The presentation explored the intersection of student focused social justice interests, civic engagement goals, and community partnership opportunities. The underlying premise was that when students connect with community issues that they are passionately interested in they become more deeply involved with learning objectives and have the opportunity to learn from experts in social justice issues. The end result is an opportunity to immerse students in opportunities to become catalysts and leaders of social transformation. This presentation focused on a student learning and advocacy program at the Thomas Merton Center, located in Pittsburgh, PA. The program engaged over 100 student interns from universities and community colleges located across the country. Students connected with the center as a result of their involvement in their colleges’ service learning and civic engagement programs. Students learned leadership skills that could be applied in their ongoing peace and justice activism. At the workshop, attendees learned how to implement the center’s strategies, while combining student learning outcomes with civic work in the community. Emphasis was placed on creating a values- based framework that links student learning with student passion which manifested in diverse civic engagement opportunities.

1. Empowering Students
to be Leaders
Civic Engagement through
Community Partnerships
Mary Jo Guerico, Ed.D. – Community College of Allegheny County – Pittsburgh, PA
Diane McMahon, Ph.D. – Allegany College of Maryland – Cumberland, MD
The 26th Annual Conference of the Association of Faculties for the Advancement of Community College
Teaching, hosted by the College of Southern Maryland, La Plata, MD
January 7 and 8, 2016

2. Our Background
We recently worked together at a
Peace and Justice Center in Pittsburgh, PA
called the Thomas Merton Center (TMC).
Mary Jo Guercio is a recent past TMC board
president and works as a Director/Instructor at
Community College in Allegheny County, PA.
Diane McMahon is a past TMC director and works
as a Director/Instructor at Allegany College of
Maryland in Cumberland, MD.
The two presenters founded a nationally known
student advocacy and leadership program at the
Thomas Merton Center.
Together they worked to provide “in the field”
civic engagement activities for students,
professors and grassroots organizers. In our experience students, community
organizers, and professors are looking for ways
to work together for economic and
environmental justice, peace and human rights.
TMC Anti-war march in 2003
that attracted 5000 people
In Pittsburgh, PA.
There is no peace without justice.
And there is no justice without a shared
nonviolent values-driven strategy.

3. CITIZEN ENGAGMENT
• Strategies that connect students,
faculty, organizers, and community
leaders, within a political and/or
collaborative process designed to
improve relationships and overall
quality of life for all people.

4. STUDENT LEADERSHIP
• Connect students with civic engagement experiences that
focus on real life community challenges.
• Provide context (exploration of underlying issues,
decision-making processes and the evolution of power
dynamics) and;
• Work from a values-based framework focusing on
nonviolence, conflict-resolution, and compassionate
solutions that include the voice and leadership of people
being impacted by the problem.

5. COMMUNITY COLLABORATERS
• Seek out collaborators who focus on real life community
challenges.
• Develop a relationship that supports their objectives.
• Build projects that allow students to take on leadership
roles in designing community interventions.
• Provide context, support, and connect to intended
learning and community outcomes.
• Engage in feedback and reflection with partners.

6. IGNITE A PASSION FOR JUSTICE
Exploration of our passion for
social justice requires
intentional investigation of
values, beliefs and worldviews
before we begin to work on
solutions.
- Student learning process
- Collaborator conversations

7. Photo by Robert Lee Bailey
December 7, 2014
“Black Lives Matter”
University of Pittsburgh
Killing of black people by law enforcement officers.
Develop a
Values-Based
Framework

8. TEACHING FOR CHANGE
- Statistics show rising incidents of black people being
unjustly killed by police officers.
- RESEARCH (“Picking Up the Pieces” ACLU)
- Reflect on the findings related to location of power,
historical events, personal and community impact.
- REFLECT
- Explore underlying values related to how community
organizers are approaching the problem.
- AND FOCUS ON VALUES FRAMEWORK

9. CHALLENGES TO CONSIDER
Long Term Transformation vs. Short Term Reaction
Value-Based Framework
• Nonviolence
• Solution Focused
• Relationship Building
• Engage the Community
• Seek System Changes
Legislation
Training & Education
Awareness Raising

10. WHAT THE RESEARCH SHOWS US
• Social justice and involvement in community issues strengthens
student engagement and multicultural competence.
(Einfield and Collins, 2008)
• The desire to impact the world in a positive way unites and drives
learning for students, faculty and communities at the local and global
level.
(Eyler, Giles Jr., Stenson, Gray, 2001)
• Engagement in real world issues and local concerns enhances and
strengthens student leadership skills. (Ostrander, 2004)

11. …Engage students in opportunities to impact change at
the local, national and global level.
Professor Bill McKibben
Middlebury College, Vermont
Founder of 350.org.

12. People’s Climate March – September 21, 2014
400,000 NYC
Look for
partners that
approach
Community
challenges
using a values-
based
framework
that students
can become
actively
engaged in.

13. Relate the Global to the Local
Students
from Frostburg
University
organizing to
stop local
fracking efforts
in Western
Maryland
February 27, 2014
Cumberland, MD
Chesapeake Climate Action Network – Maryland
…we help connect campus groups and student organizers
with action opportunities, strategic support and trainings.

14. Strategic Approaches….
- Student Interests / Clubs
- Join Organizing Campaigns
- Democracy Dialogues
- Community Forums
- Leadership Trainings
- Local Organizing Efforts
- Involvement in national
initiatives (350.org)
Powershift – Pittsburgh PA 2015

15. National Organizing Events
MLK Jr. 50th Anniversary March - August 28, 2013 250,000 attending
Potential Collaborator - American Friends Service Committee – working on ending racism

16. STUDENTS AS CHANGEMAKERS
Greensboro Four
- Four African-American
students from North
Carolina Agricultural and
Technical State University
organized a nonviolent
protest at a segregated
Woolworth’s lunch counter
after watching a movie
about Gandhi. This action
was a major milestone in
the civil rights movement.
PBS Documentary - FEBRUARY ONE: The Story of the Greensboro Four

17. What are students PASSIONATE about?
Many things!! (Kumashiro, 2015)
• Peace and Nonviolence
 Ending the Wars
• Economic Justice
 Fair Wages / College Costs
• Human Rights
 Prison / Human Rights Abuse / Racism
• Environmental Justice
 Global Warming / The Future of the Planet
Prepare students to lead and organize for current and future challenges.

18. Community Colleges Priority
Engage, Retain, Graduate
• Students who participate in civic engagement learn more academic
content (Gallini and Moely 2003).
• Cvically engaged students learn higher-order skills—including critical
thinking, writing, communication, mathematics, and technology—at
more advanced levels of aptitude (Cress 2004).
• Civic engagement increases students’ emotional intelligence and
motivates them toward conscientious community action
(Bernacki and Jaeger 2008).
• To be effective, civic engagement must be intentionally integrated
into curricular and cocurricular learning goals. Students who are
forced to volunteer or provide service can become resentful
(Sylvester 2011),

19. Cultivate Leadership Traits
• Commitment and Perseverance
• Sharing of Time, Talent and Energy
• Awareness of Local and Global Challenges and Quality of Life
• Viewing the World from Another’s Perspective (Diversity)
• Learning from Failures and Continuing to Work for Change
• Humility, Wisdom, Integrity, and Authenticity
• Positive Outlook in a World Filled with Negativity
• Focus on a Strategy and Vision for Long-term Change

20. Empowering student leaders
Triangulate Teaching Strategy
• Promote Student Interest in Social Change
• Research Local and/or Global Challenges
• Explore Student / Local Context
• Connect to Collaborators
• Help Create Student Projects
• Research
• Reflect
• Focus on Values
STUDENT
PASSION
LEADERSHIP
SKILL SETS
LEARNING
AND
COMMUNITY
OUTCOMES

21. LEARNING PROCESS
• Engage: I’M PASSIONATE AND CONCERNED ABOUT…?
• CLASS ASSIGNMENT/PROJECT
• Take time to find out what your students / faculty are passionate about
• Spend time at a nonprofit working on the issue
• Hold an activity/forum on the topic to raise awareness
• LOOK FOR POTENTIAL LOCAL/NATIONAL COLLABORATORS
• 350.org
• Sierra Club
• NAACP
• Human Rights Coalition

22. IN THE CLASSROOM
• FOCUS ON INFORMATION GATHERING
• Survey the students to see what they are interested in
• Assign tasks that help them learn more about the topic
• Meet with experts in the community and find out how you can collaborate
• LIFT UP CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
• Ask students to create a project that will address community challenge
• Provide support and foundation to meet the project goals
• Ensure students are leading the process – speaking out – organizing for change
• REFLECT AND STRATEGIZE
• Assess and reflect on short term outcomes. Explore long-term strategy and
values. Give students the tools they need to continue working on their goals.

23. STUDENT LEARNING APPROACHES
• Discipline Based Commitment - (part of your major)
• Problem Based - (work on a particular community need)
• Capstone Work - (community need plus learning objectives)
• Service Internship - 10-20 hrs a week (on-going w/guidance)
• Small Group Action Projects - student / community research
• Extra Credit / Directed Study – individual arrangement made
with instructor oversight.
Vanderbilt University · The Center for Teaching

24. FINDING COLLABORATORS
• Where to find civically engaged partners?
• What issues need to be addressed in the community?
• Find partners that are already addressing them
• Dialogue around shared valued and resource opportunities
• Explore partnership potential - Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities and Threats (SWOT)
• Build trusting relationships with your partners
• Create a shared set of guiding principals
• Engage students, faculty, and college administrators in the plan
SHARED PASSION AROUND THE ISSUES BIND COLLABORATIONS

25. FUNDING COLLABORATIONS
 Collaborations are more likely to be funded then single organizations
• Foundations increasingly ask for grants to be joint collaborations
 Colleges can help meet the research objectives of projects.
 Students can conduct community surveys, participant observation, and data
research
• Faculty are often experts in specific disciplines
 Partners that have been engaged in community and global civic
engagement issues are more likely to know about funding sources.
 Political decision-makers may be able to assist in finding resources.
 Colleges can help create white papers that are well documented and
researched which helps with funding efforts.

26. Questions and Answers

27. BIBLIOGRAPHY
 Bernacki, Matthew L., and Elizabeth Jaeger. 2008. “Exploring the Impact of Service Learning on Moral
Development and Moral Orientation.” Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning 14 (2): 5–15.
 Cress, Christine M. 2004. “Critical Thinking Development in Service-Learning Activities: Pedagogical
Implications for Critical Being and Action.” Inquiry: Critical Thinking Across the Disciplines 23, 87–93.
 Einfeld, A., & Collins, D. (2008). The relationships between service-learning, social justice, multicultural
competence, and civic engagement. Journal of College Student Development, 49, 95-109.
 Eyler, J. S., Giles, Jr. D. E., Stenson, C. M., & Gray, C. J. (2001). At a Glance: What we know about the effects
of service-learning on college students, faculty, institutions and communities, 1993-2000 (3rd ed.). Nashville,
TN: Vanderbilt University.
 Gallini, Sara, and Barbara Moely. 2003. “Service-Learning and Engagement, Academic Challenge, and
Retention.” Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning 10(1): 5–14.
 Ostrander, S. A. (2004). Democracy, civic participation, and the university: A comparative study of civic
engagement on five campuses. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 33, 74-93.
 Sylvester, Dari E. 2011. “Student Objection to Service-Learning: A Teachable Moment about Political and
Community Engagement.” In Cress and Donahue, Democratic Dilemmas of Teaching Service-Learning, 55–57.

28. RESOURCES
 Civic Engagement and Student Success: A Resonant Relationship
http://www.diversityweb.org/DiversityDemocracy/vol15no3/vol15no3.pdf
 Service Learning for Social Change: A Curriculum Development Workbook
https://reason.kzoo.edu/servicelearning/assets/7351_SL_for_Social_Change.pdf
 Beyond the Usuals: Ideas to Encourage Broader Public Engagement in
Community Decision Making
http://ncdd.org/rc/item/10141
Planning for Stronger Local Democracy
http://www.nlc.org/Documents/Find%20City%20Solutions/Research%20Innovation/Governance-
Civic/planning-for-stronger-local-democracy-gid-nov11.pdf
Advancing Civic Learning and Engagement in Democracy: A Call to Action
https://www.ed.gov/sites/default/files/road-map-call-to-action.pdf
Ted Talks – online talks from experts focusing on social justice issues –
www.ted.com

29. CONTACT INFORMATION
Mary Jo Guercio, Ed.D.
Community College of Allegheny County (Pittsburgh, PA)
College Director, Community Training and Development
 Mguercio@ccac.edu
Diane S. McMahon, Ph.D.
Allegany College of Maryland (Cumberland, MD)
 Service Learning / Civic Engagement Director
 DMcMahon@allegany.edu