In this critical moment, the Center for Democracy and Civic Life staff affirms our solidarity with the Black community at UMBC and beyond. Your story matters. Your voice matters. Your life matters.
We mourn the Black Americans who have lost their lives to white supremacy and police brutality: George Floyd, David McAtee, Tony McDade, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless others whose names we know and whose names we don't.
Our society and its institutions continue to oppress people on the basis of their race, religion, class, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, ability, and other aspects of their identities. Collectively, we have failed to embrace every person as fully human, morally equal, and entitled to full participation.
The Center for Democracy and Civic Life staff works with other members of the UMBC community to leverage all of our talents so we can build just, inclusive communities and a society in which everyone can thrive. Today we renew our commitment to challenging structural racism and white supremacy, and to advancing social justice in every facet of our work. This includes evaluating all of our programs to ensure that in addition to supporting students and colleagues in pursuing change through voting, advocacy, and strategic work in institutional settings, we are supporting them in directly challenging oppressive systems.
We also affirm our personal support for these strong statements about the moral imperatives of this moment in our national life by UMBC and University System of Maryland (USM) leaders:
Statement by UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski and Provost Philip Rous: This Time in America
Statement by USM Leadership on Structural Racism and the Killing of George Floyd
from the Dresher Center for the Humanities
from the Women’s Center
from the Counseling Center
By the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 members of the Center for Democracy and Civic Life staff:
David Hoffman
Romy Hübler
Ravi Bhatt
Dominique Henriques Melo
Tirzah Khan
Charis Lawson
Brandon Liu
Tess McRae
Pat Michael
The latest issue of the eJournal of Public Affairs features an article co-authored by the Center for Democracy and Civic Life’s Romy Hübler and David Hoffman. Tools for Living Democracy: Putting the CLDE Theory of Change into Practice tells the story of national innovations in civic learning and democratic engagement that have been informed and inspired by work at UMBC.
The practices described in the article “challenge the ideas that students are mere spectators and consumers of public life and that institutions are static. Instead, these alternative practices prepare students to be empowered contributors in all of their communities, including their higher education institutions, neighborhoods, and places of work.”
The article describes the unconventional approach to civic learning and democratic engagement Romy, David, and Craig Berger (former UMBC Coordinator for Campus and Civic Engagement) incubated at UMBC: “With support from UMBC’s senior administrative leadership, the three of them had worked with students, faculty, and staff colleagues to develop and lead BreakingGround, an initiative that used grants funded by the Provost’s Office to support the creation of innovative courses and community programs. The philosophy of civic engagement embodied in this approach located democracy and community in everyday settings, not only in government, elections, and off-campus service projects.”
Bringing Theory to Practice (BTtoP) supports practices in undergraduate education that "nurture active and integrative learning, personal well-being, preparation for meaningful work, and democratic citizenship." With a Multi-Institutional Innovation Grant from BTtoP, David Hoffman and Romy Hübler from UMBC's Center for Democracy and Civic Life, along with national partners, are developing tools for educators and students to use in cultivating, practicing, and promoting civic courage.
The April 15, 2020 edition of Bringing Theory to Practice's newsletter Bringing It features the project in a Grantee Spotlight prepared by the people collaborating on the project:
At a moment when we must practice social distancing to sustain life and health, all of us in higher education can plant the seeds of enhanced civic proximity. With support from a BTtoP Multi-Institutional Innovation Grant, David Hoffman and Romy Hübler (Center for Democracy and Civic Life, UMBC), Melissa Baker-Boosamra (Office of Student Life, Grand Valley State University) and Craig Berger (Community Engaged Learning, Kent State University) are developing tools educators and students can use to build skills and foster dispositions to support civic proximity and engagement in a wide variety of settings, including within institutions. The initial products of their collaboration, a Civic Courage Reflection Workshop facilitation guide and worksheet, help workshop participants to recognize aspects of civic courage beyond a willingness to take a risk for a cause, reflect on their past experiences with this expanded understanding of civic courage in mind, and identify opportunities to practice civic courage now and in the future.
Participants in pilot workshops have shared that they have gained new insights about how to deal with challenges in their own workplace and organizational settings by using foresight, looking for opportunities to collaborate, and practicing strategic patience. The facilitation guide, worksheet, and other tools to be developed align with theCivic Learning and Democratic Engagement Theory of Change, which describes how higher education can extend and deepen its support for students as co-creators of a thriving democracy.
Alternative Spring Break (ASB) leaders will help develop plans and learning opportunities for the week of UMBC's Spring Break, and will work in collaboration with the other leaders and Center for Democracy and Civic Life staff to create a holistic, empowering ASB experience for all participants. The role requires both independence (being a self-starter, organizing group sessions, guiding participants) and teamwork (following through on commitments, cooperating with other leaders and Center for Democracy and Civic Life staff, asking for help when needed). The topics each group explores will emerge from leaders’ curiosity about Baltimore and social issues.
All undergraduate students are invited to apply. Preferred but not required: Applicants will have participated in ASB or a similar multi-day experiential learning program.
Past leaders have explored a variety of questions, such as:
- How do people who have been formerly incarcerated transition back to living and working in Baltimore? What can be done to support that transition?
- What are the difficulties and barriers that people experiencing homelessness face in Baltimore and what can be done to mitigate those issues?
- How are food disparities created, perpetuated, and challenged in Baltimore?
- How do the arts support community empowerment and well-being in Baltimore?
Applicants can choose to explore those questions or propose new ones.
Ideally group leaders will work in pairs (two leaders for each group, sharing responsibilities). You can identify your potential partner when you apply or we can propose matches for you. Working in pairs is not a requirement, but in our experience it works very well.
Romy Hübler and David Hoffman coauthored an article in the 2020 NASPA Annual Conference Knowledge Community Publication entitled “Reimagining Student Affairs Practice by Enacting the CLDE Theory of Change.” In this article, they connect the Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement (CLDE) Theory of Change with ACPA and NASPA Professional Competency Areas for Student Affairs Educators, and identify specific steps student affairs can take to support students’ engagement. They write: “Taken together, these steps for renewed emphasis on creating civic-minded campus environments can provide opportunities to imagine and cocreate the thriving democracy we have yet to actualize. As stewards of the CLDE Theory of Change, we invite you to join us in thinking about how to do this important work within our institutions.”
Read the entire article here on pages 28-31.
David Hoffman and Romy Hübler published the following article in the March newsletter of the American Democracy Project:
Building Civic Proximity: Reflections and a Call to Action
When the two of us launched UMBC’s Center for Democracy and Civic Life in July 2018, we were clear about the road ahead. We had come a long way already: with support from colleagues in UMBC’s Division of Student Affairs and across the institution, we had begun to integrate new thinking about civic learning and democratic engagement into many aspects of our campus culture and practices. Now we would be even better positioned to help people develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to create healthy communities and tackle challenges together. Then came COVID-19. The road ahead became much more difficult to see.
The Center for Democracy and Civic Life's work builds from the premise that civic life encompasses everyday settings and relationships through which people can generate the power to shape their world. Modeling the kind of generative relationship we sought to foster, we took special pride in doing almost all of our work side by side, literally. We declined the option to build private offices within our shared space. When one of us got an opportunity to make a contribution or develop a project, we invited the other in. We know that we are more creative, productive, and humane when we are breaking down walls and joining together as thought partners and co-creators.
That spirit is a hallmark of our Alternative Spring Break program, which positions students to forge strong relationships with each other and with community partners in Baltimore. We lost that program to COVID-19 the week before it would have taken place, after five months of planning with student leaders. Other announcements followed, each both necessary and painful: classes will be moved online for two weeks after the break. All programs and gatherings will be postponed until early April. And then: classes will remain online for the rest of the semester. All programs and gatherings will be cancelled until we can safely reconvene. Faculty and staff will work remotely. Our shared space has become a virtual one, at least when the wifi is working.
This is agonizing. Our work is entirely about fostering civic proximity. We need each other, all of us. We must be able to work together, co-creating our lives and communities and shaping our shared destiny. We cannot allow the social distance needed to sustain life and health to exacerbate the civic distance from which we were, collectively, already suffering.
And so we are thinking about what we can do to sustain and even deepen civic proximity within our institution during these challenging weeks (months?). The Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement (CLDE) Theory of Change envisions a future in which “[r]ather than conceptualizing civics as confined in particular activities such as voting or providing voluntary service, Americans will build empowering democratic relationships and understand themselves to be potential civic co-creators in their workplaces, on their campuses, and in the everyday interactions that give meaning to their lives.” We can help to enact that future through the choices we make in the coming weeks. We are inspired by stories we are hearing (and living) about people in neighborhoods across the U.S. pulling together (albeit at a safe distance) for company, comfort, and mutual aid. The people within our institutions can do the same, and we can help.
We were hosting monthly gatherings for students, faculty, and staff who want to share personal stories about their connections with civic issues in order to support each other in acting with courage. We will take those gatherings virtual. We had planned to host a “Dinner with Friends” program for people interested in topics relating to Election 2020 to encourage civil dialogue across difference. We will break that program into smaller pieces and take it virtual as well. We will experiment with inviting people from our institution into virtual spaces where they can share their stories of navigating these unprecedented circumstances. We will both support groups with prior affiliations and forge new connections across differences in roles and previous experiences.
We know that a great deal will change because of what will happen in the coming weeks and months. It is hard to see what is ahead of us, other than more dislocation and social distance. But we can be certain that more than ever before, individually and collectively, we will need civic proximity, and all the skills and dispositions necessary to support it. Civic learning and democratic engagement is, and will be, more important than ever before. We have work to do, starting with identifying the civic bridges we can build and support close to home. Let’s be well, safe, and together.
What are you doing to support civic proximity within your institution and with community partners? Please share your stories with us by emailing Cathy Copeland, Program Coordinator, American Democracy Project at copelandc@aascu.org.
If you have benefitted from Center for Democracy and Civic Life programs or just believe in what we are doing, please consider making a donation in any amount this Thursday, February 27th, which is UMBC’s Giving Day. Please also consider asking friends and family to support the Center for Democracy and Civic Life.
The Center for Democracy and Civic Life’s work and programs are possible in part because of generous donations from members of the UMBC community. Giving Day is when students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents, and friends of UMBC pull together to support the programs that are helping them to thrive. Tax-deductible donations are especially impactful on this day, thanks to community members who are matching donations.
Here’s where to make your gift: https://gritstarter.umbc.edu/p/civiclife/
To learn more about the Center for Democracy and Civic Life’s work, read our 2018-2019 annual report. Our Gritstarter page also includes information about STRiVE, Alternative Spring Break, and other Center for Democracy and Civic Life programs.
Thank you for your consideration!
]]>The U.S. Census Bureau is recruiting for a variety of temporary jobs, including census takers, recruiting assistants, office staff, and supervisory staff, to assist with the 2020 Census. Temporary jobs with the 2020 Census offer flexible hours and competitive wages with weekly pay (including training) and reimbursement for authorized expenses. To apply, you must be at least 18 years old, have a valid Social Security number, and be a U.S. citizen. Click here for more information, including the application link.
The 2020 Census provides critical data that lawmakers, business owners, teachers, and many others use to provide daily services, products, political representation, and support for you and your community. College students, especially those who come from diverse socioeconomic and demographic backgrounds or who are first-generation students, have a significant potential to be impacted by the resources the Census will provide. Invitations to participate in the 2020 Census will be sent out on April 1, 2020. For more information about how to participate in the 2020 Census, visit this website and stay tuned for more updates from the Center for Democracy and Civic Life's myUMBC page.