Iowa and Minnesota Campus Compact Engaged Campus AwardCity of Dubuque
City Council Meeting
Presentation(s) # 2.
Copyrighted
May 3, 2021
ITEM TITLE: Iowa and Minnesota Campus Compact Engaged Campus Award
Winners
SUMMARY: Human Rights Director Kelly Larson will present the Iowa and Minnesota
Campus Compact Engaged Campus Awards to Temwa Phiri,
Community Engagement Coordinator; Mallory Gardiner, Loras College
student and Chair of the Dubuque Human Rights Commission; Emma
Earles, Loras College student; and Dr. Jake Kurczek, PhD, Loras
College Assistant Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology.
SUGGESTED
DISPOSITION:
ATTACHMENTS:
Description Type
IAMN Campus Compact Awards- MVM Memo City Manager Memo
IAMN Campus Compact Awards Memo Staff Memo
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TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
SUBJECT: Iowa and Minnesota Campus Compact Engaged Campus Award Winners
DATE: April 26, 2021
The purpose of this memo is to forward information on four local recipients of the Iowa
and Minnesota Campus Compact Engaged Campus Awards, which are designed to
recognize and celebrate the public purpose at the heart of higher education. Human
Rights Director Kelly Larson will publicly present the awards.
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Attachment
cc: Crenna Brumwell, City Attorney
Cori Burbach, Assistant City Manager
Kelly Larson, Human Rights Director
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TO: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
From: Kelly Larson, Human Rights Director
Date: April 21, 2021
Subject: Iowa & Minnesota Campus Compact Engaged Campus Award Winners
The purpose of this memo is to forward information on four local recipients of the Iowa &
Minnesota Campus Compact Engaged Campus Awards, which are designed to
recognize and celebrate the public purpose at the heart of higher education.
Background
For more than ten years, the Human Rights Department has had a deep, reciprocal
partnership centered around civic engagement with Loras College and, more recently,
with Iowa Campus Compact. This has involved working closely with Maggie Baker,
Service Learning Coordinator and Dr. Jake Kurczek, Assistant Professor of
Neuroscience and Psychology. With their help, we have hosted several AmeriCorps
and VISTA members over the years, aligned the Loras College Civic Action Plan with
the City's Imagine Dubuque Comprehensive Plan, developed a structure for an ongoing
community -based research program called Cultural Snapshots, and completed a variety
of projects involving equity in economic opportunity and housing affordability with the
support of students in the Loras Civic Leaders Scholarship Program. In 2019, Loras
College President Jim Collins and I were invited to participate in a podcast on the public
benefits of this partnership. See https://compact.org/podcast/season3-
episode9/#1503586004745-b2bd1815-9cc0. Individuals leading two projects
associated with this partnership are being recognized by Iowa & Minnesota Campus
Compact through the 2021 Engaged Campus Awards.
Engaged Campus Community Collaboration Award
This award recognizes a collaboration co -created with community organizations,
leaders, and/or partners that is deep, reciprocal, and transformational. This year, the
Loras College Year 2 Civic Leaders Leadership Team received the award for their work
with the City of Dubuque Human Rights Department. This team consists of Temwa
Phiri, City of Dubuque Community Engagement Coordinator, Mallory Gardiner, Loras
College student and Chair of the Dubuque Human Rights Commission, and Emma
Earles, Loras College student.
The Civic Leaders Scholarship program engages students in campus and off -campus
service while committing dedicated time to reflecting on how their experiences inform
their learning. The goal of the program is to provide students with the skills and abilities
to be change agents, responsible contributors and civically engaged. A key component
of the program is grounding the students in concepts and skills related to diversity,
equity, and inclusion. Since the fall of 2019, Community Engagement Coordinator
Temwa Phiri and Loras College student Mallory Gardiner have collaborated to create
workshop modules designed to prepare students in the Civic Leaders program to
engage in service projects focused on issues of equity and inclusion throughout
Dubuque. They were assisted in their efforts by Loras student Emma Earles, who joined
the team during the summer of 2020. This leadership team has also led teams of Civic
Leaders in implementing projects over the last two years. These projects have included
service with the arts commission, the housing department, neighborhood associations,
minority owned businesses, County and City public health around COVID-19 vaccine
distribution and the City's committee on equitable fine and fee reform.
Temwa's active engagement throughout the community and the way that he lives his
values serves as a model for Loras students. He has attended an Engaged Faculty
Institute with Dr. Jake Kurczek, and he currently serves as a valued expert for a new
course being developed at Loras focused on social action, equity and racial justice. He
is considered by Civic Leader students to be a valuable mentor and advocate and has
inspired them with his knowledge of equity, justice and engagement.
Mallory and Emma similarly demonstrate values -based leadership for their peers in the
Civic Leaders program. Mallory was appointed to the Human Rights Commission in
2020 and continues to stay informed and engaged on current topics. She was selected
as Loras College's 2021 Campus Compact Newman Fellow, and both she and Emma
were nominated for a Loras College 2021 Faculty/Staff Scholarship award. Emma is
currently working on a research project with Dr. Kurczek focused on assessing the
efficacy of the intervention strategies administered in the equity trainings. Both student
leaders have consistently engaged in service throughout Dubuque during their college
careers, balancing this with being student athletes, admissions ambassadors, and
members of multiple student organizations.
Engaged Campus Award for Emerging Innovation
This award recognizes a project, program or initiative making unique and innovative
contributions that demonstrate strong future potential, including student -led projects.
This year, Dr. Jake Kurczek, PhD, Loras College Assistant Professor of Neuroscience
and Psychology received the award for his work with the City of Dubuque Human Rights
Department to design the Cultural Snapshots Community -Based Research Project.
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In 2016, under the leadership of Taj Suleyman who was working with the Human Rights
Department at the time, we piloted a new program called "Cultural Snapshots." This
community -based research program was designed to highlight the cultural vibrancy
present in the community of Dubuque, Iowa, while contributing to the work of Inclusive
Dubuque to advance equity in housing, education, health, and economic wellbeing. The
first pilot featured snapshots from Dubuque's Marshallese population and was
conducted in collaboration with a University of Iowa public health program. It soon
became apparent that continuing this project would require ongoing academic
partnerships.
Dr. Kurczek helped to develop a research design created with the goal that it could be
used by any institution of higher education in the future who might be interested in
supporting and conducting research for future Cultural Snapshots projects. He
shepherded it through the Internal Review Board process at Loras College and shared it
out with faculty colleagues. The design of this framework is unique and innovative in the
community of Dubuque in two ways: (1) it was designed to be shared out to all colleges
and universities interested in supporting a Cultural Snapshot project in Dubuque, and
(2) the design strived to collect data and feedback in an anonymous format, so that the
populations with which the Human Rights Department consistently work, who are often
impacted by inequities, could share feedback and input with government in an
anonymous format, in an effort to ensure they are not burdened by the process
itself. Today, the design is being used to collect data from residents related to equitable
fine and fee reform.
In addition to being an accomplished researcher, teacher, and conference presenter,
Dr. Kurczek finds time not only to prioritize civic engagement, but to be a champion and
innovator in the field as well. In 2019, Jake was selected as an Engaged Scholar by the
Campus Compact Midwest Region and most recently he received national recognition
in the form of a 2021 Racial Equity and Interfaith Cooperation Award from the Interfaith
Youth Core (IFYC).
Requested Action
I have been continually impressed by the dedication to equity, inclusion, and civic
engagement all four of these individuals bring to their lives and their work. The City of
Dubuque is indebted to all of them for their service, and I cannot think of a more
deserving set of candidates for these awards. I am requesting time at the beginning of
the May 3 City Council meeting to publicly present these awards.
cc: Temwa Phiri, Community Engagement Coordinator
Mallory Gardiner, Human Rights Commissioner & Loras College Civic Leader
Emma Earles, Loras College Civic Leader
Dr. Jake Kurczek, Assistant Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology, Loras
College
Maggie Baker, Loras College Service Learning Coordinator
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