IN THIS ISSUE:
*Events
*Volunteer Opportunities
*Internships, Jobs, and Beyond...
*In the Spotlight: Investing in Diversity at the U of C
EVENTS
UTEP Information Sessions
November 16, November 19, and November 20
5:00pm
BSLC 202
The University’s Urban Teacher Education Program (UTEP) will be hosting several recruiting meetings next week. UTEP aims to recruit students who are committed to social justice and wish to prepare to teach within Chicago Public Schools. Students can enter UTEP’s program in the fall of their 4th year or following graduation. Learn more about the information sessions and UTEP at http://utep.uchicago.edu/
“origins.” An art exhibit
Thursday, November 19 (6pm – 10pm) – Friday, November 20 (3pm – 10pm)
5710 S. Woodlawn
Engage the local community through art, music, and discussion; featuring works by artists from Trinidad and Tobago, Puerto Rico, Palestine and Chicago. The event features Skylah Sensahrae’s Photography, Bronzeville and City Infrastructure, Adama Wiltshire’s Painting from “Women of the L” and Gihad Ali’s Spoke Word Poetry. For more information contact Adama Wiltshire: adama@uchicago.edu
UCSC Autumn Quarter Day of Service!
Saturday, November 21st
9:00am – 12:00pm
Student volunteers are encouraged to sign up in groups to walk or bus out to community service organizations and sites around Chicago and the South Side. Some of the tasks this year may include: Preparing and serving food at a soup kitchen, setting up a winter rooftop garden, organizing canned goods at a food pantry, and supervising children at a shelter. Signup at ucsc.uchicago.edu/pages/dayofservice.html
Summer Links Information Session
Monday, November 30th
6:00pm – 7:00pm
Ida Noyes First Floor Lounge, (1212 E. 59th Street)
Summer Links offers an intensive 10-week internships to 30 returning College and graduate students committed to public service, community building, and social change. Interns receive a $4 000 stipend and participate in weekly day-long and evening trainings about Chicago and social justice issues. For more information, please contact Student Intern Hallie Trauger at htrauger@uchicago.edu
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
Tutors in all subjects are needed at Hyde Park High School and John Hope HS. Please contact John MacDougall at 312-853-3932 or jmacdoug@roosevelt.edu
G.E.D. Tutors needed who can commit 2-3 hours Monday thru Friday for one-on-one tutoring or need to complete student teaching or internship requirements. For more information call Allison – 773-675-4610.
Hyde Park-Kenwood Interfaith Council is seeking ushers, greeters, and collection counters for the annual Thanksgiving Day Worship Service – Rockefeller memorial Chapel, starting at 11:00am. For more information, contact Allan Lindrup via email to either uusj@sbcglobal.net or hpkifc@hotmail.com, or by phone to 773-642-8061.
A 7th grade teacher, Jenny Jankowski, at Tarkington Elementary school is seeking UofC students interested in mentoring her 7th graders. The school is located at 71st and Kedzie, and is Chicago's first “green school”. (There’s a special need for mentoring male students who could benefit from a positive role model.) To get involved, contact Jennifer Jankowski at JLJankowski@cps.edu
Reeling: The Chicago Lesbian & Gay International Film Festival is the second oldest film festival of its kind in the US and prides itself on showcasing the best LGBT films and videos each and every year. Reeling 2009 is presenting nearly over 50 programs over 11 days from November 5-15. There are many volunteer opportunities for box office people, ushers, drivers, event coordinators, and volunteers for schedule distribution. If you're interested in volunteering, email chicagolgff@chicagofilmmakers.org or call (773) 293-1447.
INTERNSHIPS, JOBS, AND BEYOND...
Check out the “The Blog That Works,” the Chicago Studies blog: https://blogs.uchicago.edu/chicagostudies/2009/11/from_cobb_hall_to_the_corn_fie.html If you are interested in being a blogger, contact Chicago Studies Program Coordinator Rachel Cromidas at cromidas@uchicago.edu
Humanities in Action
Due: January 23, 2010
The HIA summer fellowship programs bring together international groups of Fellows to study minority rights and human rights doctrines in democratic societies. Separate programs will take place for five weeks in Amsterdam, Berlin, Copenhagen, New York, and Warsaw. Students of all majors and academic disciplines are encouraged to apply. Full application materials are available at: http://www.humanityinaction.org/apply/usa
Applications for Teaching Artists through the Teaching Lab Collaborations (or TLC for short), have just gone live on-line here. For more information regarding job requirements and details, contact Jessica Hutchinson at jesshutchinson@uchicago.edu
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Investing in Diversity at the U of C
Anna Tenuta, Staff Writer
Before the start of the 2008-2009 school year, the University of Chicago announced that the entering freshman class would be "the most diverse group of students ever admitted to the college". The Class of 2012, according to the UChicago News Office, has record percentages of African-American, Hispanic and Latino, Asian and international students; additionally, the number of students in the Class of 2012 from lower-income families is 28 percent greater than the Class of 2011. This record diversity at the U of C represents a major step forward. Encouraging historically underrepresented, low income, first generation and minorities from Chicago's inner city and all over the country is a major challenge and goal for college admissions.
To meet this challenge, Investment in Diversity, a partnership between the UCSC and the Office of College Admissions, offers free campus tours of the University of Chicago campus to interested groups of 6th through 9th graders. Through the Investment in Diversity tours, the university hopes to make the students feel comfortable and welcomed on campus, in order to ultimately increase the recruitment of diverse students at the U of C. Visitors come from all over the country to participate - from Texas to the suburbs of Illinois to Nashville to just a few blocks away from campus.
"The University has the unique opportunity, because we are located in such a diverse community of Hyde Park and in the Chicagoland area, to reach out to those diverse groups within the area and let them know that there is this great university in their midst and that college is really not so inaccessible," explained Samira Patel, student intern for Investment in Diversity.
Patel really emphasized the importance of reaching out to these students of diversity at a young age to remind them that they have what it takes to make college a reality and to encourage them to begin taking the steps they need to increase their willingness and ability to apply, enroll and thrive at the U of C. The tours offer them a sneak peek of the college life, giving them the enthusiasm to think ahead about activities, interests, applying for scholarships and finding the right fit.
When greeting the groups of students upon arrival at the university, Klaas Van Der Wey, program supervisor of Investment in Diversity, explained that he always makes it a point to tell them they are "honorary UChicago students for the day", in order to make the experience more real for them, something they can consider in the future as a reality.
From June to August alone, tours were given to over 400 visitors. Just this week, a group of young women from Chicago Bulls College Prep on the west side were given a tour of campus.
"My favorite part of being a tour guide is seeing the smiles on student’s faces when you tell them that they’re smart and that they can achieve great things as long as they stay focused and work hard," explained Chase Weldon, a second-year undergraduate student who has been a tour guide for Investment in Diversity for just over a year.
According to Van Der Wey, the student tour guides who volunteer in Investment in Diversity are what make the program so strong. He said that they are able "to make the important connections with the students so naturally, it is mostly just sharing their personal experiences and, inevitably, sharing their excitement about this place".
In order to meet the demands of the tour requests that the program receives, Investment in Diversity hopes to continue recruiting such dedicated, enthusiastic students to volunteer as tour guides.
"We hope to become more visible in the university community and also in the greater Chicagoland area. And we want to be able to provide tours that are influential to the students that come here," said Patel, about her personal goals for the program this year.
The Investment in Diversity tours last only an hour, but the program aims to have a lasting impact on the students long after they have left the main quad. This is fully embodied in the program's tagline this year, encouraging both the university and the visitors to take part in these tours -- "One hour can change a life".
"At the end of a tour, it makes me feel great when the students' teachers come up to me and thank me for giving their students something positive, and say that they wish they had more black male role models for their students," explained Weldon.
To get involved or volunteer to be a student tour guide for Investment in Diversity, please contact Samira Patel at spa342@uchicago.edu.
The University Community Service Center (UCSC) fosters the development of civic-minded students by providing substantive community service opportunities through community partnerships based on mutual trust and respect. If you have questions - how to get involved as a student or how to connect to students as a community organization - please contact us.
University Community Service Center
5525 S. Ellis Ave., Suite 160
Chicago IL, 60637
Tel: 773.753.4483
Fax: 773.834.1160
ucsc.uchicago.edu
