation to low-income tenants in eviction, housing conditions and other rental housing-related matters. Students in the clinic, working under the supervision of clinic director Professor , will handle all aspects of clients’ cases, including interviewing and counseling, investigation, negotiation, pleading and motion practice, courtroom advocacy and real estate procedure.

“The Housing Clinic will bring much-needed representation to an underserved population dealing with profound living condition issues,” says Dean . “At the same time, our students will be gaining practical legal skills essential to a legal career and a priority in the College of Law curriculum.”

“Housing cases move quickly and are tried almost immediately, providing students with multiple opportunities during the semester to see a case through to resolution—from the initial interview and filing of motions to settlement or trial, including appearing in Syracuse City Court,” says Pieples. “The Housing Clinic also provides students another opportunity to explore public interest law as a career.”

The Housing Clinic is underwritten by a grant from Legal Services of Central New York and the Legal Aid Society, which received additional New York State funding under the Tenant Dignity and Safe Housing Act.

The College of Law now offers students a choice of : the Bankruptcy Clinic, the Betty & Michael D. Wohl Veterans Legal Clinic, the Criminal Defense Clinic, the Disability Rights Clinic, the Housing Clinic, the Sherman F. Levey ’57, L’59 Low Income Taxpayer Clinic, and the Transactional Law Clinic.

A confluence of social, economic and systemic factors—under resourced communities, weak gun laws, inadequate educational and employment opportunities, and systemic racial inequities—all contribute to this disparity. But to what extent do place-based community factors also contribute to, or protect against, this elevated risk? And how do these factors converge to make our communities of color more or less safe?

Bryce Hruska

A team of researchers, including , assistant professor of public health in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, , chair and professor of public health at Falk, and Margaret Formica, associate professor of public health and preventive medicine at Upstate Medical University, seeks to better understand these questions as they relate to firearm violence risk and potential urban design solutions in Syracuse.

With over $250,000 of funding from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities over a two-year grant, the team hopes their analysis of the firearm violence landscape in Syracuse will have real-world applications as the city considers its future, especially as it relates to the I-81 Viaduct Project, as well as other urban renewal projects across the country.

In this Q&A, Hruska, the study’s principal investigator, shares more about the research and its potential to influence the development of public policies aimed at reducing firearm violence in Black communities in Syracuse and elsewhere.

More than 250 people–including individuals, couples, parents and children–attended Trans Support Day in April 2023, and organizer , Ph.D., says the Trans Team is looking to top last year’s turnout at the 2024 event. This year’s Trans Support Day will be held from noon to 4 p.m. on March 23 at Peck Hall, 601 E. Genesee St., just north of the Syracuse University campus. The event is free and open to the public.

“I feel like it’s going to be a really powerful community event like it was last year,” says Martin, an assistant teaching professor in the Department of Marriage and Family Therapy in the . “This event offers a space filled with hope, positivity and community support.”

More than 250 people–including individuals, couples, parents, and children–attended Trans Support Day in April 2023 at Syracuse University’s Peck Hall in downtown Syracuse.

Attendees at this year’s Trans Support Day will have the opportunity to connect with local trans-affirming providers and resources; receive name and gender marker legal support; access free clothing and makeup; get free services from hair, nail and makeup artists; access trans-affirming products; receive therapeutic support for parents of trans youth; and have a space for youth to connect.

As a new feature, the Trans Team has invited two world-renowned local surgeons to share their expertise with attendees interested in gender-affirming surgery. Other guests will include post-surgical providers from Upstate University Hospital’s and , and representatives from , a not-for-profit organization that promotes the health and well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning people in Central New York as they age.

Martin says events such as Trans Support Day are more important than ever as members of the trans community experience societal and legislative discrimination in the United States. According to the , more than 500 bills in over 40 states have been introduced seeking to block trans people from receiving basic healthcare, education, legal recognition and the right to publicly exist. Several similar bills were signed into law in 2023.

New York is one of a handful of states where no anti-trans bills have been passed. But accessing resources such as the ones that will be available at Trans Support Day remains an issue for trans people everywhere.

“In my clinical practice, I connect with other therapists, and we often collaborate with other local resources and providers,” Martin says. “However, I learned that often clients are not aware of these services and allies available to them in Syracuse.

“I wanted to create an event that brought everyone together in one room,” Martin adds. “Although we have different expertise and resources, we all have one common goal, to improve the well-being and support the transgender community.”

, Ph.D., an MFT associate professor, founded the Trans Team in 2004. The team is part of the Syracuse University in Peck Hall, and students on the team receive specialized training to provide gender-affirmative therapy for transgender people and their families and assist in the readiness process for medical gender transition.

Coolhart says the 2023 Trans Support Day was a huge success thanks to the leadership and efforts of Martin and marriage and family therapy students, faculty and staff. In the previous Trans Support Day in 2019, the attendance was 40 people, so the event is growing significantly and assisting more members of the trans community.

“The current political landscape for trans folks is threatening and scary, making this event so necessary and special,” Coolhart said after last year’s event. “In a world that often does not welcome trans people, I could see on the faces of the guests the gratitude, validation, and support they felt having a space that was celebrating them and connecting them to the resources they need.”

EHN founder��, who is the Dean’s Professor of Community Engagement in A&S and a professor of writing and rhetoric, established the����in 2021 to provide faculty, students, staff and community partners with support for publicly engaged research, programming and creative work. Building on that effort, Nordquist and his team started the����program this academic year (2023-24) to elevate and interconnect the work happening in new and existing A&S classes whose curriculums empower students to forge meaningful community partnerships through their coursework.

“The Engaged Communities model has worked so well in bringing collaborative research and creative teams together that we wanted to generate a similar structure for courses,” says Nordquist. “Engaged Courses presents the same cohort-based model as other EHN programs to bring faculty across departments together to share resources, exchange ideas and help invest in each other’s work around community-engaged curricular design and implementation.”

Arts and Sciences faculty and staff hold an Engaged Courses cohort meeting in the Tolley Humanities Building to share information about their classes and offer mutual support.

Community-engaged work can be challenging for faculty due to logistical difficulties, time constraints and access to resources. This is where the Engaged Courses initiative comes in. In addition to the collaborative support from their fellow faculty in planning and sharing experiences, recipients of this grant receive funding from EHN to help with anything from supplies to food to transportation and other needs.

The inaugural cohort includes five courses, each from a different A&S department. While three of the five classes are being offered in the spring semester, two launched in fall 2023: an introductory level writing course in the��, and a clinical practicum in the��.

Translating Cultures

, assistant teaching professor of writing and rhetoric, taught a course titled “Introduction to Creative Non-Fiction, Writing and Translating Cultures,” which connected Syracuse University students with Onondaga Community College (OCC) students of various ages, ethnicities and linguistic backgrounds who are learning English as a second language.

Arts and Sciences professor Sevinç Türkkan (right) conversing with Tara Binte Sharil during a cross-cultural exchange session between Syracuse and OCC students on the Syracuse University campus.

For one of the assignments, the OCC students selected, researched and translated a text of cultural significance in their native language that was not available in English. Syracuse students worked closely with them, offering feedback to help preserve the cross-cultural and cross-linguistic aspects of their English translations of these texts.

The OCC classroom consisted of students whose native languages included Arabic, Afghani, Persian-Farsi, Korean, Ukrainian, Spanish, Burmese, Chinese, Lingala, Vietnamese and Turkish. Türkkan says the goal of this exercise was not to simply render the texts into seamless English narratives, but also to maintain their bilingual flavors.

The OCC and Syracuse students fittingly met for the first time in Hall of Languages—the visual landmark of Syracuse University whose name references the rich history of language learning that has taken place within its classrooms. Students worked together on these narratives, revising them and communicating their significance in introductions and through various visual elements. The Syracuse students also interviewed their OCC partners on topics including immigration, the refugee experience, life as an immigrant in Syracuse, and linguistic, cultural, and economic challenges. The interviews became the basis of their final projects, which were literary profiles about their peers.

Syracuse University student Sunny Suaya (left) interviews OCC student Yeohyun Yoon about the text that he chose to translate into English and his experience living in a new country.

One such piece, prepared by Sunny Suaya ’27, highlighted the bond she made with her partner, Yeohyun Yoon. Born in South Korea, Yoon took the class at OCC with his wife so they could improve their English language skills. He chose to translate the Korean poem, “Sky, Wind, Star and Poetry,” which was written by the poet Yoon Dong-ju during the Korean Independence movement against the Empire of Japan in the early 20th century.

In her literary profile, Suaya explained the significance of Dong-ju’s work, which she learned about through her interaction with Yeohyun, and reflected on their newly formed relationship: “Yoon Dong-ju expressed the agony of a person during the colonial era in beautiful poetry and is considered a resistance poet who gave a ray of hope to the Korean people… As I ended my interview with Yeohyun, I felt our connection. We both were excited to be new friends and even later ate dinner together. By the end of the night, I left Yeohyun by saying ‘I am very happy to now have a close friend with someone from South Korea.’”

Türkkan notes that this type of personal cross-cultural exchange – where students bring their strengths to the table while at the same time recognizing that their community partner has complementary strengths – is a key competence of being an effective global citizen. Seeing this positive interaction play out in class is one of the more fulfilling experiences as an educator, she says.

Students from Syracuse University and Onondaga Community College worked together on the cultural text translation project, led by professor Sevinç Türkkan (second in from the left).

“The Syracuse students learned cultural and linguistic humility when they attempted to revise a translated text whose original they could not read and had to rely on their OCC partners for a thorough understanding of how the original text signifies in its original language,” notes Türkkan. “On the other hand, my OCC students realized that they have something precious — a native language — that gave them the confidence and strength to continue to improve their English. They approached the task of learning English from a position of strength rather than from a position of insecurity and incompetence.”

While Türkkan says the financial aspect of the grant was instrumental in helping to cover such expenses as food and transportation of students between Syracuse University and Onondaga Community College, just as important was the community she built with the rest of her Engaged Courses cohort.

“Being able to share challenges and brainstorm solutions with faculty who had the same community-engaged values and were planning similar courses was above all inspirational and motivating,” she says.

Visit the to read the complete story.

Together, they have created a new and innovative partnership starting this spring that will greatly benefit veterans as well as students from the in the .

Nick Armstrong (left) and Ken Marfilius

Marfilius, a U.S. Air Force veteran and assistant dean of online education and associate teaching professor in the School of Social Work, and Amstrong, a U.S. Army veteran and head of public sector at , teamed with Cabana co-founder and CEO to form a partnership that will integrate their immersive group support technology into the School of Social Work’s curriculum and tap into the combined strengths and capabilities of both organizations.

“Our collaboration with Ken and Falk leverages our immersive support technology platform, Cabana, and combines it with Syracuse University’s academic excellence and its nationally recognized commitment to veterans,” Armstrong says. “Our plan includes hands-on initiatives such as internships, collaborative education and joint research. These efforts will bring our partnership to fruition and strengthen our shared commitment to serving military communities.”

As Syracuse University’s first Post 9/11 GI Bill recipient, Armstrong earned an M.P.A. and Ph.D. from the . He spent nine years at Syracuse’s before joining Cabana, which builds innovative technology solutions that provide guided mental health support for employers, health care workers and military professionals.

Marfilius, who received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Syracuse and M.S.W. and D.S.W. degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, developed the first military mental health course at the Falk College, serves as Falk’s student veteran liaison, and led the creation of the partnership between Falk and the University’s College of Law that helps�� veterans access the legal services they need.

So, when Armstrong reached out to Marfilius to discuss ways in which they could partner around the services Cabana provides to military populations, Marfilius jumped right in and started working with Armstrong and Black on the framework for their collaboration.

“I believe the partnership between Cabana and the Falk College is innovative in social work education and mental wellness,” Marfilius says. “It offers the ability to integrate real-world internships and cutting-edge tele-mental health training into our curriculum. We can prepare our graduate students for the future of social work, ensuring they are not only skilled but also technologically adept.”

Cabana’s immersive group support technology for clients includes a video component (center), a chat feature (right) and the functionality to be anonymous and mute your microphone within the group setting (left).

Here are the highlights of this unique partnership:

• Cabana Internship. Cabana will host one graduate student intern from the School of Social Work to support ongoing peer group support operations and psychoeducational content development. The intern will work under the supervision of Cabana’s head of mental wellness for a minimum of 500 hours.

• Tele-Mental Health Training and Education Support. Cabana will collaborate with the Falk College faculty to embed its immersive group support technology into ongoing coursework and curricula to foster training and preparation of future social work professionals.

“The tele-behavioral health landscape is evolving rapidly, demanding practitioner and client adaptability to virtual environments,” Armstrong says. “Our partnership infuses Falk’s curriculum with leading-edge tools via Cabana’s underlying technology platform, better preparing students for client engagements through digital platforms.

“Moreover, Falk students, equipped with an advanced tier of military cultural competence, will enhance our clients’ experiences—and their future clients—with more relatable, informed support that builds trust and overcomes stigma,” Armstrong says.

• Military and Veteran Virtual Peer Groups. Cabana will work with Falk faculty and its alumni network to assist ongoing virtual peer support groups for military and veterans starting this spring.

“This collaboration aligns with the Syracuse University mission to be the best place for vets, and it uniquely positions us to offer specialized support to our military and veteran communities,” Marfilius says. “Through virtual peer support groups and the development of tailored psychoeducational content, we are providing them with the essential mental health support they deserve.”

• Military and Veteran Psychoeducational Content Development. Cabana will work with Falk College faculty to review and evaluate Cabana content as a third-party reviewer.

“Engaging with industry partners allows us to bring practical, real-world experiences into our academic environment,” Marfilius says. “This partnership brings vast possibilities for research collaborations and advancement in peer interventions and group psychoeducation.”

• CEU/Education Credits. Falk College faculty will provide feedback, evaluate and, where appropriate, certify Cabana groups and content to satisfy New York State CEU (continuing education unit) requirements for well-being hours.

• Research Collaborations. As opportunities arise for Cabana and the Falk College, the two entities agree to evaluate research collaborations and grant opportunities surrounding peer interventions, group psychoeducation and other forms of mental health support.

“This collaboration aims to address the critical national shortage of mental health professionals, leveraging technology to extend reach and overcome barriers to access, especially for underserved populations,” Armstrong says. “It’s not just about serving more; it’s about serving smarter and cultivating a workforce ready for the challenges of today’s and tomorrow’s mental health landscape.”

Social work students interested in getting involved in this partnership should email Marfilius at kjmarfil@syr.edu, or School of Social Work Director of Field Education Tracy Walker at ttwalker@syr.edu. Graduate students interested in the internship will go through an interview process with the School of Social Work and Cabana, and the intern will receive a modest stipend.

Margaret Talev discusses the mission and vision for the Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship, how distrust in election results and politicians is at an all-time high and the challenges artificial intelligence poses.

can vividly recall the specific moment she knew journalism had failed to properly inform and educate a large portion of the American voting electorate.

It was Jan. 6, 2021. More than 1,000 citizens were protesting at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Talev was working as managing editor at Axios, overseeing the outlet’s political coverage. During the events, one of her reporters became trapped in the chambers of the House of Representatives, while another was trapped in the Senate’s chambers.

A decorated and accomplished national political journalist, Talev prided herself on helping people understand the news, both in the short-term and big picture. Talev covered American politics and the White House for 30 years, including working the campaign trail for presidential elections in 2008, 2012 and 2016 as a White House correspondent for Bloomberg News and McClatchy Newspapers.

Talev watched the events unfold and was left wondering how thousands of her fellow citizens could stage a protest based on misinformation.

Unsure of her future in journalism, Talev wanted to focus her career efforts on the relationship between the news that was being produced and consumed by voters and how that was impacting their views on democracy and governance.

Margaret Talev

She was immediately interested in serving as the Kramer Director of the Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship (IDJC), a joint effort of the . Based in Washington, the institute promotes nonpartisan, evidence-based research and dialogue in the public interest, striving to create new knowledge, foster a more informed and engaged citizenry and better equip students for success.

“I cared about focusing on the governance and the information piece of this, which is, how is democracy working for people? What do people believe democracy is? And why are a segment of Americans so upset with the process that they’re willing to resort to violence or willing to believe conspiracy theories? That became the central question that I was interested in reporting on, and the chance to build an institute that would really be dedicated to looking at the connection between news and government, between journalism and politics, between how people perceive the way their country is working and the news they’re ingesting,” Talev says of the IDJC, which will formally open its headquarters in Washington later this spring.

On this “’Cuse Conversation,” Talev discusses the mission and vision for the IDJC, how distrust in election results and politicians is at an all-time high, the role citizens can play to address issues facing our democracy and the challenges artificial intelligence poses.

Check out episode 158 of the featuring Talev. A transcript [PDF] is also available.

The 108 volunteers gathered on Feb. 23 at Skybarn on South Campus for a three-hour workshop to sand, drill and assemble wooden bunk beds. The group included 86 University students, 11 staff, faculty and retirees, plus 11 other members of the Syracuse chapter of (SHP).

Student volunteers work on drilling boards as part of the SHP bed assembly work. (Photos by Amelia Beamish)

SHP, whose mantra is “No Kid Sleeps on the Floor in Our Town,” is one of 270 chapters nationwide. The organization’s mission is to build and deliver new beds and bedding to children who may have been sleeping on a couch or the floor, and who, in many cases, have never had a bed of their own.

The Syracuse SHP group has partnered with the for Public and Community Service—the University’s hub for academic community engagement—for several years. Though the chapter has built and delivered 4,564 beds to Syracuse-area children since it began in 2018, 870 kids are still on the waitlist. SHP leaders say 76% of the beds built here will go to children who live within two miles of campus.

Friday’s event was organized by (SUVO) president ’25, a dual public relations and psychology major from Norwalk, Ohio. She says this is the first time in a decade that SUVO has initiated a large-scale volunteer project, and it’s one that seemed to resonate with everyone who heard about it.

“Hundreds of children in Syracuse are currently sleeping on the floor. We often take a bed for granted, but it can have such an impact on one’s overall physical and mental health,” Ceccoli says. “A bed is not something I’ve ever given a second thought. I crawl into my bed when I’m sick, need a safe place or want some alone time. SHP’s goal of providing children who need but don’t have that safe space is such a worthy mission that I’m humbled and honored to leverage student resources to help a community partner.”

In a different area, student volunteers sand boards.

advisors Karrie Catalino and Mackenzie Jackson encouraged Ceccoli to bring the bed-building initiative to campus. Planning began in September 2023. Ceccoli applied for Student Association funding and SUVO was awarded nearly $12,000 to cover the costs of all materials and bedding. Once SUVO started promoting the event, volunteers eagerly signed on, including Phanstiel Scholars, Our Time Has Come Scholars and Kessler Scholars. Others reached out, too, including the University’s Brighten a Day unit, the Construction Management Club and Jonathan French, associate teaching professor and undergraduate director in the chemistry department in the , Ceccoli says.

Past and Current Employees

Several current and retired University employees are involved as volunteers with SHP and have been instrumental in the local chapter’s efforts. In 2018, employees Jon Wright, now retired from , and Jeff Pitt ’91, director of information technology services at the College of Arts and Sciences, formed the chapter and still serve as its co-presidents. Back then, they approached Dave Hoalcraft ’85 to join them. A 36-year University employee who retired in 2021, Hoalcraft now volunteers as SHP’s shop manager and bed-building trainer.

SHP-Syracuse volunteers Dave Hoalcraft, left, a retired University employee and Jeff Pitt, right, a current employee, worked with SUVO president and student Claire Ceccoli to lead the project.

Pitt says he likes that SHP fulfills two needs in the community. “One is the obvious one of providing a warm, comfortable place to sleep for children in need. The second is subtler: providing an outlet for people who want to give back to the community but who don’t know how to get started.”

Hoalcraft says the group’s mission “was a direct bullseye for me [so] I jumped right in. I am ‘Forever Orange,’ so doing a bed build with students on campus means a lot to me. I get to help a lot of kind people build beds for children in our community and ultimately help get children their own beds. It is awesome that Syracuse University students give back directly to the children in the community where [the students] live.”

On-Campus Spark

This is the first time SHP has held a mobile bed build on campus, and Ceccoli thinks the location has been key to the success of the event. “I think it can sometimes be intimidating for students to get off campus,” she says. “SUVO is seeking to connect students to the community and to inspire them to volunteer by making this opportunity accessible. We hope they will continue beyond this event to help SHP build or deliver more beds.” SUVO plans to provide students with information about additional volunteer opportunities.

“This is a beautiful testament to the interest and passion Syracuse University students have for community engagement,” Ceccoli says. “I want to work in the nonprofit sector. This is so real for me and to think of the impact we’ll be making on these children’s lives and their families’ lives while amplifying SHP’s mission is wonderful. Quite literally, I’d do this for the rest of my life.”

Claire Ceccoli with Kathryn Bradford, Shaw Center employee and SUVO advisor

Kathryn Bradford ’06, Shaw Center administrative coordinator and SUVO advisor, says she is extremely proud of how Ceccoli used knowledge from her classes and her Shaw Center leadership development intern experience to take the project from idea to reality through diligence, passion and positivity. “Hopefully this experience will encourage more students to participate in community engagement as a continuing part of their educational experience and beyond,” Bradford says.

Are you engaged in a volunteer activity that is having an impact on the greater community? In upcoming editions of SU Today, we plan to profile some of our faculty, staff and students who are making the world a better place through community service. Please email internalcomms@syr.edu with your story.

Social Workers United students from Falk College celebrated Valentine’s Day and Mardi Gras with residents from Brookdale Summerfield Senior Living in Syracuse.

This was going to be a story about the Social Workers United student group from the and how it once again organized an event to benefit the Syracuse community.

And it still is.

But if you dig deeper, this story is much more than that.

It’s about how these students “continue to exemplify the values of social work: service, commitment to clients, and social justice,” says , school of social work assistant teaching professor and master of social work program director who oversees Social Workers United (SWU).

It’s about a woman named Dolly, a resident of in Syracuse who, before SWU students came to visit on Feb. 13, hadn’t celebrated Valentine’s Day since her husband died.

And it’s about the kindness that Dolly showed her students as a teacher years ago, the kindness that SWU students showed Dolly and her friends on Feb. 13, and the hope that even with the politics, wars and mass shootings that dominate our headlines today, kindness is still all around us.

“We are so proud of our future social workers,” Genovese says. “They are shining a light toward a brighter future.”

‘An Amazing Group’

SWU is the student group of the in Falk College. Each semester, the students organize a food or clothing drive, and this past fall they collected food for the which helps students experiencing food insecurity.

Faculty advisors , , and Genovese advise and support the SWU students as they develop service projects, but the students lead the projects. For their first project of the spring semester, the students arranged a Valentine’s Day event for the residents of Brookdale Summerfield, an adult home and adult home memory care community for seniors.

Social Workers United students delivered handmade Valentine’s Day cards with personal messages, heart-shaped donuts, and balloons to the Brookdale residents.

On Feb. 13, the SWU students delivered handmade Valentine’s Day cards with personal messages, heart-shaped donuts and balloons to the Brookdale residents, who were already celebrating Mardi Gras. SWU’s arrival added a boost to the celebration.

“The valentines were collected in the social work office, and I really thought one student, (SWU president) Mary Claytor, was just going to drop them off at Brookdale,” Genovese says. “I had no idea the entire group of students was going and bringing balloons and donuts. The students organized all of this and paid for it themselves as SWU does not receive funding. They are an amazing group!”

Claytor, a first-year graduate student and graduate assistant who’s on track to obtain a master’s degree in social work, says when the students arrived, each one went to a different table to deliver their cards and engage in conversations. It didn’t take long before one of the residents shared a story about receiving two purple hearts from his service in World War II.

“There were so many incredible stories and lots of laughter,” says Claytor, who’s from Denver, Colorado. “Some folks were so surprised that we would dedicate time to them and asked for us to come back soon! It was a great experience, and we were happy to do something special for a group of people who did not expect to be celebrated.”

‘A Calling to Help’

Keianah Greene, who is pursuing a master’s degree in clinical social work, entered the room with the other SWU students and went to a table where she met Dolly and her friends. Dolly said she hadn’t celebrated Valentine’s Day since her husband passed, but when she learned the students were coming, she wanted to attend and learn more about them.

Greene, who’s from the Bronx, New York, and now lives in Syracuse, explained why she wants to be a social worker before they discussed family and how important it is to be loving, kind and optimistic despite our daily struggles.

“Dolly mentioned that she was a middle school teacher in Birmingham, Alabama and that her mother had told her at an early age that she had a calling to help people,” Greene says. “She also mentioned the number of children she worked with and how they used school as an escape from problems they were having at home. So she always made sure to bring extra supplies for her classroom such as clothing, snacks and other necessities.”

Social Workers United student Keianah Greene (third from left) and Brookdale resident Dolly (second from left) had a heart-to-heart conversation about caring for other people.

Dolly told Greene that caring for others is fulfilling, but making sure that all the children in her classroom were included was challenging. Dolly emphasized the value of support systems and self-care for social workers and other caregivers.

“You can’t care for anyone if you don’t take care of yourself first,” Dolly told Greene.

As Greene was saying goodbye, Dolly told her that on this Valentine’s Day, she felt like she was reunited with her husband.

“She was happy to say that she knew this was her husband’s sign to come meet us (the students), and that our heart-to-heart conversation meant a lot,” Greene says. “I’m glad that I was able to learn from her and also spread the love.”

‘Brightens Their Day’

During their visit, Claytor spoke with Brookdale’s activities director about other ways the students might be able to get involved with the residents.

They discussed Brookdale’s game-and-movie nights, which would be an opportunity for students to engage with residents in a fun way. They talked about students helping the residents start a new garden with flowers, fruits and vegetables when the weather gets warmer.

Claytor assured the director that the students would be happy to help in any way possible.

“During our conversation, she mentioned that the residents often feel forgotten,” Claytor says. “They miss socializing with new people and having stimulating conversations about the future. She explained that it brightens their day when visitors come to see them, especially students.”

Kindness, it seems, is not a relic of the past that’s being thrown out with landline telephones, DVDs and alarm clocks. It’s all around us; we must know where to look.

Visit the to learn more about the School of Social Work and its academic programs, experiential learning, and career opportunities.

As a student in the (SCSD), she was chosen for a six-week summer program that allows high schoolers to work as paid interns in Syracuse University physics labs. Kaputa wanted others to have the same positive research experience she had enjoyed, so, after her first year on campus, she returned to her former high school to recruit more students for the program.

The program that left an impression on was Syracuse University Research in Physics (SURPh), which aims to inspire students to take up science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) studies and potentially pursue careers in those areas. About two dozen high schoolers have participated in the program over the past two years. They work on cutting-edge research in University physics labs alongside (A&S) faculty.

, professor and chair of physics, leads the program. Assisting her have been Henninger High School science teacher Melanie Pelcher, economics master’s student Devon Lamanna ’23 and Yudaisy Salomón Sargentón, physics department operations specialist. Funding comes from the , the , A&S’s ��and the��.

Undergraduate researcher Emma Kaputa studied biofilm growth in a biophysics lab the summer before entering college.

Working With Biofilms

The program was devised by , an SCSD alumnus who is now a dual physics and economics senior at Syracuse. After joining Ross’ research lab, he recognized that other city school students might have the same dream to work in a science lab, while lacking a way to get a foot in that door. Together with Ross, he formulated the program as a way to facilitate the process.

Ruell Branch originated the idea to recruit high schoolers for research internships.

A grant recipient, Kaputa had already decided to attend Syracuse when she was selected for the internship. That first summer, she worked in assistant professor ’s exploring biofilms—slimy clusters of bacteria that colonize surfaces. She enjoyed the experience so much that she remained in the lab throughout her first year on campus. Eventually, Kaputa accompanied Patteson, a member of the BioInspired Institute, to SCSD’s Nottingham High School to help recruit the next cohort of interns.

��“I learned so much that first year—science skills, poster presentations, networking. I benefitted a lot from the critical thinking that was required. It was fun to go back to the high school and encourage [my former classmates] to apply. I’m really glad to have had that door opened for me and I wanted to extend that to my classmates,” Kaputa says.

A Published Scientist

Kaputa researched how bacteria colonize and spread on surfaces.

Patteson calls Kaputa “a really bright and creative student who has made remarkable progress in our group.”�� She says the program makes it possible for high schoolers to experience real science scholarship. The work Kaputa and her lab mates did—characterizing the mechanical properties of colonies of bacteria—was in the American Chemical Society Journal, with Kaputa listed as a co-author.

Kaputa’s continuing work in the lab came with additional opportunities. She presented at the BioInspired Institute’s 2023 annual symposium, winning the Most Social Impact award for her poster about the SURPh program. This semester, she will present about staining biofilms with fluorescence at the ’s annual meeting. She also mentored a new group of high school students in the biofilm lab.

Kaputa’s summary of the SURPh internship program won the “Most Social Impact” prize at the 2024 BioInspired Symposium.

Opening Doors

“One of the program’s main goals is to open doors for people who might not otherwise get into science, so it was exciting for me to mentor other women in STEM,” Kaputa says. “I enjoyed being able to show them that there is a place for you here and that you can be successful here.”

How does someone majoring in environmental engineering become deeply involved in physics research?

“There is a lot of physics in engineering,” Kaputa says. “In the coming decades, being at the intersection of these fields will be critical to finding solutions to issues like climate change. I’m hopeful that having a background in multiple fields will give me a unique and useful perspective.�� It’s exciting to be at the forefront. Life sciences blended with math and physics-biophysics is everything I love.”

It’s important that the interns are compensated, Kaputa says. “This being a paid position is a reason why someone might be able to do summer research. In some families, high schoolers are responsible for providing income, so they need to work over the summer. An unpaid role could be a huge barrier. Adding the paid internship element makes this a lot more accessible, and I think that’s amazing,” she says.

Her advice for others contemplating a science lab internship at Syracuse: “When opportunity knocks, answer. Put yourself out there and show up both physically and mentally. And when given the chance, remember to thank the community that helped get you there, and try to provide the same opportunity to others,” Kaputa says.

Gabriela Kirk

Kirk-Werner and her counterparts have created the to study so-called “pay-to-stay” statutes that leave millions of incarcerated individuals subject to the partial or total cost of their imprisonment.

The controversial practice contributes to widening inequalities in American society, according to Kirk-Werner and longtime collaborators Brittany Friedman, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Southern California, and April D. Fernandes, associate professor of sociology at North Carolina State University.

Arnold Ventures is a philanthropic organization that supports policy research projects addressing inequities and injustices in American society. Its five-year funding pledge supports the lab’s mission to advance research, policy and advocacy around the political economy of punishment.

Kirk-Werner first became interested in pay-to-stay policies in 2016 as a graduate student at Northwestern University. Friedman, a fellow graduate student, had discovered a little-known Illinois statute allowing the state’s attorney general to sue incarcerated people for their prison stay. She submitted a Freedom of Information Act request asking for records on the practice and, intrigued by what she found, joined Fernandes and Kirk-Werner in launching the first in-depth study of states’ pay-to-stay policies, specifically the use of civil lawsuits to recoup money.

“We found that states largely enforce pay-to-stay unevenly, often imposing these laws amid financial turmoil as a means to boost the state’s balance sheet,” says Kirk-Werner.

The researchers witnessed cash-strapped states using pay-to-stay laws, a practice first employed during the Great Depression, to seize stimulus checks amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “States increase their reliance on these laws at will, most likely when prompted by financial hardships and budget shortfalls,” Fernandes explains. “So incarcerated people could be subject to the seizure and collection efforts of the state through pay-to-stay.”

Read the complete story, written by the Maxwell School’s Jessica Youngman with the University of Southern California’s Daniel P. Smith, on the .

Jennifer Stromer-Galley

The (IDJC) has been awarded a $250,000 research grant from and use of the company’s graph database technology as part of an initiative to identify misinformation trends in the U.S. presidential election and other top 2024 contests.

, senior associate dean and professor at the and a nationally recognized expert in political campaigns and misinformation, will lead a team of researchers across the University and work with the Washington-based IDJC to illuminate hidden trends and actors spreading and influencing inaccurate information targeting U.S. voters through social media.

“Millions of Americans’ voting decisions are shaped by what they see on social media or hear from friends basing their own information on non-news sources,” says Kramer Director of the IDJC and a professor of practice in the Newhouse School of Public Communications.

“These areas are ripe for misinformation and disinformation campaigns from domestic and foreign actors,” Talev says. “Neo4j’s technology can allow us to see commonalities and hidden connections in a way that can shed light on these practices and help the public make fact-based decisions.”

Margaret Talev

The Neo4j award represents the first competitive grant for IDJC, a joint University initiative of the and .

The research team’s efforts focus on dissecting misinformation themes, pinpointing origins of messages and tracing misinformation by collecting and algorithmically classifying ads run on Facebook and Instagram as well as social media posts on Facebook and X, formerly known as Twitter. The project will also gather input from journalists and the public about the 2024 presidential election, and races for U.S. Senate and key congressional districts.

“One of the things we want to know is how the information environment and misinformation might be making people doubt the electoral process and whether it’s working properly,” says , research director for IDJC and a political science professor in the Maxwell School.

“Misinformation could not just affect whether voters turn out in the current election, but whether they turn out in future elections,” Dunaway said.

Johanna Dunaway

Stromer-Galley’s previous work on the project cataloged social media ad campaigns during the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. The Neo4j award is intended to collect similar data and to enhance the visual display for user interactions.

“I don’t think these kinds of opportunities would be possible without the institute to coalesce and bring together a set of scholars from across the university who all share a common passion and concern about the health and state of our democracy and journalism,” Stromer-Galley says.

Story by Emma Hudson

NBC News plans to report findings each month, giving faculty and researchers potential opportunities to discuss or analyze results on the network’s platforms.

Engagious, which will conduct the focus groups, and Sago, which recruits respondents, IDJC is developing questions for the monthly online panels with key voting blocs within each state. The first focus group panel was conducted Jan. 31 via Zoom and moderated by Engagious president Rich Thau. This initial installment focused on women voters from across Pennsylvania who previously backed Donald Trump but support abortion rights or oppose the 2022 landmark Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.

The Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship is a joint University initiative of the and . Based in Washington, D.C., IDJC engages in nonpartisan research, teaching and public dialogue aimed at strengthening trust in news media, governance and society.

“As a top research university whose communications and public affairs schools are among the best in the country, Syracuse University is obligated to promote engaged citizenship and deliberative democracy for the sake of our students as well as our society,” says Vice Chancellor, Provost and Chief Academic Officer Gretchen Ritter.

“The work of IDJC helps elevate those efforts and provides insights into some of the most important elements of our democracy, including the role of a free press,” Provost Ritter says.

The hinge voters who are the focus of the 2024 Deciders project come from demographic groups that will likely play an outsized role in determining the outcome of the election. A different category of voters will be interviewed each month.

“This partnership will shed light on issues and factors impacting key groups of voters and how news consumption helps form their views,” Newhouse School Dean Mark J. Lodato says. “For our students, this project can provide a valuable learning experience into how voters respond to political reporting, helping our aspiring journalists discern how such reporting takes shape.”

“A critical part of solving the challenges we face as a nation begins with a foundation of understanding,” says Maxwell School Dean David M. Van Slyke. “This partnership builds that foundation by helping our researchers, students and the public at large better understand the people who may determine the 2024 election. This is exactly the sort of critical, policy-informing work that we envisioned when creating IDJC.”

The work of the Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship, which was established in 2022, spans elections, governance and media, as well as a host of other broad topics including technology, business, science and health.

“We are learning from participants how key issues in the news affect them personally and how that relates to their views toward candidates and voting,” says IDJC Kramer Director Margaret Talev.  “We also are interested to hear from them about where they get their news and information and how that relates to what they believe, who they trust and how they engage with society.”

Locally, the Syracuse City School District (SCSD) is similarly challenged, but a new partnership with the (SOE) and aims to address this dilemma.

People With a Passion

Syracuse has become that latest school district to join the , administered jointly by SOE and the Maxwell School. , the program recruits teacher candidates who are committed to teaching underserved populations and from populations that are underrepresented in local classrooms.

When joining the program, students choose to take one of SOE’s and are offered a hiring commitment by a program partner, subject to a school’s needs and a student’s successful program completion. In addition to Syracuse, other Baldanza program partners are the Baldwinsville, Jamesville-DeWitt and West Genesee school districts.

“Retirements, the typical turnover of an urban school district and the fact that fewer candidates are entering college teacher preparation programs equal the shortages we are seeing,” says Scott Persampieri, SCSD chief human resources officer, noting that his school district typically needs to hire between 200 and 300 teachers per year.

“We have been struggling to find certified teachers,” says Jeannie Aversa G’13, SCSD executive director of recruitment, selection and retention. “There is a teacher shortage due to members of the baby boom generation retiring early, and the coronavirus pandemic didn’t help.”

She adds, “We are looking for people with a passion for urban education. If people have that passion, they will stay longer.”

Go For It

Jasmine Manuel ’21, G’23 was among the first fellows to graduate from the Baldanza program. A Syracuse native who attended Henninger High School, she notes that program applicants essentially interview twice: “Once you sign up, you have a kind of hiring interview with school districts, as well as an interview with the School of Education.”

For Jasmine Manuel, the Baldanza program “was a surprising opportunity” and an offer so good, at first she didn’t believe it was real.

A human development and family sciences graduate from the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, as a Baldanza fellow Manuel joined SOE’s and received a hiring commitment from Jamesville-DeWitt Central School District, where she did her student teaching and where she now works as a fourth grade teacher.

Manuel admits that the Baldanza program benefits are so good, she thought the offer might not be real.

“I was working as a teaching assistant at Henninger, aiding a visually impaired student,” she says. “The Baldanza program was a surprising opportunity. I wasn’t planning on going for a master’s degree, but then I saw an email about it. My supervisor is getting a certificate of advanced study from the School of Education, so I asked him if the offer was real. He said it was, and that I should go for it.”

Manuel says she enjoyed her mentored student teaching experience at Jamesville-DeWitt. “I learned a lot that way. You hear a lot about theory in the graduate classroom, but it’s different when you do it in your own classroom. You learn what works and what doesn’t,” she says.

All Students Benefit

One of three teachers of color in her school building, Manuel notes that she was a good fit for her school district because of its increasing diversity. “Jamesville-DeWitt has expanded its English Language Learner (ELL) program to all three elementary schools,” she says, “so now students and staff are seeing a highly diverse student population coming in.”

Reflecting on the district’s diversity, Aversa observes that her student population speaks 80 different languages, so ELL is one of the high needs areas into which SCSD is recruiting—”we need teachers who know strategies to work with English as a New Language students”—along with other high needs subjects, such as math, science and special education.

Aversa agrees with national data illustrating that teachers of color and culturally responsive teaching are linked to for students, saying, “Kids will see who they are trying to be, so representation in the classroom matters. The Baldanza Fellows program encourages the recruitment of BIPOC teachers so students can see people who look like them, but all children benefit from a diverse body of teachers.”

The Baldanza Fellows program encourages the recruitment of BIPOC teachers so students can see people who look like them, but all children benefit from a diverse body of teachers.

—Jeannie Aversa G’13

“We know that there is a significant discrepancy between the diversity of the student body and the teaching force. That is true nationally, regionally and it’s certainly true for Syracuse schools,” says Professor G’01, G’07, G’08, director of SOE’s , who oversees the programs along with Professor . “Students benefit from education that is culturally responsive and sustaining, and they benefit from being educated by teachers who make them feel connected to their cultures and communities, and who can provide outstanding role models.”

Continues Ashby, “It’s equally important for white students to be educated by teachers of color, if we want all students to understand inclusive environments. All students benefit from exposure to diverse experiences, cultures and identities.”

Right, Important and Just

Ashby says she is thrilled to have SCSD join the Baldanza Fellows program: “The time and opportunity are right for them to join. After all, Syracuse is our home, and we feel close to Syracuse city schools. Doing this work with them feels right, important and just.”

Pitching their case as an employer, Persampieri cites teachers’ job satisfaction: “A lot of people go into the teaching profession to serve and to make a difference. Few professions have this level of satisfaction, and that’s especially true of an urban district.”

For Aversa, the pitch is two-fold—diversity and professional support. “Our kids deserve people who want to be here and who have a desire to serve a high-poverty urban setting. Our diversity is one of the positive things we offer,” she says. “Plus, new teachers are supported in many ways, and they will learn and grow with seasoned professionals by their side.”

Similarly, mentorship is a key feature of the Baldanza program, along with a tuition scholarship, a stipend to support living expenses and the hiring commitment.

“My host teachers were very good,” says Manuel, recalling her classroom immersion. “They explained a lot about the students to me. They explained about their likes and dislikes, their quirks and what gets them motivated—these are details you don’t necessarily go over in a theory class.”

Adds Manuel, “As a new teacher, all the supports I had as a Baldanza Fellow are still with me.”

Learn more about the , or contact Speranza Migliore, assistant director of graduate admissions in SOE, at smiglior@syr.edu or 315.443.2505 for more information.

John Trimmer (Photo by Alex Dunbar)

From the drylands of Kenya to the rainforests of Suriname, civil and environmental engineering professor John Trimmer in the has dedicated his career to making a difference. After a service-learning trip to Nicaragua, where he helped with construction projects, Trimmer was inspired to pursue humanitarian engineering and improve the well-being of others. With a core research focus on water systems, sanitation and resource recovery, he strives to promote sustainable living.

As an undergraduate at Bucknell University, Trimmer was able to work with a few non-governmental organizations (NGOs). In addition to his trip to Nicaragua, he collaborated with a Peace Corps volunteer in Suriname, South America, stationed in a remote village and working on a rainwater collection system. After graduation, Trimmer continued working with the Peace Corps and spent three years in Uganda working with an NGO that specialized in constructing water tanks, latrines, classrooms and other structures.

After completing a Ph.D., which included working in Uganda on innovative approaches to sanitation systems, Trimmer joined the Aquaya Institute on their mission to improve global health through safe water and sanitation access. His work at the Aquaya Institute largely focused on research and he found himself based in Nairobi, Kenya, interacting with pastoral communities in dry regions of the country.

Trimmer and Aquaya Institute colleagues at Nairobi National Park in Kenya. (Photo courtesy of Aquaya Institute)

“Though the communities were nomadic, it seemed like they were also looking to settle, and they were open to permanent infrastructure,” Trimmer says. “It was very qualitative.��We focused primarily on asking questions regarding their current water systems and what they do for sanitation. We also did interviews and discussion groups to understand what these communities wanted and needed.”

While working with the Aquaya Institute, Trimmer also researched the effectiveness of a program that aimed to provide more durable infrastructure to vulnerable households in northern Ghana. Since unstable soil is an issue that impacts certain areas, they wanted to ensure the structures they built would last.

“If you dig a traditional pit latrine, it may collapse because the soil is unstable. Since the locals in the area didn’t have the means for a more durable structure, we were looking at different ways those systems could be supported financially,” says Trimmer. “UNICEF funded the project so durable structures could be installed.”

A completed rainwater tank in Uganda. (Photo courtesy of Aquaya Institute)

As Trimmer has traveled to different countries, he’s loved working with young researchers and found it rewarding to help them develop their skills and witness their growth. This passion for mentoring younger researchers would translate to his position as a Syracuse University professor, giving him a chance to continue guiding and supporting students.

While teaching courses at the University, Trimmer plans to collaborate with NGOs he’s previously worked with on upcoming projects. He hopes to collaborate with colleagues to develop a platform that models sanitation systems to implement them as a teaching and research tool in the classroom. This will enable him to share the knowledge he’s gained from his humanitarian work and educate future researchers to do the same.

Their three-year research project, , offers new insights, recommendations and data supporting the practice of “retrofitting” older buildings. The team has demonstrated how updating interior and exterior building systems for increased energy efficiency and improved air quality can achieve “” energy use—where the energy a building harnesses is equal to or greater than the energy the building consumes. Retrofitting is an integral part of energy-use and carbon footprint reductions as well as lowering demolition waste and the building sector’s overall carbon impact, says , assistant professor at the and the project’s principal investigator.

Nina Wilson

“We expect to see wide application of our findings as the state and nation move forward in their efforts to fight climate change. Given the energy and carbon impact exerted by many thousands of retrofit-ready buildings just in New York state, it is important to keep delivering physical demonstration projects and data that enable the industry to better model and predict performance outcomes of retrofit approaches,” Wilson says.

New York State has set to combat climate change, committing $6.8 billion for projects to cut on-site energy consumption by 185 trillion BTUs by 2025, reach 70% renewably sourced electricity by 2030 and achieve a zero-emission electric grid by 2040.

The Net Zero project received a from the (NYSERDA), with an additional $200,000 from Syracuse University as part of a commitment to its Climate Action Plan.

Two-Building Approach

Two identical residential apartment buildings built in 1972 on�� Winding Ridge Road on the University’s South Campus were used for the study. One was chosen for retrofitting and the other served as a “control” to provide near-identical, non-retrofitted building data throughout the project.

Research began in 2021 with a building assessment to diagnose conditions like poor insulation, building envelope leakage and a lack of active ventilation and cooling systems. At the same time, sensor data, digital modeling, cost criteria and performance goals drove the design process. Construction of the retrofit was completed in the summer of 2022, followed by a year of post-occupancy energy and environmental data collection. That analysis compared the retrofitted building’s energy use to the non-retrofitted building to gauge the impact of the adjustments.

More Systems, Less Energy

The retrofit plan was initially modified due to cost issues during COVID-19, but because indoor thermal comfort and improved air quality remained as priorities, high-efficiency heat pumps and heat recovery ventilation systems were installed.

So far, Wilson says, the construction modifications have exceeded expectations, producing up to 80% reduction in energy use for heating and cooling, even with the addition of fresh air and cooling systems in place of the original electric baseboard heating. Data also shows significant improvements in indoor air quality through reductions in volatile organic compounds (VOCs), chemicals commonly found in indoor environments that can have long-lasting health effects.

Using holistic and interdisciplinary approaches have been important, given the research team’s expectation that this type of work will continue for decades, Wilson says. “We pushed beyond the simple energy-use reduction goal to include occupant well-being and environmental quality considerations. That we were able to do that and still meet the energy target was an outcome that provided valuable lessons.”

Interdisciplinary, Academic-Industrial Alliance

Faculty, staff and students from three University schools and colleges, the and the Office of Campus Planning, Design and Construction, plus industry experts and community business partners, participated in the project.

Bing Dong

, associate professor at the and a co-principal investigator, designed and managed building data-collection systems to measure indoor air quality, energy efficiency of the spaces and various ways occupant behavior (such as opening windows) affected energy use and indoor comfort levels. He used behavior models, building energy simulation and machine learning approaches in taking those measurements.

Bess Krietemeyer

associate professor and project co-principal investigator, led the design of an interactive, 3D exhibit showing how the Syracuse community would benefit from the energy savings and improved environmental quality, health and well-being advantages that deep-energy retrofits can provide. The exhibit demonstrates how retrofitting can improve thermal comfort for occupants while realizing cost savings on monthly energy bills and provide fresher air to breathe inside and out. Through interactive, dynamic features, the exhibit also locates residential buildings of all types—from multifamily to single-family homes—to show where and how retrofits can support the health and vibrancy of all Syracuse neighborhoods.

Jason Dedrick

faculty members and , also co-principal��investigators, created a website that broadcasts live project data and summarizes research methods, plus an app that streams energy performance data directly to building occupants’ personal devices.

Jeff Hemsley

Students have been involved in hands-on learning opportunities during all project phases. They have evaluated data, created modeling, analyzed innovative technologies and materials, reviewed life cycle analysis tools that measure carbon impact, assessed energy-saving technologies and documented all aspects of the work.

Website, MOST Exhibit

The website illustrates all phases of the project’s three-year path, from the start of building identification in 2021 through data collection, design origination and development and construction phases.

Bess Krietemeyer, center, project co-principal investigator, discusses aspects of the 3-D exhibit she developed showing how retrofitted buildings throughout Syracuse could provide energy benefits. (Photo by Shengxuan Hector Yu.)

Through the interactive exhibit designed by Krietemeyer and Wilson, visitors can explore the impacts of deep-energy retrofits across residential communities in the Syracuse area. The exhibit was developed in collaboration with interactive artists and students in the School of Architecture.

The display uses 3D depth-sensing technologies, tracking and gesture-directed software and projection mapping onto a 3D-printed model of the to display the environmental, health and economic benefits that retrofits offer. It will be on display at the in Syracuse through the end of January.

While the is an accelerated immersive experience—two placements in the fall semester, lasting six to seven weeks each—former students say their time putting inclusive teaching theory into practice allows them to see themselves transforming into a teacher.

Elena Perez ’24 teaches a fifth grade class at PS 212, Midtown West in Manhattan.

“Bridge to the City is a great opportunity for our students to really find their teacher voice,” says G’01, G’07, G’08, professor of inclusive special education and disability studies and director of the , who is completing research on student experiences in the program.

Selling Point

Ashby, who was a graduate student in the School of Education when Bridge to the City launched in 2003, has taught students in the program over the last decade and has witnessed its growth. “This opportunity to student-teach in New York City is really unusual amongst our peer institutions,” she says. “It’s become a real selling point for the school.”

Thanks to its two-decades-long commitment to providing an inclusive education placement experience through guided mentorship, the program of the University’s study away offerings in New York City.

It also has transformed the lives and careers of generations of educators. “We have this genealogy of students that have graduated from our program, gone down to New York City, and stayed,” Ashby says.

Ashby’s research on student experiences from the program is aided by Emilee Baker, an SOE doctoral candidate. The pair spent a year and a half interviewing alumni of the program for a forthcoming paper. Respondents all noted significant personal and professional growth.

Drew Yakawiak ’03 was among the first cohort of Bridge to the City student-teachers in 2003.

“The next section of the research will go deeper into the alumni network of Bridge to the City,” Baker says. It will examine teacher retention rates, asking “Does Bridge to the City equate that you’re going to be more successful as a teacher long term?”

Something New

“A Bridge to The City” was the title of a program development proposal put forward by Professor Emeritus Gerald Mager, who taught courses on inclusive classrooms. Receiving a 2001 gave Mager three years of funding to support his idea. The proposal called for development of a two-way partnership between the University and New York City schools to provide SOE students a semester of guided student teaching in an urban setting.

In the late 1990s, Mager played a pivotal role in developing an , a groundbreaking approach for general education classrooms where students with and without learning differences learn together. This experience prompted him to extend this model to New York City, a place in need of qualified inclusive educators. “Although they have many teacher preparation programs in New York City, none were overly inclusive at that time,” Mager says. “This was going to be something a little bit new for city public schools.”

“My proposal was to build out connections and launch the program based on my background and my commitment to teacher preparation,” Mager says. He spent the first year establishing partnerships; the second year connecting SU faculty to schools and staff in New York City, as well as bringing administrators from city schools to SU. By the third year, the first group of SU students was exploring inclusive teaching practices in schools across the metropolis.

The Meredith Professorship and Mager’s efforts set the stage to develop a network of support to grow both the program and cultivate a pool of future educators. That network remains to this day. “If I hadn’t had that Meredith project,” he says, “it just wouldn’t have happened because there were no resources for it.”

The initial proposal gained momentum with support from Professor Corinne Roth Smith, who served as SOE interim dean from 2000 to 2002. Having leadership and other faculty behind the initiative, Mager says, led to backing from University administration, which propelled the program forward.

Mager says his vision for the project was never for it to be under his direction, but for it to become an established and supported offering for SOE students and partner schools: “If it was my project only, it wasn’t going to be any good. It could only work and be sustained if other people began to be involved in it and to own it.”

Support Network

Bridge to the City students from left, Elena Perez, Sadie Ikeda, Amanda Feliz and Ni “Katherine” Chen enjoy some down time at a game at Yankee Stadium in September 2023.

Bridge to the City students teach full time—with mentored guidance from professors and seasoned teachers—honing skills in both general and special education. Additionally, they participate in seminars reflecting the work they are doing in the field.

“Faculty both teach and supervise,” Ashby says. “Thus, students get the freedom and independence of experiencing teaching in a new city, but with the safety net of their school colleagues and their faculty supporting them.”

One participant from the 2003 pilot class, Sarah Stumpf ’00, G’03, says the program solidified her commitment to teaching and shaped her understanding of the broader role educators play in students’ lives.

“It was an amazing experience,” says Stumpf, who remembers she was one of six students participating that fall. The program starts the day after Labor Day, launching with a session on professional development, and then wraps up around Thanksgiving. Students live in the city with their peers, helping to establish a dedicated support network.

“As a cohort, we made sure we ate together at least once a week,” she says. “My roommate and I would proofread each other’s lesson plans. We really made sure that we kept an eye on one another. We made sure everyone was safe, eating and being supported—not just by Professor Mager but by one another.”

Stumpf’s journey is emblematic of the program’s broader goals, to instill a sense of responsibility as well as a commitment to inclusion and social justice in future educators.

Intentionally Diverse

New York City is a unique microcosm of education, doctoral candidate Emilee Baker explains, not only in its diversity of students but also because so many different school networks are operating.

“The schools we place our students in are not random,” Ashby says. “These are schools that are intentionally diverse.” This deliberate choice, she says, exposes students to various models of instruction and ensures that they learn to navigate the reality of inclusive education in action.

The program’s success is not only measured by the impact on students but also by its contribution to equity and justice in the broader educational landscape.

“I think what really surprised me during Bridge to the City were the number of children who really relied on us to be a secondary parent figure,” Stumpf says. “There were quite a few days where teaching was secondary. Making sure that my students were fed, bathed, had clean clothing or they had things to write with came first.”

“Critical reflection is part of what we do,” says Tom Bull, assistant teaching professor and director of field relations for the program. “We have students reflect on what they’ve learned and experienced, and it is pretty consistent in terms of theme.”

In his near decade leading the program, Bull says he has watched students arrive anxious about leading a class and navigating a new city, but in the end the growth they achieve consistently exceeds expectation. “The program provides a scaffolded, progressive structure,” something that Bull says is one of its greatest strengths, setting up students for success.

As Bridge to the City celebrates its 20th anniversary, the program’s ability to evolve, adapt and consistently produce educators equipped to navigate the complex landscape of urban education speaks volumes about its significance.

And as the program looks toward the future, there is a collective hope that it will continue to shape educators for years to come. “I’m thrilled it’s been going for 20 years,” Ashby says. “I hope it’s going for 20 more.”

Learn more about the or contact Professor .

Story by Ashley Kang ’04, G’11 (a proud alumna of the M.S. in higher education program)

A Book Buddies volunteer helps build literacy skills over lunch. (Photo courtesy of the United Way)

Early literacy is paramount to a child’s future success, but from The Education Trust-New York shows the state is facing a “literacy crisis that has the potential to limit the future success of students, families, schools and communities.”

This problem is particularly prevalent in communities with the highest concentrations of child poverty, including Syracuse, where only 13% of students demonstrate third grade proficiency rates on state English language arts assessments, according to the data.

A community initiative sponsored by the United Way of Central New York——is working to reverse these trends within the Syracuse City School District (SCSD) by supporting the early literacy skills of 500 kindergarten through third grade students across five SCSD primary schools: Roberts Pre-K-8 School, Seymour Dual Language Academy, Delaware Primary, STEAM @ Dr. King Elementary and Dr. Weeks Elementary School.

To achieve this goal, Book Buddies is recruiting additional volunteers in the Syracuse community. The time commitment is minimal, requiring just 30-60 minutes once or twice per week to visit one of the participating schools and work with students to build reading skills during their lunch break.

University students, faculty and staff are encouraged to volunteer as they think about how they might like to give back and make a difference in the community in 2024.

“Book Buddies has the potential to have a tremendous impact on children in our community, helping address the critical issue of reading literacy among elementary school students in Syracuse,” says Cydney Johnson ’77, G’96, vice president of community engagement and government relations. “With a small commitment of their time each week, volunteers are able to build meaningful relationships with students in the program and have a lifelong impact on their future trajectory by building literacy and confidence in their reading abilities.”

Eric Kay, senior human resources business partner in the University’s Office of Human Resources, recently began volunteering with Book Buddies. Newer to the Syracuse area, he says it has been an easy, fun and rewarding way to connect with the community.

“The children I’ve been working with seem to enjoy reading—as volunteers, we’re just there to help them become a bit better at it,” Kay says. “A little help goes a long way. Both of the children I’m working with, you can tell there’s that moment when they’re happy they got it right. A little praise and positive feedback help reinforce that they’re making progress.”

Jeffry Comanici ’88, G’23, executive director of post traditional advancement in the College of Professional Studies, says that volunteering with Book Buddies is one of the highlights of his week.

“Spending a short time each week with Spring and Elijah, two students at the Dr. King STEAM School, is an opportunity to experience firsthand the future potential of children,” Comanici says. “Seeing their reading ability improve and the self confidence that results from it is energizing and motivates me to do more.”

Undergraduate students in the School of Education also regularly volunteer with the Book Buddies program, giving pre-service teachers an opportunity to get direct field experience working with K-12 students. Read more about the experiences of students in the inclusive elementary and special education (grades 1-6) program during the spring 2023 semester.

Interested in learning more? Visit or use the to get started right away! If you prefer to monetarily support the program, you can also .

Following a meal and time for interfaith conversation, the students traveled to the East Syracuse headquarters of the We Rise Above The Streets Recovery Outreach nonprofit organization, where they worked together to fill bags with hygiene items, warm socks and snacks to be distributed during the organization’s Thanksgiving outreach event that would be held later that week.

Students and Hendricks Chapel chaplains and staff members engage in interfaith dialogue. (Photo by Micah Greenberg ’26)

The idea for an interfaith day of service and learning started this past summer with the Muslim Student Association and Syracuse Hillel, due in part to the strong relationship of Rabbi Ethan Bair and Imam Amir Durić. While the original plan was for a Muslim and Jewish partnership event, over the past weeks Bair, Durić and their respective student leaders felt it was important to broaden the event to include more than the Muslim and Jewish campus communities.

“To share the experience with other groups was, in my view, a most wonderful idea,” says Hendricks Chapel Dean Brian Konkol. “We then invited all 25 religious and spiritual life groups associated with Hendricks Chapel to attend, and the Interfaith Day of Service and Learning was supported by representatives of various traditions and identities.”

During the luncheon conversation in the Hendricks Chapel Noble Room, students gathered into smaller groups of three to four people for discussion, including things about others’ faith traditions that they admire. “It was a wonderful way to embrace connections by embracing conversations,” Konkol says.

Finished bags packed by students from Hendricks Chapel. (Photo by Micah Greenberg ’26)

When the students arrived in East Syracuse, they were warmly welcomed by Al-amin Muhammad, founder and executive director of We Rise Above The Streets. The nonprofit organization provides assistance to the unhoused and underrepresented in the community, particularly through its “Sandwich Saturday” program and other initiatives.

Muhammad shared his personal experience of being unhoused for a decade. He was able to turn his life around, embrace his faith and graduate from college. He is now a full-time advocate and activist, and, since moving to Syracuse in 2015, has led outreach efforts to thousands of individuals and food-insecure families.

In speaking with the students about his experiences and his work, Muhammad encouraged them to “attach empathy” to all that they do.

Krutartha Nagesh ’25, a computer science major in the , identifies with the Hindu tradition. “The culture and tradition that I come from places Mukti (liberation) as the highest goal in one’s life,” Nagesh says. “The ancient yet timeless wisdom of the Rishis (enlightened beings) recognizes Karma Yoga as one of the paths to achieving this ultimate goal. It is the path of service and selfless action for the upliftment and well-being of all life.”

Participants in the Interfaith Day of Service at We Rise Above the Streets gather for a group photo. (Photo by Micah Greenberg ’26)

Nagesh says the day was a chance for all of those participating to walk the path of Karma. “It allowed me to keep myself aside; my likes and dislikes, my identifications and biases, to do something that will positively impact the local Syracuse area. I got to experience how seva (selfless action) can not only make a difference in the community but can also bring people from diverse backgrounds together.”

“Attaching empathy to everything that we do, in my opinion, can only happen when our sense of inclusion expands. To have an expanded sense of inclusion, we need to keep our differences aside and see how we can relate with each other,” Nagesh says. “To me, Al-amin Muhammad is a Karma Yogi. I wish to be one myself and also hope to inspire others around me to also take up the responsibility of selflessly serving others so this planet can thrive.”

Julia Ronkin ’24, an inclusive elementary and special education major in the , identifies with Jewish tradition. She took part in the day of service mainly for two reasons. “The first being that I believe interfaith work is so important for students on campus to take part in. In a time where there is so much divide, we as young people can show that there is unity and support for one another on our campus. My second reason for participating is the positive impact of connecting with other students in the broader context of the Syracuse community,” she says.

Mian Muhammad Abdul Hamid ’25, an information management and technology major in the , is of the Muslim tradition. He participated in an interfaith community service event last year with Hillel packaging diapers.

“I know we all share a common interest and goal; to serve the community for the greater good. … During and after the event, I was thinking in my head, ‘this seems like something I can do.’ Just packaging items for the community whilst having a conversation with a peer from another faith was definitely a fun way to bond and was therapeutic.”

Al-amin Muhammad’s encouragement to “attach empathy” to all that they do struck a chord with Hamid. “I was thinking of packaging everything with love and care. ‘The juices I was packing in every bag are going to someone who will really enjoy it—someone who is in need,’ I thought,” Hamid says. “Hence, whilst packaging every item, I made sure to be packaging everything with love and for the sake of God. In my faith, ‘Sadaqah’ or charity, is a notable act that one can do to increase the consciousness of God. Moving forward, I am thinking about ways to help the community—not just from a faith standpoint, but to those who are less fortunate.”

The day was also an important one for the chaplains who participated. “I was grateful to serve our community alongside my friends. I admire the work that each of our chaplains puts into supporting and mentoring their faith communities,” says Christian Protestant Chaplain Devon Bartholomew. “This service opportunity gave me time reflect on the incredibly important work that I get to be part of at Syracuse University.”

Konkol was inspired by watching the students engaging in service and learning. “I believe the students chose to model the type of world they wish to live in, rather than mirror the type of world they currently live within, and in doing so they are indeed an example for others to follow,” he says. “They showed that one can be both committed and compassionate, devout and curious, faithful and hospitable. Once again, I am left honored to witness such outstanding students choosing to lead in service to our common good through religious and spiritual life.”

As part of First-Year Seminar, students made winter care packages of gloves, hats, socks, handwarmers and ChapStick for the Rescue Mission Alliance. (Photo by Jimmy Luckman)

A wave of first-year and transfer students in the University’s First Year Seminar 101 (FYS101) recently rolled across campus and into the greater Syracuse area to actively learn about campus, the local community and how they fit into their new surroundings. More than 10,000 students in total have taken FYS101 since its inception in fall 2021; that includes more than 3,900 students this year.

The seminar’s Shared Experience Week introduces students to the . Activities involved (mindfulness, opioid overdose prevention and sexual health programs); ; ; ; ; ; ; and the ; ; ; ; ; and . Presentations were hosted by ; ; ; the and the .

During Week Four of the 15-week session, students enjoyed 45 types of “in real life” engagement activities. They created an impactful 780 care packages and sourced materials to benefit 13 local organizations that became new participating partners with the University, says Jimmy Luckman, associate director of the First Year Seminar. That included:

• 180 care packages for
• 180 care packages for , Veterans Administration
• 120 hygiene packs for the
• 120 care packages for
• 96 bags of food for , Syracuse City School District
• 48 backpacks for
• 24 care packages for mothers with children in area neonatal intensive care units
• 12 celebration/birthday bags for kids at
• 6 blankets and 882 diapers for

“Blessings in a Backpack” students in the Syracuse City School District received tortilla-based meals assembled by FYS101 students. (Photo by Jimmy Luckman)

FYS101 students made six blankets and helped select 882 diapers for the Sankofa Reproductive Health and Healing Center. (Photo by Jimmy Luckman)

At the Center for International Services, FYS101 students played international board games to learn more about other cultures. (Photo by Meriel Stokoe)

The Community Folk Art Center in Syracuse was the site of an interactive drumming session and a chance to learn about musical customs. (Photo by Evan Krukin)

Light Work’s Community Darkroom provided a setting for hands-on experiments in photography. (Photo by Cali Banks)

Interns at the Shaw Center introduced FYS101 students to the University hub for academic community engagement. (Photo by Dalton Dietz)

Students enjoyed a tour of Syracuse University Art Museum with Kate Holohan, curator of education and academic outreach. (Photo by Jimmy Luckman)

Another Shared Experience Week highlight: a tour of Syracuse Stage. (Photo by Becki Bruzdzinski)

Students created care packages with toothbrushes, toothpaste, soaps, sanitizer wipes, body lotions and deodorants, along with personalized notes, to donate to the food pantry at Hendricks Chapel. (Photo by Breana Nieves Vergara)

Faculty, staff and students gather to discuss their collaborative work at an Engaged Communities cohort meeting.

Sports teams that succeed are those that feature athletes who work well together and bring different skills to the field. Humanities scholarship is no different. When College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) Dean’s Professor of Community Engagement ��founded the�� (EHN) in 2020, one of the guiding principles was to seed, support and foster collaborations among publicly engaged researchers so they could address a range of pressing issues and amplify a diverse range of voices. As Syracuse University moves forward with a new focusing on experiential inquiry and engaged citizenship as two of its pillars, the work of EHN aligns closely with the mission and goals of the University.

To build on the community-engaged work already happening across the University, city and region, Nordquist and his team established the Engaged Communities (EC) initiative in 2021. This program provides faculty, students, staff and community partners with support for publicly engaged research, programming and creative work. Inspired in part by a desire among faculty, staff and students to collaborate with communities beyond the University, the program provides project teams with seed money for their work over the next academic year. Nordquist says critical to the prolonged success of this effort is forming collaborations among project leaders that enhance the scope and reach of their work.

“While many of us are deeply invested in improving the well-being of our communities, there are few structures that bring us together to share resources, collectively problem solve, align efforts, and better understand and invest in each other’s work,” says Nordquist. “Engaged Communities is designed to draw more people into a network of mutual support to improve the efficacy and sustainability of community-engaged research, creative work and programming.”

Brice Nordquist

With funding from A&S, the Academic Affairs’ Office of Strategic Initiatives and external grants awarded to EHN, a record 11 publicly engaged projects received mini-grants through the Engaged Communities initiative, an increase from last year’s cohort of six, and five the year prior. Project leaders come from four different schools and colleges and from 17 different departments and units, making this a truly interdisciplinary effort.

Over the course of the year, the 11 teams will convene regularly in the Tolley Humanities Building on campus to workshop project ideas, exchange resources, work through challenges, collectively advocate and collaborate across projects and communities. Members of previous years’ EC cohorts will also participate in those meetings so that their projects continue to grow along with this expanding network, notes Nordquist.

One example demonstrating the benefits of this collaborative structure is a partnership between Write Out and the Natural Science Explorers Program, two projects that received mini-grants in ��and��, respectively. Write Out is a youth storytelling initiative run by students and faculty in the Department of English’s creative writing program and NSEP is a science exploration program for children at the North Side Learning Center organized by students and faculty from the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and the Department of Biology. Together, they have held joint creative writing and science workshops at the Museum of Science and Technology (MOST) and the North Side Learning Center–a testament to EHN’s mission of fostering collaboration between faculty, students and communities.

2023-24 Engaged Communities Mini-Grant Recipients

• The Body Project

• Creative Art Lab: Cradle to Cradle Open Art Studio, Exhibition & Story Space

• Exploring the Intersection of Math Education and Geography through Youth-Centered Community-Engaged Research on Environmental Justice

• Family Pictures Syracuse

• Fermenting Stories: Exploring Ancestry, Embodiment and Place

• Imagined Identity / Identidad Imaginada

• Not in a Book: Haudenosaunee Elders Series

• Onondaga Community Trauma Task Force’s Community Healing Series
• Onondaga Language Project
• Syracuse University Research in Physics (SURPh)
• Unearthing Black Girl Literacies ‘In Place’

Visit the College of Arts and Sciences website to learn more about the .

Organizers of the community photographic project, “,” want to visualize just that and are asking Syracuse families to share their family photos and stories on camera to create a living photo archive. Community members—particularly those whose histories have been marginalized—are invited to talk about their family histories at a recorded interview station, digitize their family photos for later exhibition and have new portraits taken with their family photographs.

Thomas Allen Harris

The project is designed to build a more inclusive history of the city. It takes place Oct. 13-15 through a��series of activities and events with Yale University artist and filmmaker and his . The initiative is being coordinated by students and faculty in the University’s Turning the Lens Collective. The group is composed of , associate professor of English; , a Ph.D. candidate in English; , a Ph.D. candidate in history; Sarhia Rahim ’26, a policy studies major and Aniyah Jones ’25, an English and textual studies and psychology major.

Three Weekend Events

Events include a film screening and discussion of “: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People,” with Harris (, from 6 to 8 p.m.). The with community members takes place , from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. A to celebrate the archived images and oral storytelling is planned on , from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m., and includes music, poetry and special guests. All events take place at the Everson Museum at 401 Harrison St. in downtown Syracuse.

Hallas says the project will build a testament to marginalized families from across the city, cultivate a more inclusive archival history of Syracuse and recognize the people suppressed, forgotten or lost to a highway (the I-81 viaduct) that created a decadeslong economic and racial barrier in Syracuse.

“Syracuse is experiencing significant transformation and renewed hope for economic progress spurred by Micron’s multi-billion-dollar investment in a semiconductor megafacility, the city’s decades of commitment to refugee resettlement and the redevelopment of housing, transportation and industry when a community grid replaces the I-81 viaduct,” Hallas says. “Yet, in moving forward equitably, it’s necessary to remember and document the past. Syracuse remains one of the most impoverished and segregated cities in the nation, specifically for its Black and Latinx communities. In its redevelopment of housing, transportation and industry, the city must not repeat the systemic violence of the past.”

Community members shared treasured photos with Jessica Terry-Elliot, right center, along with their memories of family.

Jessica Terry-Elliott, a project co-organizer, researches the application of various methodologies that comprise what scholars call “Black archival practices.”��She says Family Pictures Syracuse will use oral history methods��coupled with the captured moments of Black life in photographs that are��often held in domestic��repositories.

“Using these methods to develop this project��is an actual application of Black archival practices,” Terry-Elliot says. “It will reveal the complexities of how Black life in Syracuse was and is documented and remembered,��while at the same time constructing pathways to engage with memory for��the future.”

Collective member Charles is writing a dissertation on the Black visual archive in film. “I’ve discovered that family photographs play a tremendous role in shaping our identity and history beyond the purview of our institutional archives,” Charles says. “The photographs we all keep in our homes—hanging on walls or tucked inside family albums—contribute to a larger story. Yet, those items are not always seen as important historical knowledge. This project affirms our photographs are themselves invaluable archives that should be studied and celebrated as such.”

Collective member and undergraduate student Aniyah Jones ’25 looks over a collection of family photos.

Undergraduate students Jones and Rahim have supported the initiative through their Syracuse Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Engagement (SOURCE) appointments as research assistants on the project. A team of undergraduate students from the department of film and media arts and the Orange Television Network will staff the photo-sharing event and students in Hallas’ upcoming “Everyday Media and Social Justice” and Jessica Terry-Elliott’s “Public History” courses in spring 2024 will further the project after its launch.

��The collective is also coordinating with the Network’s WriteOut Syracuse, a youth afterschool program designed to get students Interested In writing and storytelling, and Black and Arab Relationalities, a Mellon Foundation-funded research project led by College of Arts and Sciences faculty members and .

Wide Community Connections

Organizers are working with the Community Folk Art Center, Onondaga Historical Association and the North Side Learning Center and are collaborating with several other Syracuse community organizations for future programming.

Many sources of funding have made the project possible, including the University’s departments of African American Studies; anthropology; communication and rhetorical studies; English; film and media arts; history; Jewish studies; Latino/Latin American studies; LGBTQ studies; policy studies; religion; sociology; television, radio and film; visual communications; women’s and gender studies; and writing. External funding has been provided by Humanities NY and the Allyn Family Foundation.

Also sponsoring the project are the Democratizing Knowledge project; Engaged Humanities Network; SOURCE; Special Collections Research Center; Syracuse Humanities Center; The Alexa; Lender Center for Social Justice; Light Work and Orange Television Network.

In November, the Special Collections Research Center at Bird Library will host “Family Pictures in the Archive” (, 5 to 7 p.m.). The exhibition displays Black photographs from the University’s collections along with community photos archived during the Family Pictures Syracuse events.