URI_Research_Magazine_Momentum_Winter_2015_Melissa-McCarthy

In Silences Finding Voices

Investigating Social Justice on Campus

by Kara Watts

Human Development & Family Studies (HDF) graduate students Athina Chartelain, Tiffany Hoyt, Jacob Reilly; HDF Professor Emerita Barbara Newman; Annemarie Vaccaro.

Fol lowing her passion for diversi ty, equi ty and inclusiveness on the University of Rhode Island (URI) campus, Annemarie Vaccaro, associate professor of human development and family studies, is a leading collaborator among her peers and a role model for her students.

She serves on the URI Equity Council, Academic Affairs Diversity Task Force, and as co-chair of the URI President’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ) Commission. Vaccaro teaches and mentors graduate students and presents inclusive teaching workshops for faculty members at URI and other universities. The list of commitments sounds exhausting, but Vaccaro says, “My work isn’t just what I do, it’s who I am.” This philosophy–one that merges theory with practice–is precisely what Vaccaro aims to share with her students. As a scholar who investigates issues related to diversity, equity and inclusion in university environments, she emphasizes not only the need to engage with issues of social justice while in the classroom, but also for students to put that learning into practice, whether doing assigned projects, service work, or internships.

explains. “A foundational concept in the field of student affairs is to challenge and support students appropriately. I have to be an effective listener and sounding board, while also asking good questions to challenge students’ assumptions, and then let students make their own decisions.” Her own research, too, combines learning with practice. Information collection on one of her current projects has been a five-year, holistic multiple case study of the Rose Butler Browne Leadership and Peer Mentoring Program for Women of Color. It’s an action research project of the course HDF 291. Co-researched with Melissa Camba-Kelsay, coordinator of URI’s Center for Student Leadership Development, the course was named after the first African American woman to graduate URI in 1921 and focuses on historical and contemporary experiences of women of color in the United States. The students who enroll in the course typically come from diverse backgrounds, creating a unique learning environment. Vaccaro says the demographic composition of the class makes it run differently each time.

“I see my role as an adviser, really as a coach and a mentor,” she

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