Volunteers Needed for RAPP Working Group on Five-Day Racial Justice Intensive

In 2012-13, not only will the University of Cincinnatitransition to semesters but RAPP will transition the way in which we offer intensive engagement.  This email will provide a very brief overview of that; its primary intent is seeking out a group of individuals who are interested in helping RAPP make this transition a successful one.

The Big Change

Since 2008, RAPP has run two concurrent groups of approximately 35 students through our core social justice education curriculum.  This endeavor has been a challenging and rewarding attempt at building a critical mass of inclusive leaders and social  change agents at the university. 

This model, in the big picture, has proven unsustainable with current resources as well as around student engagement.  In response to this and other identified community needs, RAPP will transition away from the two concurrent group model. 

Instead, RAPP will offer two different social justice intensives in 2012-13:

• One group of 35 in the 9-month program
• One five-day racial justice intensive in mid August

RAPP staff as well as the office of Student Activities &Leadership Development is excited to try out this new structure and looking forward to the positive benefits it will bring to our campus. 

Help Needed

In order to practice the mission of RAPP, we need to include many voices in the process of planning the transition.  In particular, we are looking to build a working group of eight to sixteen members that will guide this transition process.

Ideally, this working group will include current students, Student Life staff, faculty, and other interested community members.  Its composition will also reflect the diverse community of RAPP and within which RAPP operates.

The Working Group’s Process

Over approximately eight hours, the working group will tackle the following tasks:

• Review RAPP’s history and critical foundations
• Benchmark similar inclusive leadership & racial justice intensives
• Establish the general framework for the intensive, including:
• The big idea/purpose of the intensive (similar to goals & objectives)
• How to promote the intensive (including name and visual identity)
•  The process for accepting/selecting participants

• Refresh the RAPP recruitment process to address:
• Clarifying & communicating the differences between the 5-day intensive and the 9-month intensive
• Revising the recruitment process to ensure selection of highly-committed members for the 9-month intensive

Ideally, this will be done through three two-hour meetings during March and a fourth meeting two-thirds of the way through spring quarter.  A meal or refreshments will be provided at all working group meetings.

Get Involved!

If you are interested in participating in this working group and helping guide RAPP through this important transition, please contact Rebecca at lehmanrl@uc.edu or 513.556.6119 as soon as possible.  I am hoping to set up our first meeting some time between March 7^th and 14^th.

Please also feel free to share this call for support with people you think may be beneficial to this endeavor.