“My perception of my role in society has changed since starting this class. I entered the semester feeling a little helpless and overwhelmed by the state of our country and world. COVID-19 is still raging with little signs of slowing down, the political climate is hostile, the humanity of some races is still being debated, and legislators are denying the seriousness of climate change. However, after starting this class, I have felt more hopeful. Even though we dove into some of the large and difficult challenges we are facing, we also talked about ways we can mobilize and create change…This class has given me tools that I need to imagine and work toward a better future, and I am excited to learn more.”    
      Lydia Goldthwait, CESL student
 
As this fall semester comes to a close, we express thanks for the CESL community’s ongoing work for justice. As Lydia notes in her end-of-semester reflection, we continued to face daunting challenges this past semester, but our students, faculty and staff honored our commitment to work towards a better future. We especially acknowledge our CESL community partners’ resilient work and the sustained relationships that we have built together.

Across CESL courses and programs, we’ve collaborated with community partners to reimagine community engagement in a largely remote context. First-year IMPACT Residential Academic Program students took one step at a time as they started their UMass journey, learning and preparing for engagement with our local partners from their homes elsewhere in Massachusetts and beyond. Long-time community partner, The Literacy Project (TLP), was able to transition their adult learning classes to a remote format. This change allowed IMPACT students to assist with TLP classes in the nearby community of Ware which has long needed additional volunteers but lack of transportation and distance prevented IMPACT students from getting there in the past. A new story sharing project with Amherst Neighbors took shape over the fall as well, providing connection for both older adults and students (see separate article) by reducing social isolation—an enduring problem for older adults that has intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic. As the semester ends, many IMPACT students have further committed to local community partners by choosing to continue their remote engagement over break with partners such as the VELA afterschool program at the Amherst Regional Middle School.

Community Scholars Program (CSP) students continued to engage with both old and new community partners, such as Science for the People, Neighbor to Neighbor, Women of Color Health Equity Network and the Amherst Survival Center. The shift to remote learning was especially challenging for students embarking on their capstone projects. Students had looked forward to being engaged in on-the-ground work alongside people with whom they had relationships. Instead, they found themselves having to shift as the needs of organizations evolved, capacity changed, and safety protocols were put in place. And yet this semester every student worked with community members to develop a proposal for a Spring 2021 capstone project that will meet the needs of the organization within the current context. One student is doing needed research on childcare for low-wage workers for a labor organization. Two others are developing a suite of web-based resources to educate the community about DARLA (Doula Association for Reproductive Loss and Abortion) in a time when access to reproductive health is a priority. Other projects include helping to organize access to Covid testing, developing a curriculum about storytelling and social change, and increasing stakeholder buy-in for the development of a relationship-violence prevention program in a local school district. 

These examples of perseverance and creativity extend across our programs including the Boltwood Project’s many community partnerships and the mentoring course with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County. We are ready to meet the challenges and build on the opportunities of this moment with our community partners as we look to the spring semester.