Blog

Building Knowledge for Social Change, Traveling Around Hartford

In 2007, Charlie Fuentes ‘08 founded “Stop the Raids!” as a student organization at Trinity College. The group, which protested federal raids against undocumented immigrants, offers a powerful example of how students’ co-curricular efforts in partnership with Hartford residents can leave a lasting mark. In addition to mobilizing large groups of students to fight for immigrant rights, "Stop the Raids!" collaborated with Hartford organizations that played a role in passing Hartford’s sanctuary city ordinance in 2008. In Fall 2021, current Community Action Gateway students examined the work of "Stop the Raids!" as they learned about the opportunities and challenges of higher education community engagement and social change. Though the “Stop the Raids!” group is no longer active at Trinity, the rights of undocumented immigrants are still a salient issue in the Hartford community and touch members of the Trinity College community today.

One of the most important components of the Community Action Gateway is to help students understand the multiple ways that social change is happening in the city. This semester, the ...

For our Fall 2021 semester, students were enrolled in Community Action 101: Envisioning Social Change. CACT partnered with organizations to create a 1-minute video responding to the partner’s communicated needs. The class worked with an array of Hartford-based organizations, collaborating with Free Center, Night Fall, Health Equity Solutions, and Desiree Primus’ “Mayor Carrie Saxon-Perry” project.

VITA Will Open Soon at Trinfo, Frog Hollow Storytelling

Trinity students in the J-term Dance Performance Studio are preparing for a spring concert led by three choreographers with Hartford roots. The course and concert are distinguished by the mix of students and choreographers collaborating. College dance departments often bring in guest choreographers, but this experience is unique because of the artists’ ties to the local community.

The VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) clinic at Trinfo will open for the 2022 tax season in early February. Now in its fourth year, the clinic offers free tax preparation services to the community.

In 2018, CHER started CLiFF (Community Learning Faculty Fellows) to help professors develop curriculum and teach community learning courses. One of the Community Learning Faculty Fellows this year is Dr. Kelly P. Dugan, Visiting Assistant Professor of Classical Studies at Trinity. 

Reflecting on Trinity's Engagement in Hartford and more

In the spring semester of 2020, Professor Nick Marino set out to teach his course, Visual Rhetorics, with a new Community Learning curriculum. The course teaches students about how messages are communicated through visuals, font, typography, and photography for persuasion. Students worked with two partners to create new logos using skills they learned in the course.