Thrilled to be Part of the Center for Social Impact Debut @FairfieldU - Proud to Collaborate and Dream for Community Partnership

Yesterday, I was able to attend a celebration introducing The Center for Social Impact at Fairfield University. Similar to teacher Jessica Baldizon and student Luckario Alcide, Melissa Quan asked me to say a few words (which I post below).

It's also been nice to have Michael back on Mt. Pleasant for a couple of days before he does his Fulbright in Chile (after a solid beginning at Villanova Law School)(pictured with Provost Christine Siegel).

What a wonderful day.

Good Afternoon, and I, too, extend my welcome to you for today’s event and to simply say Thank You. 

My name is Bryan and I’m the Director of the Connecticut Writing Project at Fairfield University and an Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Education. Those who know me best, have followed my work with Urban schools, the literacies of ALL young people, including immigrant and refugee-background youth, and my support of K-12 teachers through workshops, professional development, and presentations.

I arrived to Fairfield University in 2011 and within a year I was swept under the wings of Melissa Quan to collaborate and connect on numerous possibilities. I quickly found myself under the guidance of Dr. Jocelyn Boryczka in a cohort for designing service-learning courses and on the advisory board of Dr. Janie Leatherman’s Jesuit University Humanitarian Action Network, where I also redesigned courses. My undergraduate and graduate students have benefited from numerous community projects with Bridgeport Public Schools in a wide variety of settings, and I have both Melissa and Janie, plus their incredible staff, to applaud.

In short, their support and vision has always been at the CENTER of my success at Fairfield University, especially as I’ve set out to have a SOCIAL IMPACT on the communities I work with. This fall, for example, the Connecticut Writing Project hit the million-dollar mark in grants, revenue, and donations in support of our literacy programs. In addition, CWP-Fairfield’s recently received national recognition through the Coalition of Community of Writing, naming the partnership between Fairfield University, CWP, and local schools as exemplar. On a personal note, having my leadership and scholarship recognized with a Divergent Award from the Initiative for 21^st Century Literacy Research, an Elizabeth M. Pfriem Award from the Fairfield County Community Fund, and a MLK Faculty Vision Award could only have culminated from having so much of my collaboration, belief in scholarship for action, and community-engaged work CENTERED for Social Impact within a mission for justice and equity. Doing what is right that is at the heart of doing this work together.

Most recently, the spirit of social impact has been celebrated by two well-known journals in the field over the last two months. Voices in the Middle featured the program design between CWP-Fairfield and Fairfield University in an article last December called, “Who We Are Together – Emphasizing Community in the Work We Do” and later this month, the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy will applaud Fairfield University collaborations with teacher William King and Jessica Baldizon in a piece called “We are all Projects – Together We’re Strong” which celebrates Ubuntu Academy, Hope Club, and collaborations with the Saugatuck StoryFest.

CWP-Fairfield has served 1,100 young people during the summer since 2014, and trained 100s of teachers. In addition, our work has provided 1,000s of professional development hours to K-12 educators during the school year. This, I know for a fact, would not be possible if it wasn’t for partnership, vision, friendships, and hope. To me, that is what the Center for Social Impact is all about. I am beyond grateful for all they’ve done to support my work and the literacy initiatives of CWP. Thank you, Melissa. Your vision has been remarkable.