Community Engagement & La Vida

Over summer 2022 and the past academic year, the evolution of our community engagement programming began to intersect very promisingly with larger campus initiatives. In 2022, our DUC campus became a federally recognized Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI). This year, DUC launched La Vida Dominican (LVD), an HSI-funded program that is focused on supporting Latinx, Black, Indigenous, students of color (BIPOC) and first-generation persons of color. As part of LVD, the Avanza Summer Bridge Program will support the increasing presence and success of Latinx and BIPOC undergraduates as they transition into and navigate college life at DUC. The program will welcome its very first cohort of students this 2023 summer! (See below for more details about LVD and Avanza*)

The Center for Community Engagement with the Service-Learning Program at it’s nexus has many long-term partnerships with Canal serving organizations and schools, making collaboration with La Vida a natural fit. Our collaboration is multi-pronged:

• Expand outreach and programming with our partner organizations and schools to increase access to Dominican. Create a clearer pathway for BIPOC students to see Dominican as a desirable and viable option.
• Increase opportunities for Dominican students who are Spanish speakers to draw on their cultural wealth (linguistic skills etc) to support community members (e.g. interpret for parent-teacher conferences). Community engagement can deepen students’ sense of belonging and how they understand the purpose of their education.
• Map overlaps and opportunities to better communication and cohesion to support students’ community-engaged education throughout the Dominican Experience.

We are thrilled to share that as part of the La Vida Dominican imitative we now have three faculty members who are serving as Community Engagement Faculty Fellows:

• Dr. Lucia Leon, Assistant Professor of Latino Studies and Social Justice. Dr. Leon obtained her PhD from UCLA in Chicana/o and Central American Studies. Inspired by her personal and political commitments to Latinx and immigrant communities, her teaching, research and service interests are led by Latina/o/x immigrants and families, U.S. immigration law, undocumented youth, U.S. Latinx identity, race and immigration. Through her development of the new Latin American and Latino Studies minor and role as a La Vida Dominican Community Engaged Faculty fellow, she is dedicated to a community-engaged approach to scholarship, learning and social justice.
• Dr. Claudia Morales, Assistant Professor of English. Dr. Morales is Afro-Indigenous and award-winning novelist who will be assistant professor of English. She comes to Dominican following her PhD studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in Cultural Anthropology. Her research interests range from narrative medicine through creative writing to disability, migration, and testimonial.
• Louis Knecht, University Archivist, Reference and Instruction Librarian. Louis received his Master’s in Library and Information Science at UCLA where he focused on archival studies. Louis is committed to realizing the responsibility the archive and library field have to collaborate with community resiliency efforts. Community engagement connects collective memory efforts with non-traditional archival best practices. (Louis will be bridging community engagement and signature in his fellowship)

We are in the planning stage now for the focus of the fellowships so stay tuned for exciting updates about new partnerships and programming.

*La Vida Dominican (LVD) and Avanza Summer Bridge Program: The cohort of Avanza Bridge Scholars will participate in a week-long residence experience with a 2-unit course in the summer before beginning at DUC. Scholars will be introduced to faculty and staff, integrative coaches, peer mentors, academic and wrap-around services, the DUC campus and local community. The program will extend beyond the summer and into the 2023–24 semesters as students participate in social and community events, cultural celebrations, and academic support offerings. Avanza Bridge Scholars and all students at Dominican will benefit from Summer Bride as the program is designed to enhance academic skill sets and create a sense of belonging for all student participants.

The 2023 Avanza Summer Bridge course is titled, La Lucha Sigue: Educated, Proud and Powerful. The course and program are facilitated by LVD Faculty Lead and Community Engaged Faculty Fellow, Dr. Lucia Leon, Integrative Coaches Josue Castillo and Melinda Martinez-Becker, and Summer Bridge Coordinator, Lily Servin.

Course Description: In this Summer Bridge Course our classroom is a space to empower your scholarly voice and power as an incoming Dominican student. You will be introduced to Latinx, Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) scholars and their tools to expand our understanding of BIPOC students and communities in the United States. By centering BIPOC students’ experiences, and the activist and academic efforts to expand educational equity, you will reflect on your lived experience, community and social justice. Through online and in-person interactive activities including, course readings and discussions, films, podcasts, social media, current events, and field trips — we will celebrate our journeys to college and support ourselves with tools to begin our La Vida Dominican as proud and powerful BIPOC scholars.