Dear community,

It's 2023. Welcome to the future. This is a liminal space: simultaneously exhilarating and terrifying. Filled with promise and overwhelm. Let's acknowledge the deep strain from "being strong" and "getting back to normal." In 2023, hold onto the hard-earned learning from the last 3 years. Choose tenderness and ease. Wherever you show up, participate in a way that creates the kind of experience you want to have. Below is the Fall 2022 semester in-review. We did this together. There are no units, or programs, or institutes, departments, or organizations. There is only the people within them. Everything happens by people. Let's build. 

Peace & Possibility, Angela Kariotis, Director Diversity & Inclusion/CCOG 

I led 7 students for 8 weeks on The Fundamentals of Anti-Oppression. 

We wrestled with the ideas, the visioning, and the material. Then, teams went into College Success classes to host "teach-backs." They created an ethos, led exercises, broke down concepts, interrogated identity, offered their own personal testimonies, and challenged others in the name of beloved community.

This is about creating and stepping into: brave space. Students came up with our motto: Sometimes you gotta get in the fight. T-shirts are forthcoming*.

We thank the BIG grant committee, Sabrina Mathues and all the faculty of College Success Seminar for their collaboration, this includes Bill Kelly and Joanna Kotsis. 

Congratulate Belinda (Creative writing and Nursing), Rowan (Nursing), Effi (Humanities), Jake (Environmental sciences), JP (Mechanical Engineering), Sina (Pre-med), and Ashley (Social Work).

2023?

Please contact me if you'd like next year's cohort to visit your employee group or class.

We welcomed two Brookdale alums, Itzel Hernandez and Adriana Medina Gomez, working as community advocates and thought leaders. CPA's and immigration lawyers illuminated a very complicated situation. If we are to welcome students who are undocumented we will have to understand this landscape. Gratitude to Synde Kaufman for her meticulous efforts in organizing and Undocually for sharing space. Lunch Break was present with their cohort, as was Brookdale's Career Services, and Patricia Kunzman, CPS' new job placement coordinator.

2023?

Contact me if you'd like to collaborate on presenting this again.

Tina LeMar of Sheltered Yoga leads with an evidence-informed curriculum. The sessions included mindfulness, gratitude, belonging, and meditation work. This was presented by CCOG's area of focus: wellness.

We were lucky to be visited by Holmdel School District students led by the transition coordinator Doreen Riegel. Students visited our sessions and will continue to do so in the spring. When we think about inclusivity, let's make space for our community with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Doreen found out about the workshop because of a printed flyer she saw at CPS. Thank you CPS for doing that!

2023?

Please contact me for co-curricular planning at regional locations and Lincroft.

The first event was showing the short film, Purple, watch here. Then we practiced principled disagreement and principled struggle--Anticipating for and welcoming conflict as an opportunity. Fun and interactive.

Then, we were visited by the global leaders Social Movement Technologies for a zoom workshop on leveraging Instagram and TikTok for grassroots organizing efforts. These are tools. We'll have to learn how to use them. Here are the slides of that media workshop. This was presented by CCOG's area of focus: student advocacy.

Thank you to Ave Latte and Stephen Fowler for our collaborative efforts. Thank you to everyone who joined.

2023?

Contact me to reprise these efforts for your employee group or class.

A Culture Share is one way to bring identity into the room in a deliberate way. Here, we have artifacts, histories, stories, and lineage. Elana Maloney brought her English class from Long Branch. Markus Rodriguez, Diversity chief in Long Branch Public Schools, brought 18 high schoolers, accompanied by ESL administrator Angelica Hernandez, a Brookdale alumna. We also welcomed students from Red Bank Regional High Schools. Thank you to history professor Ashley Zampogna-Krug for collaborating and organizing with me, and bringing her class as a co-curricular effort. Thank you to Elisa Elorza of the CVA for hosting us in the perfect space for this experience. Jorge Terreros was in the building repping regional locations and Tuition-Free Brookdale.

Here we see the altar space holding special items. We see participants in a story circle. We see a student, Effi, presenting a monologue directed by playwriting professor Shiela Duane. We had an interdisciplinary experience!

2023?

Contact me if you'd like to collaborate on a Culture Share with your class and if you'd like to work together to welcome K-12 students to our campus for events like these.

Laura Kirkwood and Nicolette Nicola invited me to share space with their students. We shared stories, hopes, and worries.

Do you know what Academic Access offers students? How they tirelessly support students here on campus? Collaborate with them on inclusive experiences for students with accommodations.

2023?

Together, let's find ways to support ACAD. Normalize and destigmatize accommodations as a part of Stigma-Free Brookdale.

How fast can a group of people come together, build relationship, and dig deep into liberatory work? Ask Adam Stevens, drama therapist from NYU. Thank you to Carla Vanzant and Ivory Luke for bringing this series to EOF. Thank you to IEC and GCD students and advisors for showing up for the work. These workshops are open to all-- staff, admin, and students-- so we can share joy side by side.

Adam leads mental health group workshops centering culture and identity. We will see them again as they lead a workshop on affirming trans life in education spaces. This was presented by CCOG's area of focus: wellness.

2023?

Contact me to build out more co-curricular experiences for your group or class and if you'd like to know about Adam's upcoming workshops with us.

We're building intentional relationships with organizations who've done the work to earn trust from the people. CCOG is proud to have sponsored Casa Freehold's efforts to host the Mexican Consulate. And our collabs kept growing. Here, we have Brookdale leaders synthesizing efforts to message the people who can benefit most from accessing resources here. We have Jisenia Torres/Admissions- who's done tireless work in producing bilingual Spanish Financial aid and Apply Day workshops, Synde Kaufman/ESL who is always doing service-oriented work, and Jorge Terreros sharing out on Tuition-Free Brookdale..

2023?

Contact me to build with social services organizations and schools.

We have to practice for the future. Improvisation is a skill. It helps build our muscle to withstand uncertainty, to lean into curiosity, and to support each other with total abandon. This is building capacity for justice and equity work. With IMPROV! Jude Tredor-Wolff of Lifestage visited the classes of Donna Pope ENG and Christine Greco-Covington PSYCH. Integrating art across the curriculum. Deep gratitude for their willingness.

2023?

Bring this to your department and class.

Contact me for more co-curricular mapping and experiential learning.

This was my second time invited to present and I'm thankful to ErinMarie Tierney for extending the circle. We challenged norms and considered a multicultural framework. We were moved and moved around the room! Let's support Leadership Brookdale and their capstone project.

2023?

I'm presenting this again for the Standing in Solidarity series.

FAFSA Coaches did the tireless work of supporting prospective students submitting their FAFSA or NJ ALT. Your FAFSA Coaches are Bill DeVoe, Torina Armstrong, Shannen Deptula, and Eunice Clark.

CCOG Navigators worked with and from within community to share the message of access. Your CCOG Navigators are Jorge Terreros, Carla Vanzant, Birgit Mondesir, and Train Varvar.

We welcomed our first Pathway Mentor, Julia Krampah. Julia is a graduate student studying higher ed administration. She is also a Brookdale alum. Her position is meant to fill the gap between students and resources. We worked with Advising's Suzanne Rausso in ideating this position and thank her for being a tremendous support to Julia. Julia hosts student hours at the Long Branch regional location.

We worked with Sheri Stanford and students in her College Readiness program for a perfect day-- which included a field trip to Haunted Theater. Let's always do that, all the time!

We worked with Kristin Worthley and Admissions in a dream-building effort to craft a radical welcome to our campus. We worked with Stephanie Fitzsimmons on training up on our Financial Aid (and really everything!)

Jonathan Shaloum helped with our media collateral and an alum helped us with a Haitian Creole translation of our flyer.

2023?

Help me connect Julia with students who need her support.

Let's welcome young students to campus.

Tell your community about Tuition-Free BCC.

If you see something, say something.

Right To Be led us in ways we can safely show up for each other and LGBTQIA+ community. We learned 5 ways to interrupt harm. Alexandra Mock and the LGBTQ Club followed up with ways to get involved. Patrick Zavorskas of the Wellness Center told us about efforts with ALLY.

Resources from the workshop:

• National Center for Transgender Equality
• My Pronouns
• The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association
• Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
• Planned Parenthood Federation of America
• Human Rights Coalition
• Ace Week (Asexual Awareness)
• Human Rights Campaign

2023?

Contact me to co- host this important zoom workshop again.

Contact Patrick about joining ALLY.

Attend an LGBTQ Club meeting.

For fiscal year 2022-2023, we received an application to the CCOG RFP Innovation Station grant. It was by Ashley Zampogna-Krug who brought Borderlinks to her History of Immigration class.

Workshops (Zoom) are interactive learning experiences that cover issues such as immigration and frameworks for action.

2023?

Apply for funding in fall '23. Come to Community Hours now to brainstorm.

Support independent news stations. CCOG does. This is an effort to support organizations that work with and from within communities who are meant to be served by Brookdale's resources.

Support your advocates, community organizers, activists, change makers, thought leaders and artists.

With Jorge Terreros, we are crafting a relationship with Radio Jornalera. They produce news centering issues relevant to Spanish speaking community and community who is undocumented. Brookdale has its own monthly interview series called UndocuAlly, after our solidarity group. Thank the Brookdale leaders who stepped in to participate. Tune in to hear them,

Tune in on the first Monday of every month at 6pm on Spotify, Facebook, and Instagram.

Here's the passed line-up:

• Angela Kariotis/BCC and Markus Rodriguez/K-12 Long Branch Schools November
• Joir Kamphuis/Advising December
• Two proud BCC students January

Here's the UPCOMING line-up:

• Jisenia Torres/Admissions February 6
• Ashley Zampogna-Krug, Susan Whyman, and Dreamers+ March 6
• Advocate alums Itzel Hernandez and Adriana Medina Gomez April 3
• Jorge Terreros and proud BCC students May 1

2023? Tune in!

Personal finance is a revolutionary act. What's your "money personality"? Find out.

Brunch & Budget offers dynamic presentations and illuminating resources. Check the podcast for more money matters.

This latest workshop series demystified the daunting world of investing.This was presented by CCOG's area of focus: financial resilience.

Here are the slides.

This spring semester, they will be with us again. Get Shameless About Your Money: 5 Stages to Your Financial Legacy. FOUR money workshops. Open to all. Bring yourself, your group, your class. This is in collaboration with EOF, one of the most important units serving students on campus.

2023? Join us.