In recognition of the 2021 NASW NC Advocacy Week, Professor Jennifer Cobb, with support from Dr. Carmen Monico, led students in thinking through how we could participate. We formed various committees dedicated to various forms of advocacy centered around mental health and criminal justice reform. I joined the social media committee. My contribution was crafting questions and hosting an hour long Twitter Chat under the hashtag of #JPSWAdvocacyWeek (Joint Programs of Social Work Advocacy Week).
I was invited by Brittany Privott, a regional representative with the College Foundation of North Carolina (CFNC) to sit on a panel entitled “Serving African American and Black American Students through Admissions, Recruitment, and Success.” This panel sought to provide ways that North Carolina community colleges could better recruit and serve Black students. I was invited to serve on this panel because of my work as a College Adviser at West Charlotte High School and my success at partnering with Central Piedmont Community College to help my students continue their education.
The panel took place January 26, 2021 and had nearly 200 people register to attend.
A recording of the panel can be viewed at the top of the page.
I was elected President of the Joint Master of Social Work Student Organization (JMSWSO) in July 2020. One of my first responsibilities was to get my new exec board prepared to welcome new JMSW students at the new student orientation in August 2020.
The JMSWSO prepared a session for orientation aimed at introducing ourselves and our roles, recruiting to fill available positions on the board, and answering questions about the program that new students may have.
In light of the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, multiple students expressed interest in having a space to process the tragedy and our roles as Social Workers in relation to these all too common occurrences. I pitched the idea of a community forum in a small meeting and my classmates and professor were supportive.
With the collaboration and support of my colleague, Destiney Springs-Walker, and multiple faculty in my program, we hosted two community forums in May 2020. The first forum was crafted with the intention of creating a safe space for grieving and community support for Black students and faculty. We created an agenda and guiding questions. The second forum was a program wide forum crafted with the intention of processing and understanding our individual and collective roles as Social Workers. We worked together to create an agenda with supplemental reading and tools for participants of the forum. One of these tools shared by Professor Maruka Rivers was the silk ring theory.
From these two forums came fruitful follow up conversations and reflections on personal growth. I was encouraged that both colleagues and professors reached out to me to continue processing.
Additional note: There was a personal sense of urgency to proceed with the forums despite the personal distress as a Black woman witnessing another public Black lynching. I was advised to take time and reconsider having the program wide forum so soon with emotions being so fresh. However my biggest impetus was knowing American history and especially American summers. About a week later George Floyd was killed.
Krista Cherrelle 