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Welcome to our e-newsletter
Minds in Motion
While recruitment for next year's class is heating up, take a moment to cool down with us! Learn about the folks who work behind the scenes to keep Free Minds moving forward and meet graduate Angelique Martin. Plus, Free Minds founder Evan Carton has the Final Word! |
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Now's the time to Apply for the
Free Minds Class of 2014!
If you or someone you know is interested in being part of the Free Minds Class of 2014, please visit our website for all the details, plus an online application.
The deadline is July 5, 2013. |
Free Minds Advisory Committee Works Behind the Scenes
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(from left) Committee Member Jennifer Herber, Graduation Guest Marissa Wright,
Committee Member Jen Furl, and Graduate Tari Jordan celebrate together. |
At Free Minds the spotlight is most often on the classroom and the students--rightfully so. Yet behind the flurry of lesson planning and class trips, the Free Minds advisory committee sets aside time each month to think about the long-term sustainability of the program. Chaired by UT English Professor and Free Minds founder Evan Carton, this group of ten professionals includes representatives from Foundation Communities, UT Austin, and ACC, as well as employees of social service organizations, Free Minds graduates, and volunteers. Jennifer Herber who joined the committee in 2012 initially became involved with Free Minds because she identified with students. Her UT degree in journalism was hard-won, and she often worked two or three jobs at a time to get there. "I feel honored to be part of this group," she said. "I feel like I can, in a small way, help others realize their dreams of attending college."
Advisory Committee Members:
Dr. Evan Carton
Professor of English, UT Austin
Rev. Freddie Dixon
Executive Director, Community Engagement Center, UT Austin
Jennifer Furl
Freelance Writer and Teacher
Jennifer Herber
Public Information Specialist, Austin Police Department
Julian Huerta
Deputy Executive Director, Foundation Communities
Stacey Kennedy
Alumna, Free Minds Project
Polly Levers
Case Manager, Goodwill Industries
Dr. Barbara Mink
Board of Trustees, Austin Community College
Director, Community College Leadership Program, UT Austin
Katie Navine
Vice President of Workforce Development Solutions (retired),
Goodwill Industries
Louise Sawaki
Family Self-Sufficiency Coordinator, Housing Authority of Austin |
Meet 2013 Grad Angelique Martin
This June, longtime Free Minds recruitment partner Goodwill released a stellar video featuring recent graduate Angelique Martin. Click below to hear why Angelique is placing education among her top priorities these days. And keep your eyes peeled for the Free Minds class cameo.
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Goodwill client interview, Angelique Martin
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Summer Creative Writing Workshop
Do you have a story just waiting to be told? Join Free Minds for our next creative writing workshop, set to begin Thursday, July 11. We'll meet one evening a week to do guided writing exercises in a supportive group environment.
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Special Thanks
We want to take a moment this month to appreciate our colleagues at the Community Engagement Center. You support Free Minds in ways big and small--from editing our newsletter to creating an environment that affirms the value of community each and every day. For this and more, we thank you:
Rev. Freddie Dixon, Director ǀ Angela Gooden, Assistant Director
ǀ Courtney Bailey ǀ Andrea Black ǀ Lisa Byrd ǀ Sylvia Jauregui ǀ Valerie Lopez ǀ Ellen Moutos-Lee ǀ Toni Tipton-Martin ǀ Bianca Vasquez ǀ Dr. Eric Tang
If you are interested in volunteering with or supporting Free Minds, you can find more information on our website.
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YOUTUBE: Stacey Kennedy, Free Minds '12, and her son Richmond talk about their journey from homelessness to college.
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Minds in Motion
Archive
May 2013
For the Free Minds Class of 2013, nine months of hard work pays off this May!
April 2013
With graduation, a writing workshop, and a new mentorship program ahead, we think April is the sweetest month.
The semester is coming into bloom with plenty of opportunities to grow with Free Minds.
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The Final Word
For Committee Chair Evan Carton, Students Inspire Continued Involvement
 In the Bible, a cycle of seven years usually means that the events unfolding over that span have some heightened significance, that they happen not just in calendar time but in prophetic time. In 2006, when I helped launch Free Minds, no one could have prophesied that seven years later it would have become the most ambitious and innovative program of its kind, or raised so much money from socially conscious foundations,or, most importantly, empowered so many people to improve their lives.
If Free Minds Project staff positions came with hats, I would have worn many of them: as director of the UT Humanities Institute in 2006, I founded and funded Free Minds in its early years. Along with Sylvia Gale, the project's first director, I selected the name "Free Minds" and conceived its logo of an open book in flight. I also taught the literature unit for three years, hired the project's terrific current director, Vivé Griffith, and enthusiastically joined the Advisory Committee that Vivé established last year.
The constant in my association with Free Minds--the source of my motivation to stay involved--is the students: their courage, their devotion, their delight. Like the student who came in one evening flushed with pleasure because, on the long bus ride to class, she had noticed a fellow passenger glancing over at the copy of Plato's Republic on her lap and thought: "Who would have ever believed that I would be a person reading Plato on a city bus, a person that other people would look at in that way?"
This was back in 2007 or 2008, and I don't remember the student's name, but her eloquence and pride echo in the valedictory words of every Free Minds class. "I know now that I'm not just a 41-year-old unemployed black woman, but a 41 year-old intelligent black woman with the determination to do better in all aspects of life," says 2013 graduate Catrina Williams. Eloquence and pride--and the prospect of a life transformed. Who would not want to stick around to see what happens next?
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A program of the UT Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, in partnership with the UT Humanities Institute, Austin Community College, and Foundation Communities, Free Minds offers a two-semester college course in the humanities for Central Texas adults who want to fulfill their intellectual potential and begin a new chapter in their lives.
Free Minds Project
Community Engagement Center
1009 East 11th Street, #218
Austin TX 78702
Project Director: Vivé Griffith Program Coordinator: Amelia Pace-Borah Ph: 512-232-6093 F: 512-236-1729
www.freemindsaustin.org |
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