The Mandel
Spotlight The Biannual Newsletter of The Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Humanities Center At Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C®) Volume II, Issue I
Fall 2019
Orientation Scavenger Hunt Since the program’s inception, Mandel Scholars Academy students have entered via a traditional half-day orientation: icebreakers, PowerPoint presentations from administrators and sandwiches for lunch. Many participants thought of it as a “necessary evil;” information needed to be shared and forms needed to be signed. This was a way to do it. The problem, frankly, was that most people found it pretty boring, and few of the new students actually remembered any of the content afterward. In hopes of making the experience more enjoyable and more effective, the Mandel Center staff spent the summer of 2019 designing a much more ambitious orientation experience: a scavenger hunt featuring sites throughout downtown Cleveland.
The team identified 22 locations and created a leader’s guide with (frequently corny) clues, relevant information about the Mandel Scholars Academy and facts about the history of Cleveland for each site. At 9 a.m. on Aug. 24, nearly 100 new students arrived at the top level of Tri-C’s District Office garage, where they met the Mandel Center staff and 19 returning students and alumni. Working in groups of six to eight, each of which was led by a returning Mandel Scholar or an alumnus, the students solved the clues and made their way around downtown, ending with lunch at the Tri-C Hospitality Management Center on Public Square. Four locations featured short presentations from members of the Mandel team. Continued on page 4.
The Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Humanities Center at Cuyahoga Community College 4250 Richmond Road, Highland Hills, Ohio 44122 | 216-987-2601 | mandelcenter@tri-c.edu
The Mandel Spotlight
Staff
Profile
TMS: Tell us a bit about your background. Where are you from and how did you end up working at Tri-C? JH: I was born and raised in Akron and received my B.A. in political science from Baldwin Wallace University. After graduation, I found myself in the nonprofit world for about five years. My next stop was higher education. I worked at a local private college on their admissions team as the assistant director of adult, transfer and international admission. Each year, I met with a large number of Tri-C students, and came to realize that my personal values aligned deeply with Tri-C’s mission. I wholeheartedly believe that everyone deserves access to an affordable and high-quality education, and started looking for a position at Tri-C. I was hired as a recruitment specialist at the Western Campus eight years ago, which meant a lot of traveling to schools, businesses and organizations in Cuyahoga and Medina counties. I’ve been at the Mandel Humanities Center for the past three and a half years in the role of community liaison.
TMS: What’s the best part of being the Mandel Center’s community liaison?
Jensen
Hanna Community Liaison
JH: I love designing experiences that students find meaningful. It brings me joy to watch Mandel scholars connect the program to their lives and the world. I also love seeing a personal transformation in our scholars as they carry empathy outside of these walls, along with a desire to make a difference in their communities. That is powerful. That stays with you. I am grateful to our students for sharing that with me.
TMS: You’ve been at Tri-C for a long time. Do you have any words of wisdom for current Mandel Scholars? JH: • Make wellness a priority. Practice good sleep and eating habits. Pay attention to your stress levels. Balance your time. • Set goals and track them. Celebrate your wins, both big and small. • Seek help when you need it! Create a support network and lean on those folks to help you get through the tough times. • Take ownership when you make a mistake. We all make them; it’s a very human thing to do. Find the lesson, forgive yourself, apologize (when necessary) and move forward. • Give yourself time to reflect on each day. Keep a gratitude journal. Dig deep to understand what you’re going through and why it’s important. • Never stop learning. Be open to new people, new ideas and new experiences. The world is yours to explore. Step outside of your comfort zone. That is where growth happens.
TMS: What’s something surprising about you that our students wouldn’t guess? JH: I identify as an ambivert, not an extrovert. My energy comes from spending time with people and spending time alone. I work hard to find balance in my personal and professional worlds.
Mandel Scholars Join Advanced Leadership Institute From September 2019 through June 2020, Cuyahoga Community College is partnering with the Cleveland Leadership Center to sponsor the Advanced Leadership Institute: Inspired by the Legacy of Carl and Louis Stokes (ALI). Born out of collaborative planning for the “Year of Stokes” project, ALI will be an enduring legacy to ensure that the ideals and ideas expressed in the 2017 Stokes: Remembering the Past, Inspiring the Future document are carried forward. Those ideas focus on five policy areas: health, public safety, workforce development, education and housing. ALI’s unique multi-generational cohort brings together 13 senior fellows who have held, or are currently in, prominent leadership positions; 13 Stokes fellows; individuals from throughout the Cleveland area who have been identified as leaders committed to one or more of Stokes’ five policy areas; and eight junior fellows who are
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“The sessions create a passion that makes you want to be engaged, to play an active role in changing things.” – Mandel Scholars Academy alumna and ALI junior fellow Blair Austin enrolled in, or alumni of, Tri-C’s Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Scholars Academy. The program is made possible through generous support from the George Gund Foundation and the Cleveland Foundation.
Volume II, Issue I | Fall 2019
Alumna
Profile
Alicia Kurtz received her Associate of Arts degree from Tri-C in spring 2018 and successfully matriculated at Cleveland State University in the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Honors College, through the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Continuing Scholars Program. She is majoring in psychology and works in two labs on campus, researching the topics of mood, emotion, aging and cognition. Kurtz continues to flourish academically at CSU, earning the President’s High Honors certificate in the fall 2018 and spring 2019 semesters. Reflecting on her time at Tri-C in the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Scholars Academy, Kurtz notes that the Mandel Scholars Academy gave her a sense of community and an appreciation for the city of Cleveland. Her favorite memory from Mandel includes attending the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage, where she met one of her good friends and heard from Cleveland-area activists. “I got to see the real Cleveland,” Kurtz said. Looking to the future, Kurtz is planning to pursue a Master of Education in School Psychology degree through CSU or Wright State University. Upon completing her master’s degree, Kurtz hopes to work at a school in Northeast Ohio, and eventually earn a doctorate.
Alicia
Kurtz
If Kurtz could offer one piece of advice to students entering the Mandel Scholars Academy, it would be to get involved beyond the requirements of the program. She recommends new students attend extra cocurriculars, rather than just the three required each semester, and be open to opportunities and events. The second piece of advice would be to take additional classes of interest. Once you transfer, you may not have time for that photography course you always wanted to take, so enroll now and enjoy it!
Mandel Humanities Center Hosts Battle Of The Literary Masters Event C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien are beloved authors, familiar to generations of readers. Lewis is best known as the author of The Chronicles of Narnia, and Tolkien, of course, wrote The Lord of the Rings. The two authors were friends. As colleagues at Oxford University from the 1920s to 1950s, they were core members of a group of writers known as “The Inklings.” On Oct. 10, Tri-C’s Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Humanities Center hosted a series of events featuring two leading Inklings scholars, Holly Ordway, Ph.D., a professor at Houston Baptist University who is writing a book on Tolkien’s literary influences; and Michael Ward, Ph.D., a senior research fellow at Blackfriars Hall, Oxford University, dubbed by The Times Literary Supplement as “the foremost living Lewis scholar.” During the day, Ordway and Ward presented academic lectures to audiences of Tri-C students and faculty. Ordway spoke on “Tolkien on the Function of Fantasy,” while Ward’s presentation was titled “C. S. Lewis on Reason and Imagination in Science and Religion.” That evening, the pair engaged in a friendly debate at the Simon and Rose Mandel Theatre, joined by a trio of Cleveland-based professional actors interpreting selected passages from the featured authors’ writings. Ordway argued that Tolkien’s writing is superior to Lewis, and Ward argued the opposite standpoint. At the end of the evening, the 300-person audience used their cell phones to vote for a winner. The result was... a tie! There were 186 votes were cast, with 93 each for Lewis and Tolkien. Audience members described the event as an “excellent program,” “great” and “tremendous… not only very informative but delightfully entertaining.” Many attendees expressed the desire for more events of this kind in the future, a sentiment echoed by the Mandel Center’s dean and chair, Matthew Carey Jordan, Ph.D. who noted that public events like the Battle of the Literary Masters fit squarely with the mission of both the Center and the College. As Jordan said in his opening remarks, “Here at Tri-C, we pride ourselves on being not merely a community college, but on being the community’s college... We hope that the Mandel Center may serve as a home for thoughtful and high-quality discussion of topics in the humanities and social sciences, providing opportunities for members of the public to hear from leading scholars about topics across a wide range of disciplines.”
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The Mandel Spotlight
Orientation Scavenger Hunt Continued from page 1.
Jensen Hanna was in a teaching laboratory at ideastream; she told the new students about community engagement courses and the program’s ALAP co-curricular activities. Professor Mary Hovanec was at the City Club of Cleveland, where she gave a presentation on expectations for Mandel scholars. Dean Matthew Jordan was in the Stokes Legacy Room at the Cleveland Public Library. His presentation was titled “What Are the Humanities, and Why Should I Care?” Emily Quayle was, of course, at the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Honors College at Cleveland State University to talk about the Mandel Continuing Scholars Program, and Herb Mausser and Ra’Shawn Brown were both in the vicinity of the hunt and on call in case of emergency. Marianna Nesterenko oversaw the luncheon and other logistical arrangements. The event was a tremendous success. Most of the participants completed an anonymous survey evaluating the orientation, and 85% of respondents gave the experience a score of eight out of 10 or higher. Remarkably, in light of the fact that most students did not
Community Engagement Projects In fall 2019, students enrolled in the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Scholars Academy’s community engagement course partnered with four area organizations — the Cleveland Botanical Garden, ideastream, Good Cause Creative and Literary Cleveland — to tackle the following projects: Cleveland Botanical Garden Research national models and recommend ways the organization can expand or redesign youth programming. ideastream Assess the impact of reporting on residents featured in a series dedicated to the current conditions, and upcoming changes to, the oldest public housing project in Ohio. Good Cause Creative/WISH Cleveland Design a weekly generosity challenge for the city of Cleveland in 2020 connected to the organization’s #GivingTuesdayCLE campaign. Literary Cleveland Develop and recommend strategies to engage recent college graduates. Mandel scholars are challenged in this course to assess their skills, create a positive team dynamic and complete a project deliverable in 16 weeks. Faculty provide guidance and a humanities context throughout the experience. This course is unique and continues to test all of the Mandel Scholars Academy competencies: effective communication, evidence-based decision making, multicultural awareness, social responsibility/ethical behavior, collaboration and achievement of results.
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depart from the Hospitality Management Center until after 2 p.m., one of the most common suggestions for improving the event next year was, “make it longer!” One new student spoke for many of her peers when she wrote, in spite of some minor setbacks and challenges, “I had a really fun time! If I had to do this again, I would. In fact, I would love to lead it someday!”
Tea and Scones with the Campus Presidents Mandel Scholars shared tea and scones with the president at each of their home Tri-C campuses in November. This was an opportunity for our campus presidents to meet the scholars and to engage in a meaningful dialogue on leadership, as each president shared their personal leadership journey.
Volume II, Issue I | Fall 2019
Mandel Scholar
Profile
When did you decide to attend college, and why did you select Tri-C? I always planned to attend college after graduating high school in 2010 but I faced a few life obstacles that delayed my progression in my academic journey. Once I got back on track with my academic plans, I enrolled at Tri-C. I chose Tri-C for many reasons, including the intimate college and class structure, the accessibility to resources and opportunities, and support that encourages personal growth and leadership.
How did you learn about the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Scholars Academy, and why did you apply? I am a student ambassador for the Eastern Campus, and through engaging with my fellow students and the College administration, I learned of many more programs Tri-C offers. The Mandel Scholars Academy was one of them. Among all the great things, the emphasis and standards put on leadership intrigued me the most. I strive to always enhance my leadership qualities and skills, along with engaging and networking with a diverse group of people. For all these reasons I applied. I felt becoming a Mandel scholar would not only be an academic achievement but also a character enhancement.
Jarusha
Weeks
Talk about an experience you’ve had as a Mandel Scholar that has made an impression on you. Honestly, within the Mandel family I have had many experiences; to just choose one is so unfair! I will say, I love the relationships I have built with my Mandel professors. Brian Johnson and David Bernatowicz are more than professors. They are mentors in their own special ways, and continuously show they care for their students by engaging each one in the lessons as well as personally connecting with them. They care about our well-being and academic success. They create learning environments that challenge and influence us, and they provide a comfortable atmosphere for honest, authentic interactions. And a class day isn’t complete without moments of laughter! These components created a great balance in my college experience and have shaped my understanding of what it means to be a scholar.
What is your major and why did you choose to pursue that field? My major is social work. I chose social work because of my passion for people. Growing up, my front yard didn’t always have roses and trimmed bushes; you had to look past it to see that my backyard was a tropical garden. As humans, we tend to judge by what we see on the “front lawn”, missing the opportunity to see the beauty in the back. One of my reasons for creating the student wellness support group Eye to Eye, Ear to Ear (E4) at the Eastern Campus was for students to support one another walking through their figurative dismantled front yards, seeing the beauty in the journey to the back.
What advice would you give to a high school senior thinking about applying to the Mandel Scholars Academy? Level Up! Becoming a Mandel scholar will make you do just that. You will have many great experiences and a few that will make you want to burn every book in sight. You will have similar moments in life. Those moments combined is what will make the journey beautiful. You may not appreciate the challenges in the moment, but when you reflect on the growth you have embraced, you will rejoice. Challenging yourself is the greatest gift you can accept. In my opinion, you don’t know who you truly are until you do. Being a Mandel scholar challenges your mind, character and ambitions. So my ultimate advice would be go for it! Go for it hard, and know that your moments of defeat are the ones you should embrace the most. Just keep pushing through. Last, always remember that being a Mandel scholar isn't just a grade, it's a lifestyle.
Tri-C Students Active at Senator Sherrod Brown’s Propel Ohio Tri-C students once again actively participated in Propel Ohio, Senator Sherrod Brown’s annual statewide summit of college students who are passionate about becoming Ohio's future civic leaders. Bowling Green State University hosted the fifth annual gathering on Nov. 15, and Tri-C was well-represented by Macon Hoover and Brendan Madden (Honors Program) as well as Brian Brooks and Sebastian Canales (Mandel Scholars Academy). The students heard presentations by Sen. Brown and other Ohio civic
leaders during the morning session, then got busy in the afternoon with a service project, engagement fair and other activities related to social justice and civic leadership.
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The Mandel Spotlight Mandel Scholars Academy alumnus Donnell Walker ('18) carrying the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Honors College banner at his CSU graduation
Charese Harrison with Youngstown State University President Jim Tressel (above); President Tressel being interviewed by Dean Jordan (right) Mandel Scholars meeting with Stephanie Sheldon, Founder and CEO of Cleveland Flea Mandel Scholars at Tabletop Cafe for the fall semester kickoff
UPCOMING EVENTS Jan. 16 My Path to Leadership with Justice Melody Stewart of the Ohio Supreme Court Winter Wonderland celebration (above); Mandel Scholars with Professors Lipinski and Mandel Scholars with Professor Piero, touring the Cleveland Museum of Art (below left); Laferty at the Gamelan Çudamani performance (below right)
Jan. 25 Spring kickoff
March 7-14 Ireland trip with Hiram College Garfield scholars
March 8-12 Civil rights trip to Alabama
April 21 My Path to Leadership with Dr. Timothy Eatman of Rutgers University — Newark
May 12 End-of-year extravaganza
May 16-23
The Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Humanities Center at Cuyahoga Community College 4250 Richmond Road, Highland Hills, Ohio 44122 | 216-987-2601 | mandelcenter@tri-c.edu
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New York City trip