Gift Impact

"Give joyfully": Benaroya gift bolsters Brotherhood Initiative capacity

wilcoxc@washington.edu — Fri, 23 Feb 2024 22:49:47 +0000

"Give joyfully": Benaroya gift bolsters Brotherhood Initiative capacity

February 26, 2024

Nestled in the vibrant ��ߺ�� Quad, the Brotherhood Initiative (BI) stands not just as a learning community but as a beacon of hope and transformation for young men of color. Joe Lott, Ph.D., associate professor of education and the founding director and passionate force behind the BI, not only addresses systemic barriers affecting Black men's graduation rates but also creates a close-knit community at the UW where academic challenges meet unwavering support and understanding.

In a poignant moment during a luncheon in the fall of 2022 at Ivar’s Salmon House, Rebecca Benaroya found herself drawn into the BI's orbit. Witnessing the spirit of resilience among the BI student scholars and the nurturing environment fostered by Director Lott, she was impressed. "It's a wonderful thing he is doing," she remarked, captivated by the comfort and empowerment radiating from the students. For Mrs. Benaroya, it was clear she wanted to support the BI in its mission to uplift students.

From left to right: Paul Metellus, assistant director for student success; Noah Stanigar (student); Jordan Fisher (student); Joe Lott, founder and director of the Brotherhood Initiative; Aarun Hendrickson (student); Shamaar Thomas (student); Mrs. Rebecca Benaroya.

During the luncheon, the BI students shared their experiences and journeys. Jordan Fisher (BABA, Marketing, 2023), underscored the invaluable mentorship, affirming, “I did a lot of different networking and professional development events that I don’t think I would have necessarily been connected with or had the motivation to do had I not been in the Brotherhood Initiative; so now going into different job interviews and professional spaces I feel more prepared.” Noah Stanigar (BABA, Information Systems, Marketing, 2023) echoed the sense of belonging within the learning community, emphasizing its transformative influence on his journey in academia and beyond: “It’s a brotherhood; that’s the whole point of it. It doesn’t just end when you graduate, these are people that you have a lifelong connection with.”

Connecting deeply with the BI mission, Mrs. Benaroya delved into the shared history of her family and her late husband Jack Benaroya. Both first-generation Americans, they witnessed the hardships many families experienced during the Great Depression and the ignorance and discrimination she and others faced as Sephardic Jews. She thought, too, about their shared commitment to supporting the underdog. She described Mr. Benaroya as dependable and honest; one who had a humble start working at gas stations and drug stores, delivering prescriptions, and serving customers at a local milkshake counter while balancing life as a student at Garfield High School. While she and her late husband were not able to attend college, they believed in the power of education and it spurred them to make education accessible for underprivileged students, planting the seeds for a lifelong legacy of philanthropy.

Their journey began with pioneering programs like Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) and College of Success at the UW, a program that championed Black male students from Garfield High School by providing scholarships to attend the University. Their early support, especially for the Black community, displayed a forward-thinking approach to advancing educational opportunities.

The Benaroya family’s philanthropic impact on the Pacific Northwest is profound, seen in landmarks like Benaroya Hall, research institutions like Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason Medical Center, as well as numerous arts organizations, industrial developments and business parks that have been synonymous with the Benaroya name for the past fifty years. Still, for Mrs. Benaroya, education remains the key to success in today's competitive world. "People need skills, talent, education to succeed," she emphasized, recognizing the vital role of higher education in empowering individuals.

Mrs. Rebecca Benaroya in her home in Seattle being interviewed by the UW ��ߺ��.

Inspired by her late husband's unwavering dedication and with the collaborative efforts of Director Lott and the UW ��ߺ�� leadership team, Mrs. Benaroya envisioned a lasting impact beyond immediate financial support. The result was the creation of a $3 million endowed professorship named the Rebecca and Jack Benaroya Distinguished Endowed Professorship for Equity in Education and a $2 million fund called the Rebecca and Jack Benaroya Fund for Excellence for the UW Brotherhood Initiative, marking the largest philanthropic support the BI has ever received.

For Director Lott, this is a transformative gift. "I’m excited to share in the legacy of the Benaroya family to support students from communities who have historically been underserved by educational institutions,” he remarked. This professorship goes beyond scholarships, emphasizing meaningful connections and support for historically underserved communities. It will allow the BI to double the size of its first-year cohort, serving more than 200 men of color each year across all cohorts.

With this generous endowment, students are not merely recipients of financial aid but active participants in a community that fosters personal growth, leadership skills, and a sense of belonging — students like Aarun Hendrickson, a senior neuroscience major and BI scholar. Inspired by the teachings and support he received within the BI, Hendrickson created a Brothers in Research course to address the need for belonging in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields for people of color, a course he designed and leads with the help of the BI staff.

Reflecting on his motivation, Hendrickson shared, "In the beginning of each class, I cover two researchers of color on the UW campus, one from the STEM side and one from the social sciences side, to show students there are people of color in every space and even though you might have to look a little bit harder, with the right tools you can find people who have been in the position you’re in and found success." Through the BI, students are empowered to become catalysts for positive change within their communities and beyond.

From left to right: Hunter Maag, Hakeem Hernandez, Po Saetia, and Dawit Hailu. Caleb Albright/UW ��ߺ��.

In the spirit of giving, the Benaroya family have an unyielding commitment to philanthropy that spans generations, illustrating that every act of support contributes to a brighter future. Quoting Shirley Chisholm, “Service is the rent we pay for the privilege of living on this earth,” and Winston Churchill, “You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give,” Mrs. Benaroya draws inspiration from these quotes just as her late husband once did. She encourages students to "pay it forward," creating a ripple effect of generosity and positive change. “Give joyfully,” she said with a smile.

Explore meaningful ways to support the Brotherhood Initiative by visiting their website.

Contact

Vanessa Stone

Assistant Director for Marketing & Communications

stonevm@uw.edu

Embracing a broader definition of literacy

alxbclrk@washington.edu — Mon, 20 Nov 2023 19:59:52 +0000

Embracing a broader definition of literacy

November 9, 2023

As the U.S. is facing another literacy crisis, particularly with the Science of Reading, Lakeya Afolalu has a solution. It’s to challenge schools and society to redefine literacy. “If we solely define literacy as reading and writing, then we omit the diverse ways that people communicate through multiple modalities,” she says. “We need to think more broadly about literacy, which will help schools and spaces create anti-racist, equitable and socioemotional approaches to literacy education.

An assistant professor of language, literacy and culture in the UW ��ߺ��’s Teaching, Learning & Curriculum program, Afolalu first became interested in the topic of literacy as a child. “I was born in the Bronx, New York and raised in Detroit, Michigan. My mother is African American, born and raised in Detroit. My father is Edo Nigerian, migrated from Edo State, Nigeria to the United States,” she explains. “So, as I spent my childhood and adolescent years between New York and Detroit, Nigerian and African American languages and literacies were always around me.”

Over time, and through her doctoral studies, she learned that narrow definitions of literacy that privilege reading and writing often cause tremendous harm to youth of color in the education system. “I always like to say that this current literacy crisis is not new,” says Afolalu. “Literacy has always been gatekept, especially for communities of color.”

I always like to say that this current literacy crisis is not new. Literacy has always been gatekept, especially for communities of color.

She describes the experience of visiting cousins in the suburbs of Detroit who were her age and realizing that they were reading the same books, only fuller chapter versions than she got at her school. “That got me thinking at a young age about how your zip code influences the type of education, and especially literacy education, you get. This all inspired me to become a teacher.”

Another formative part of Afolalu’s experience included making sense of her African American and Nigerian identities, which was especially prominent during her travels between Detroit and New York. In Detroit, which is predominantly African American she was “Lakeya” — the name given to her by her African American mother. “But when I would go to New York City, I crossed into my Nigerian identity and cultural world,” she says. “So much so that when I walked through my father’s door, I was now called by my Edo Nigerian name, “Iyore.”

Overtime, Afolalu began connecting literacy to the arts and humanities when she taught middle school students. “My 6th grade students in Newark, New Jersey and 7th grade students in Harlem loved to dance during recess and in the hallway from one class to another,” she says. “The administration saw their dancing and music as a conflict with the curricula, but it was actually helping them get through the school day, to bond with each other, and instead of reading in the library, they were recording dance videos and sharing them.” In her students, she saw that dance and music are also gestural and oral literacies and forms of communication.

Expressing identity

Now in a position to further impact the education system, Afolalu’s research and teaching continue to amplify this message — literacy is more than reading and writing. Her expanded definition of literacy speaks to the potential of education to evolve to meet the needs of all its students and the future. Digital literacies, visual literacies, dance literacies, fashion — these expanded concepts of literacy truly support students’ identities. She doesn’t believe that we should get rid of traditional literacy basics, such as phonics, word recognition, and comprehension but rather that we should couple it with forms of literacy that are inclusive of students’ racial, ethnic, linguistic and gender identities. This is needed for an equitable anti-racist, and just approach to literacy education.

Her research, which focuses on Nigerian immigrant youth, is concerned with two questions. “I ask myself what happens to Nigerian immigrant youth identities when they move to the United States, and I also ask how do they use language literacy and especially digital literacies in making sense of their new host country, the United States,” says Afolalu.

Lakeya Afolalu

She describes how, in Nigeria, there are societal identity markers like ethnicity, gender and religion. “But when they come to the United States, it’s such a hyper-racialized place,” she says. “And so, for the first time, when many immigrant youths come here from the Caribbean and African nations, they must reckon with race, racial constructs and anti-blackness. So, I ask how U.S. racial identity constructs and racialization processes, in particular, influence how they make sense of their identities, languages, and literacies."

Her research highlights the many ways Nigerian immigrant youth navigate U.S. school and societal spaces. Some transition to natural hair, seek trendy fashion trends, visit symbolic U.S. stores like Starbucks and Target, and exchange soccer for American football. Literacy practices like these helped the youth racially, socially and culturally position themselves in the United States. Others hold onto their Nigerian languages and cultural values by using digital literacies to communicate with school friends in Nigerian on WhatsApp and Xbox chat.

On the other hand, some of the Nigerian youths’ parents told Afolalu that they didn’t bring their children to the U.S. to get into aspects of American popular culture but to pursue the best education. One 5th grade Nigerian girl, whose parents had lived in the U.S. the longest, allowed her to maintain a more hybrid identity, through her art literacies and visits home to Nigeria, that honored both Nigerian and American values. This approach more fluidly integrated the languages and literacies of where she’s come from and where she finds herself.

Digital spaces are also critical to Afolalu’s research. “Texting, Xbox chat, virtual drawing platforms, these spaces don’t often have the same racial, linguistic, and cultural hierarchies and boundaries that exist in the real world offline,” she says. “So, youth, especially African immigrant youth, are able to rise above identity expectations and showcase their preferred identities online.”

Becoming whole

As someone who understands educational inequities firsthand, Afolalu considers it her service to society to put her research into practice. She recently founded LitiARTS — a nonprofit organization that uses literacy, arts-education, and college and career preparation mentorship to enhance educational justice for youth of color around the globe while keeping their identities and well-being at the core. The organization aims to support the whole student in three ways, with mentorship on college applications, art-based workshops and meet-ups for students for community-building and resource-sharing. In their first year, LitiArts was selected as a finalist for NewSchools Racial Equity funding opportunity. They were also recently selected as a recipient of Common Impact’s Day of Service project where they worked with a team of volunteer staff from NVIDIA to strengthen LitiArts’ digital marketing.

This organization manifests one of Afolalu’s core beliefs — every student deserves access to a high-quality education no matter their zip code. LitiARTS partners with youth and communities to build students’ confidence, creativity, and self-expression through the arts; affirm their literacy skills and identities through expansive literacies; and create communities of healthy well-being and belonging through mentorship. This is all especially geared toward students of color and first-generation college students whose identities and well-being are often stripped during their schooling experiences.

With a new undergraduate course she’s teaching, called Postcolonial Identities in the Arts, Education and Society, Afolalu is also learning and exploring alongside UW students so that more future leaders, educators and people in general can continue to think in expansive ways about identity, literacy and the arts to impact change in schools and beyond.

Most importantly, I encourage my students to step into a position of agency to speak back to harmful colonial narratives and experiences that have negatively impacted their families, their communities and their schooling experiences.

“This multi-sited course takes a historical look at the role of colonization in identity constructions and narratives for communities of color,” she says. “We visit local Seattle art spaces, explore visual art collections by artists of color, and engage with the larger Seattle community to bring the course topics to life. Most importantly, I encourage my students to step into a position of agency to speak back to harmful colonial narratives and experiences that have negatively impacted their families, their communities and their schooling experiences. Seattle is truly a gem for understanding how communities of color have taken postcolonial approaches to re-author their identities and narratives.”

At the heart of Afolalu’s inquiry is how we see ourselves and others and how this perspective impacts our overall well-being, especially our joy individually and as a society, from the time we are in school and beyond. Afolalu tells a personal story from when she was 11 years old that encapsulates this idea about when her father brought her grandmother to the United States.

Although she was multilingual and spoke Edo and Nigerian Pidgin, at that time, Afolalu had characterized her grandmother as “unable to speak English.” This characterization stemmed from deficit depictions of Africans in popular media and in her school curricula. Later, through her lived experiences and graduate studies, she would come to see the rich linguistic repertoire that her grandmother brought with her. Though her grandmother is no longer here with us, Afolalu now describes her as multi-lingual, with a rich multitude of literacies to learn from, love and embrace.

Contact

Charleen Wilcox

Director for Marketing & Communications

wilcoxc@uw.edu

Diversifying the school-based mental health workforce

alxbclrk@washington.edu — Mon, 20 Nov 2023 19:26:12 +0000

Diversifying the school-based mental health workforce

November 9, 2023

Recruiting and retaining Black men as school psychologists

A student speaks with a school psychologist or counselor. Image source: Shutterstock.

When it comes to university programs offering degrees and credentials for improving mental health in schools, the UW’s School Psychology program provides something unique. “A lot of school psychology programs focus on assessment rather than mental health,” says UW ��ߺ�� Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Janine Jones, Ph.D. “Some are also situated in psychology departments rather than being in Colleges of Education like ours.”

At a time when the mental health of young people is top of mind across the nation, that means they are well-positioned to increase the number of practitioners providing mental health supports in schools.

“Our School Psychology Program offers excellent training in an expanded model that includes supporting the academic and mental well-being of children and adolescents,” says School Psychology Program Director Kristen Missall, Ph.D. “Our school psychology graduates have a 100 percent pass rate on the certification exam and a 100 percent employment rate.”

Our school psychology graduates have a 100 percent pass rate on the certification exam and a 100 percent employment rate.

Not only that, but the program has long worked to be culturally responsive and has intentionally worked in partnership with Seattle Public Schools (SPS). So, when Jones and Missall heard about a new grant opportunity from the U.S. Department of Education focused on increasing the number and diversity of high-quality, trained providers available to address a shortage of mental health service professionals in schools, they knew they had to apply.

Solving a widespread problem

They were awarded a $1.6 million grant last spring to support their project. A partnership between the UW School Psychology program and SPS, the effort focuses on recruiting and retaining Black men as part of the program’s larger cohort earning their postgraduate professional degrees as educational specialists in school psychology.

Over the five years of the grant, the UW School Psychology Program will train and graduate 12 Black male school psychologists into employment at SPS, which will increase their school psychology workforce to be 20% Black males. “The transformation is extraordinarily important and unique,” says Missall.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1R_QKmvjxg

A 2022 article published by NPR, “Few Black Men Become School Psychologists, Here’s Why That Matters,” pinpoints the problem the project seeks to address. School psychologists provide a range of mental health and academic services in schools, including assessing a student for a disability. According to a National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) survey, the make-up of school psychologists doesn’t match student demographics. While 85 percent of school psychologists are white, more than 50 percent of students identify as a race other than white. Further, Black children, especially boys, have been disproportionately referred in schools for special education services, in addition to disproportionate disciplinary actions against them and involvement by the police.

“This program is disrupting traditional patterns and biases,” says Jones. “It will offer a tremendous value to children, schools and communities related to mental health and wellness.” The program also aligns with the SPS strategic plan focused on “disrupting the legacies of racism in our educational system.”

This program is disrupting traditional patterns and biases. It will offer a tremendous value to children, schools and communities related to mental health and wellness.

Sparking a national movement

While the number of Black school psychologists in U.S. public schools is still less than 1 percent (according to an estimate by NASP), Jones and Missall are excited that this project will dramatically increase that percentage at SPS. They are also seeing some promising momentum at the national level.

About a year ago, the Black School Psychologists Network formed, and in April of 2023, the organization held its inaugural conference. “I thought there would only be about 150 people there,” says Jones, describing how the field still has a long way to go but also how many more practitioners of color there are now than when she began practicing over 20 years ago. “About 500 people came, and there were so many people that I knew who were missing. It was an incredible event.”

The new network also supports their project. “We’re developing a list of mentors,” Jones says. “Cohort members can connect to people who share their identity and professional field, starting now and becoming part of their professional lives long-term.”

The first cohort of Black male students started in the fall of 2023. While the School Psychology program already focused on recruiting diverse candidates, this effort furthers that trend to everyone’s benefit. “Our school psychology graduate cohorts are about 47 percent racially diverse, on average, and it’s exciting to continue to increase diversity and to have meaningful conversations that reflect everyone’s lived experience,” says Missall.

While the Department of Education funding for this effort is time-limited, the momentum for this kind of change is not. “I’m dreaming that even after this funding ends, our program will be seen as a safe home and will continue to draw people that have not traditionally applied,” says Jones. That’s great, because the schools, students and their communities are ready and waiting.

Contact

Charleen Wilcox

Director for Marketing & Communications

wilcoxc@uw.edu