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So I have to admit that when I was asked to accept the award this evening on behalf of Community Outreach, I was a little overwhelmed. As a new Program Director this year with the organization, I have spent most of my time this semester being peer-educated as much as I have been peer-educating. Listening, learning, organizing, learning to organize- It was baby steps in the beginning. As such, I am so excited and privileged to have become part of a process that will hopefully extend far beyond the walls of the Student Union and the UConn campus and reverberate through local communities, as well as our entire lives.
This year was an exciting year for Community Outreach. In addition to its traditional programs, CO expanded its weekly offerings through a partnership with Windham High School; it offered a new service trip to the Lakota Nation in South Dakota; organized multiple large scale events that have promoted awareness of the critical issues facing individuals with HIV/AIDs and intellectual disabilities. In addition to more opportunities to serve, CO has begun to re-examine how it serves by expanding the connection between volunteer service and social change.
Simply put, the 100 plus student leaders in Community Outreach are already on their way to becoming social change agents. As individuals who have each dedicated hundreds of service hours; recruited thousands of peer volunteers; organized program logistics such as transportation; slept in church basements; tutored in schools etc, they still found the time to sit down and participate with the Advocacy Project and each other in a meaningful way. A developing blueprint for permanent inclusion as a CO Community of Practice, the goal of the Advocacy Project is to encourage conversations that attempt to unpack and understand broken and inequitable systems that create the need for volunteerism and social service agencies in the first place.
This can be, at times, not necessarily an easy conversation to have. Being introduced to the language of advocacy and activism as it relates to your own life can be daunting and personally challenging- Oppression, Power, Privilege, Inequality, Sexism, Racism etc- these aren’t exactly fun words to say or contemplate. But the marriage of volunteer service and social activism is a natural fit. CO volunteers, as those working on the front lines with diverse constituents, have firsthand knowledge of community partners needs and can make social activism relevant to them once the root causes are identified. Additionally, directly addressing these issues together- whether it be a letter writing campaign or a meeting with a Senator- has illuminated each student’s strengths towards achieving the larger goal. The fusion of peer education and advocacy then, becomes just as key, if not more so, in promoting an active, informed and respectful citizenry.
This is because peer education is so pivotal to building stronger relationships and breaking down barriers. It provides a shared starting point from which to expand from. For example, I remember my experience at the Deliberative Dialogue we cosponsored with VAWPP prior to the What Will You Do Rally? It was empowering to join together with the goal of educating and inspiring one another in trying to transform our campus climate from one that contributes to sexual and domestic violence against women. Although we all came from different social locations outside of UConn, our common identity as students and young adults helped created a safe space for constructive debate. Community Outreach is making this type of mentorship and sharing an integral part of its mandate.
I’d really like to recognize some of the many faces that contribute to mutually achieving this vision on a daily basis. Thank you so much!!! ---Gina DeVivo-Brassaw, Matt Farley, Ryan Matthews, Olafemi Hunter, Kate Perduta, The Women’s Center- including Kathy Fischer, the newly formed Coalition for Political Empowerment, Kathleen Holgerson, Christine Wilson, Fleurette King, as well as all of the Community Outreach Student Leaders, Staff, and Graduate Assistants
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