The Engaged Campus

This month Raj Jayadev and Adrian Avila participated in The Engaged Campus Symposium, where they talked about their work at DeBug, a community action organization based in San Jose, California.  I was moved by their “soul work” as advocates for community groups, and I was impressed by how sincere and humble they both were.

One of the issues Raj and Adrian discussed was the importance of creating opportunities for people to speak for themselves.  This resonated with me, particularly because in my service-learning courses I ask students to construct documents about critical community issues or concerns, written about, for, or with their community partners.   Hearing Raj and Adrian talk about the value of unique personal experiences and creating a space for marginalized voices helped me think about the consequences of speaking for others and the potential for co-opting their voices.  I began to question how my assignments could be more geared towards encouraging people to speak for themselves–in their own voices–rather than encouraging students to speak for others.  Because if we’re always talking for others, even if we mean to advocate with the very best intentions, we may in fact be silencing certain voices.

Overall the range of activities at the symposium helped me think deeper about teaching, students, and how to serve the community in more meaningful ways.