LGBTQ Center Resource Packet Making Party - Dec 28th!

From the UC LGBTQ Center:

Resource Packet Making Party
Friday, December 28th
11:00AM to  5:00PM
UC LGBTQ Center - 5th Floor Steger Student Life Center

Looking for a few good volunteers to help make Safe Zone 101 Resource Packets. We will provide pizza, popcorn, drinks, and a movie after the job is finished. Come hang out and help the LGBTQ Center so we can keep fighting the good fight. :)

UC Grad Student's Award-Winning Thesis Focuses on Walking Tours in Cincinnati

From UC News:

Grad Student’s Award-Winning Thesis Focuses on Walking Tours in Cincinnati

Art education graduate student and photographer Chris Luessen integrated student- and community-developed urban walking tours of Cincinnati into his recent thesis, which is the first-ever winner of UC’s Robert L. Russell Research Award.

Date: 11/29/2012
By: M.B. Reilly
Phone: (513) 556-1824
Photos By: Provided by Chris Luessen

As a fine art photographer, recent University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP) graduate Chris Luessen often walked the city’s urban neighborhoods capturing shots of both objects, traces and architecture.

Chris Luessen on Orchard Street in Over-the-Rhine.

In order to share the experience of walking and seeing – the finding of visual gems, Luessen created a template and asked undergraduate students and community members to create walking tours of their favorite neighborhoods and locales. In all, he collected 25 such tours, and then, ultimately selected ten of those to include in his recent (2012) art education graduate thesis. The community- and student-developed walking tours ultimately included in his thesis and screen printed into a self-contained booklet included Brighton (off of Central Parkway), Burnet Woods, Clifton’s Ludlow Business District, Downtown Cincinnati, Mt. Airy, Northside, Over-the-Rhine in the area bordered by Liberty and 15th streets and several other areas.

Luessen’s thesis effort, titled “Locating an Other City: Critical Engagement and Every Day Intervention through Art Education,” recently won him DAAP’s first-ever Robert L. Russell Research Award, named after long-time art education faculty member Robert Russell. Luessen received the award this fall, before an audience consisting of this year’s new master’s of art education students.

Community- and student-developed walking tours collected by Luessen.

He said, “It meant a lot that the faculty valued the work I had done and was doing. It was certainly a reward for choosing a program as challenging as that housed in DAAP.”

Luessen’s community-based art was, in part, inspired by DAAP’s Art in the Market program, which guides local teens in the creating of public art in Over-the-Rhine. However, he was also motivated by “my own urban explorations. I wanted to share the experience of walking in the city.”

He displayed all 25 walking tour submissions and distributed all 100 collected tour booklets during his thesis exhibit at DAAPWorks.

“I’ve had some feedback that people are using the walking tours. The one walking tour of Mt. Airy, titled ‘Mt. Airy Twin Tunnels and Magic Fall,’ included a hidden swimming hole. One user of the walking tours took photos that he sent me once he located the spot. He even told me how his dog loved swimming there,” stated Luessen, who is currently the art teacher at St. Antoninus Elementary School in Western Hills, as well as a volunteer at Literacy Center West in Price Hill.

He will soon participate in an experimental walking tour set for Dec. 1 in Over-the-Rhine, starting at Findlay Market: “Administrators of the online group called Over-the-Rhine Matters and myself are set to sponsor at-least one walking event, sort of like a walking tour of Over-the-Rhine but without a guide or set destination. Everyone involved will be invited to engage with their surroundings and share the experience through map making, sketching, taking photos or creatively sharing the experience via any other form.”

For more information, check out the OTR Matters Facebook page at facebook.com/otrmatters

One user of the walking tour booklet took this photo in Mt. Airy Forest.

UC Turner Scholar Strives to Build a Better Understanding of Latino Cultures

From UC News:

UC Freshman/Turner Scholar Strives To Build A Better Understanding Of Latino Cultures

Tiffany Simons is constantly stretching for – and achieving – her goals.

Date: 11/19/2012
By: Dawn Fuller
Phone: (513) 556-1823

High school seniors who are seeking scholarship consideration from UC must send their complete admission application (including high school transcript and official test scores) by Dec. 1.
University of Cincinnati freshman Tiffany Simons of Springdale, Ohio, is not letting any injury slow her down, despite using a motorized scooter to navigate campus during fall semester. The 18-year-old Darwin T. Turner Scholar – an e-media (College-Conservatory of Music) and Spanish (McMicken College of Arts and Sciences) major – is truly taking the campus by storm, according to her Turner Scholar advisors.

Tiffany Simons

UC’s Office of Ethnic Programs and Services directs the Darwin T. Turner Scholarship Program to promote academic success, foster diversity and build future leaders.

Simons is an outstanding example in her pursuit of scholarship and leadership. Her physical setback is due to a muscle injury that developed over time from dancing, intense workouts and lifting. She says it was further aggravated after tryouts for the Indianapolis Colts cheerleading squad, as well as the UC Dhadak International Dance Team. “I was selected for the dance team, but had to sit out because of the muscle injury,” she says.

Simons also says she is a rather exceptional example of multiculturalism. “I think I represent every culture but Asian.” It was her interest in identifying with her Latino heritage and her Hispanic friends in high school that led to her pursuit of perfecting her Spanish and educating others about the culture.

Simons’ passion for building bridges of understanding of Latino cultures evolved into her website, Qué Hay De Nuevo (What’s New).  She also belongs to the UC student organizations, Latinos En Accion and Club Hispano. She hopes to become a bilingual broadcast journalist.

The Darwin T. Turner scholarship is named in honor of a UC alumnus who later became one of the greatest scholars in African-American literature. In 1947 and at age 16, Darwin T. Turner became the youngest person ever to graduate from the University of Cincinnati when he earned a bachelor’s degree in English. He earned his master’s degree in English in 1949.

The Darwin T. Turner Scholars Program was founded at the university in 1976. Turner scholars are expected to participate in activities under the Office of Ethnic Programs and Services to improve their intellectual, personal and professional development.

“One of our recent service-related Turner activities was participating in the BRIDGES Walk for a Just Community,” says Simons. The annual walk downtown is a celebration to promote diversity, inclusion and social justice. 

“It’s not just a scholarship program,” says Simons. “Every week, we get together to get resume tips and talk about how we’re doing in school. The staff in Ethnic Programs and Services is our backbone. They’re someone to turn to if we need to talk. As a Turner Scholar, we make the commitment to visit the office at least once a week.”

“We call ourselves the Turner Family, and we provide programs for leadership, networking and professionalism – anything we can do to get the student acclimated to college and on the path to success,” says program director Brandi Elliott.

“Tiffany has truly embraced the Darwin T. Turner Scholarship program,” says Elliott. “She’s a self-starter and is so creative – just full of life and energy. I’m looking forward to seeing what she’ll accomplish at UC over the next four years.”

Elliott is a 2001 graduate from the Turner Scholars Program. She earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology (A&S) and then achieved a master’s degree from UC in mental health counseling, before earning her doctorate in urban educational leadership from the UC College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services (CECH).

Simons also lives in Darwin T. Turner Hall, which was dedicated on campus in 2002. It was the newest residence hall to be constructed on campus since 1971.

Video: We Are Turner (Produced by Tiffany Simons)

Qualifying Criteria for the Darwin T. Turner Scholars Program

UC Freshman and Transfer Student Scholarships

Proudly Cincinnati – Supporting Student Scholarships

Service Learning Opportunities in Morroco Summer 2013!

From the Center for Service-Learning and Civic Engagement:

Experiential Learning Abroad Programs (ELAP), a division of International Studies Abroad (ISA) is pleased to announce new internship and service learning placements in Meknès, Morocco beginning Summer 2013. The following placements are available in Meknès: 

*Association for the Protection of the Moroccan Family 
*Center for Disabilities 
*Medical Clinic 
*Women's Rights Association 
*Youth Development 

Participating in an ELAP program offers students a first hand view into the social structures of the local community and gives them the opportunity to contribute to community development. These projects facilitate understanding of the local culture by recognizing the challenges faced by various communities and making a positive impact while abroad. 

Please visit the ELAP website: http://www.myelap.com for more information on these programs or contact the UC ISA Global Ambassador Liza Callis at callisza@gmail.com for questions about other study abroad options, including alternative spring break opportunities.

 

A Look Back at UC in 2012 - A Message from President Ono

Message from President Ono

As 2012 comes to a close, the University of Cincinnati can look back on the past year with a deep sense of pride. UC just keeps getting better and better, and I want to thank all of you for the hard work and tremendous support that makes our rise possible. With UC’s unique capacity to be innovative and creative, I know that the coming year promises even greater strides. Please have a safe and joyous holiday and a very Happy New Year! 

Welcome Our "New" RAPPORT Facilitator - Jojo Azevedo!

Over the last several years, we tried many staff structures to support and sustain the growth of RAPP's programming through its work in intensives, RAPPORT, and outreach.  For 2012-13, we're harnessing the talent of outstanding student leaders by having three student workers - Brice Mickey and Jamieson Williams have been introduced as the first two-thirds of these.

Beginning this January, Jamieson will be transitioning to the Accelerating Racial Justice (ARJ) student worker and Jojo Azevedo will be coming on board to work with reshaping RAPPORT.

Jojo is a familiar face in RAPP!  He is a senior in Communication and just returned from a semester-long study abroad in Japan.  He is an alum of RAPP XXIV, Peer Leader with RAPP XXVI, student Facilitator with RAPP XXVII, worked on the committee that created ARJ and its curricula, served as student Facilitator for the pilot run of ARJ 2012, and has been in the Social Justice League since it began in 2010.  Not to mention his work as a recruitment leader, his commercial  and other creative videos for RAPP, his volunteering at the 25 Year Reunion, his emphasis on community building, and general work to keep the RAPP Office open and accessible have greatly benefited RAPP.

In other words, his contributions to RAPP are great and he is an ideal person to help reshape our impact through RAPPORT!  Welcome back, Jojo!

Jojo smiling in the RAPP Office!

Recognizing Participation: RAPP XXVIII Stays Strong a Whole Semester!

As the first RAPP group to come together under semesters, RAPP XXVIII had an even larger challenge for attendance in that they had more meetings under the timeline of a semester than a quarter.  Whereas previous groups in recent years had four meetings and one retreat each quarter, this group had six meetings, one retreat, and an orientation in its first semester (they have six meetings, two retreats, and a banquet ahead for spring semester).

With that in mind, there were many chances for "life happens" to make it impossible for a member to make it to a meeting.  Given the time demands The RAPP Commitment makes on already full schedules of students, I think it's important to take time to recognize the folks who were able to uphold it this time around.

Here are the folks currently in RAPP XXVIII who have had perfect attendance all fall semester 2012:

Abbey Falcone
Aditi Naik
Anthony Foster
Bridget Parhman
Gabby Russell
Kahvah Yisrael
Kalilah Montgomery
Leah Baccus
Lindy Zeff
Marq White
Maya Whyte
Monique Walker
Nathaniel Bell
Oge Okoh
Owen Riley
Rebekah Clinger
Sabria Berry
Sarah Seiger
Shawnee Haslon
Thia Jackson

Our Peer Leaders make a lesser time commitment in terms of meetings, but all three have exceeded this commitment (in so many ways beyond the time!).  Many thanks to Farooq Alkhateeb, Kristin Myers-Young, and Tina Lu for their great work!  Our student Facilitator, Brice Mickey, has also well exceeded his expected commitment - countless thanks are due!

Marq, Rachel, Emma, Iman, & Aditi show part of the RAPP XXVIII handsign!