Apr 30, 2021 | NEWS | By Leah Thayer | Photo by Izzie Hicks
The Colorado College Collaborative for Community Engagement (CCE) Week of Actionunfolded this past week. The events of the week, beginning April 23 and continuing through Friday,April 30, featured a packed schedule of getting involved in the community through education, awareness, and action.
The purpose of CCE’s Week of Action is to provide students with opportunities to connect with a wide range of coalitions working on various critical issues.
The topics explored during the Week of Action included political advocacy, health and accessibility, racial equity, K-12 education, gender and sexuality, poverty and inequity, criminal justice, and immigrant and refugee justice.
The full list and schedule of events can be found here.
CCE’s Week of Action is typically done in the fall, however, like many events this year, was postponed until now due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The week consisted of events held in a hybrid format, with some in-person as well as some virtual components.
Although it may not have been quite the same as in past years, CCE member Gillian Lasher ’23 is still committed to the week’s mission and important message of education and service.
“We’re just spreading awareness however we can,” Lasher said.
CCE had a table conveniently located outside the Worner Campus Center all week for students to reference about schedules and other information for the week’s events.
The week kicked off with a chalk art celebration on Friday, April 23, where CC community members were encouraged to decorate the sidewalk with fun messages to spread the word about the Week of Action. The CC Farm Volunteer Day was held on the same day, as a carry-over Earth Day celebration where volunteers assisted with compost piles and light construction on the farm.
The “Great American Clean-up of Monument Creek” and the “Historical Photo Project of the Old North End” happened over the weekend on April 24.
For the clean-up, CCE collaborated with the Fountain Creek Watershed District, and volunteers picked up trash right in CC’s backyard along the Tiger Trail. The photo project has been underway since 1976 and gave volunteers a chance to explore and appreciate the beautiful historic neighborhood.
Monday, April 26 and Wednesday, April 28 were “Contact Your Senator” days, a campaign where community members were encouraged to support an environmental bill which could help the state of Colorado reach its environmental goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 90%. The Political Advocacy and Gender and Sexuality Coalitions with CCE also held events on Monday.
One of Tuesday’s in-person events focused on LGBTQIA+ and HIV-positive incarceration awareness with an educational discussion where community partners, Inside Out Youth Services and Black & Pink, shared how their work tackles the criminalization of queer people.
The event then featured an action-driven component, where participants made birthday cards for incarcerated LGBTQIA+ and HIV-positive individuals.
“We want to encourage people to be engaged and learn this week, but we also want to actually do something,” said CCE member and event organizer, Denise Geronimo ’24.
The week’s events culminated in the Community Engagement Recognition Night, held virtually on Zoom on Thursday, April 29. At this event, all the ways CC engages in campus-community work, invests in shared futures, and develops students into engaged citizens were celebrated with awards and capstone presentations.
Events continue through today, Friday, April 30, and feature the Immigrant and Refugee Justice, K-12 Education and Youth Organizing, and Health & Accessibility Coalitions, with the last event beginning at 3 p.m.