Photo courtesy of Hofstra Center for Civic Engagement/WordPress
Since 2007, the Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) has allowed undergraduates, graduates, faculty and community members to participate in events and discussions, raising awareness of issues affecting us both locally and beyond.
According to Hofstra’s CCE homepage, the Center for Civic Engagement “educates students in democratic values by actively engaging them as knowledgeable citizens in collaborative partnerships with their campus, local, state, national and global communities.”
CCE accomplishes this goal by hosting a plethora of events, many of which are “conceived and organized by the students themselves,” according to executive director Philip Dalton. These events provide students the opportunity to get involved, gain new skills and connect with community partners, which Dalton explains is why CCE is so important.
“The Center for Civic Engagement is important primarily because of the types of opportunities it provides to students,” Dalton said. “Our fellowships have students working with community partners addressing a variety of social justice and equity issues. This equips our students to effectively do this kind of work when they leave us and become parts of their home communities.”
CCE graduate assistant and mental health counseling student Johana Montes shared a similar sentiment.
“CCE is crucial to Hofstra because it allows our students to gain so many new skills internally and networking with different organizations across Long Island,” Montes said.
Community involvement is paramount to CCE, since one of its primary objectives is connecting and partnering with local community organizations which support CCE’s ideals. They accomplish this by conducting community-based research, service and learning courses or projects for faculty, yearly internships for students working with CCE’s community partners and connecting with CCE’s fellowships.
Dalton explained the significance of community work by describing three primary advantages.
“First, faculty get to use their knowledge and research skills to study issues faced by the surrounding community,” Dalton said. “Done right, this work is done in consultation with community partners. That’s the second advantage: community partners can gather information that can help achieve advocacy or policy goals. Third, community-based learning can provide students with hands-on research experience that can grow their knowledge about the community while honing their research knowledge.”
Through this connection to the local community, CCE aims for an even broader reach during its upcoming annual event, Global Justice Day. On Wednesday, March 15, and Thursday, March 16, CCE is conducting a series of events that draw awareness to issues around the world: why they’re important and how they relate to us in our daily lives.
Montes explained that preparation for Global Justice Day was a team effort.
“Last semester, we started brainstorming topics or ideas that may be brought into light for [Global Justice Day], and our fellows have aided us in different ways such as creating a list of professors and classes that may benefit from these events, creating infographics, promot[ing] events in classes or organizations,” she said. “Both [graduate assistants] assist in reaching out to professors as well as organizing and supporting our director where needed. Our director and board members aid by generating ideas for events as well as reaching out to potential panelists.”
This year, topics include the Middle East peace process, the war in Ukraine, migrant labor, and the meanings and myths of wearing the hijab, information on which can be found on the Hofstra Events Calendar.
Anyone is encouraged to engage with and take part in CCE through one of many roles: volunteer, intern, student fellow or student graduate assistant. Dalton explained that there are many opportunities for students wishing to be involved.
“CCE has 16 fellowships. These fellows work with community partners of their choosing while also assisting with many of the center’s regular operations. At the end of each semester, we advertise to fill vacancies. So, they can always contact me or ask a fellow in a class about CCE,” Dalton said. “Or, if you are interested after reading this article, you can Google us and send us an email. We’d love to hear from you. Even if you can’t be a fellow, we often take on volunteers who like to join in meetings and attend our events.”
The Center for Civic Engagement is an easy way to get involved on campus and learn about events happening close to home and around the world. Furthermore, it provides any campus member – from student to graduate to faculty – with the opportunity to engage in these critical discussions about social justice, sustainability, community involvement or simply what’s happening in the world right now.
