Name
Block 5: “Community” Engagement on Campus: Students Leading the Way to Address the Inequities They Face
Date & Time
Monday, March 31, 2025, 3:00 PM - 3:45 PM
Location Name
International C
Focus Area
Student-led, student-driven engagement and leadership
Session Type
Promising Practice (two 20-minute sessions per block)
Description

Centering community expertise within CSL courses is essential. But what if we think about students as holding expertise within their campus community? College students are impacted deeply by inequities such as food and housing insecurity, racism, debt, lack of access to reproductive health services, and more. Students are also leading the way toward addressing these challenges. This session explores the outcomes of on-campus student-led organizing and advocacy as it relates to leadership and civic identity development at UMass Amherst. We will present several change-oriented projects that students are leading in coordination with a UMass community engagement program and highlight one in particular where students advocated for and founded a medication abortion doula program in coordination with University Health Services.