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Lecture Series
The Provost Outlines the Goals and Activities
of the ADP to Faculty and Staff
American
Democracy Project @ MEC Discussion Board
Adafi Editors at "Inside the New York Times." |
MEDGAR EVERS COLLEGE, AMERICAN
DEMOCRACY PROJECT ACTIVITIES UPDATE, FALL 2004
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The first of the Medgar
Debates: Dialogues on Civic Engagement kicked off on
Wednesday, October 6, 2004. The debate topic was "Justice Deserved or Denied: Black Male Incarceration in the U.S”.
It was a very successful event with faculty from
various departments coming with their classes. The
attendance was good. Professors from the departments of
public Administration and the Post Secondary School
Readiness contributed to the success of the event. In
pursuant of our efforts to empower our students and make
them take charge of their activities, students were given a
free hand to determine the format of the debate and served
as judges of the debate. The students displayed a high
degree of knowledge on the issues and excellent debating
skills.
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The dialogue of "The
Iraqi Invasion and the Global War on Terror" was
held on Thursday, 24 September, 2004. Our
students who
returned from the war in Iraq and those about to leave
shared their experiences with the audience. Professors
Islam, Kelley, and Bandele made insightful presentations.
Dean of the School of Liberal Studies and Education presided
over the event. The students’ account of the war was both
inspiring and emotionally touching.
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The ADP invited
Mr. Danny Glover,
renowned actor, executive producer, and civic rights
activist to speak on “Youth
Involvement in Civic Engagement” to the student
body. The event was held on November 1, 2004 on the eve of
the elections. It was a very successful event with Mr.
Glover motivating the students not only to vote but think of
a broader picture beyond the presidential elections. Many
students have come to the ADP coordinator after his speech
to seek how they can work with the ADP to get the youths
involved.
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As coordinator of the ADP on
campus, I represented the Provost at the
"CUNY: Voting
Rights & Citizenship Calendar Premieres"
event.
This calendar chronicles the “Milestones in Voting
History” and provides an excellent historical resource
in pictures on voting rights issues. It was very
informative with many CUNY dignitaries in attendance. For me
and for all Medgar Evers College community the question is,
how will this event trickle down to our student population?
My experience over the past weeks
organizing voter registration drives within and outside the
campus shows that a good number of our students are
eligible to apply for certain rights, but either for lack of
information or interest they do not apply for them.
Many students that we have come across who are not eligible to
register to vote have been permanent U.S residents for over five
(5) years. What do we do at Medgar to sensitize students to
apply for certain rights when they are due? To this end,
following my discussions with Agnes Abraham, the president of
the CUNY University Student Senate, the ADP would like to
organize a
citizenship drive on campus that will reach out to
all students who are qualified to apply for citizenship.
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We are making progress in ensuring
that the ideals of
civic engagement are
infused into the
curriculum. The English
department collaborated with the ADP to incorporate readings on
democracy, citizenship, and civic engagement into their syllabi.
The departments of Public Administration and Social
and Behavioral Sciences are devising ways of inculcating civic
engagement in their programs. The ADP is working with the
Freshman Year Program to strengthen civic engagement in their
curriculum. We will make a presentation on “Building Civic
Engagement into the Curriculum” at the stated meeting of the
faculty in December to encourage more faculty to infuse civic
engagement in planning their courses.
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On October 19, 2004, the Provost
organized a “Service Learning Luncheon Meeting” with our collaborating partners in the community to
discuss
various ways the college and the community will mutually serve
each other. Principals and teachers, representatives from
different business organizations, health institutions, charity
homes, and homeless shelters attended.
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We are planning to
publish all ADP
lectures/speeches. As a result, I have requested
faculty and staff who made presentations last academic year to
give me a finished paper before the end of the semester.
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The rest of the activities of the ADP this semester are as
follows:
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