Open House for Community Development

NEW COMMUNITY BUILDING PROGRAMS TO BE PRESENTED AT OPEN HOUSE

COLUMBUS -- If one cold brisk morning, someone walks up to 
you at The Ohio State University and hands you a cup of hot 
chocolate, then chances are you will have the Office Of Community 
Development and Judicial Affairs to thank for it.

"When someone does something nice for you out of the blue, 
it makes you feel warm inside and can, in turn, encourage you to 
do something nice for someone else," said Cynthia McDonald-
DeVese, program coordinator.

Giving out hot chocolate, or holiday candies with welcoming 
messages attached, is part of Random Acts of Community Kindness, 
one of several initiatives the Office of Community Development 
and Judicial Affairs is using to build community at Ohio State.

The office recently modified its mission and services to 
reflect a newly added emphasis on community building.  The new 
programs will be introduced at an open house Thursday (11/16), 9 
a.m. to 4 p.m., in the Drake Union lounge, 1849 Cannon Drive.

At 7:30 p.m., Bertice Berry, comedian and former host of the 
FOX syndicated talk show, "The Bertice Berry Show," will speak 
on "The Magic of Community:  Celebrating 125 Years at Ohio 
State," at 7:30 p.m. in Independence Hall, 1923 Neil Ave.  Both 
events are free and open to the public.  Parking will be 
available in the Northwest Parking Garage near Neil and Woodruff 
avenues.

Modeled after a similar program at the University of 
Minnesota, the Office Of Community Development and Judicial 
Affairs administers Ohio State's non-academic discipline system 
and offers various services, from new student information 
services to workshops on community building to forums and other 
events.

One of the services is the Community Building Institute, a 
spring workshop on empowering people to develop and implement 
strategies to solve problems facing their communities.

A program designed to "build bridges" between students and 
faculty is being introduced.  The Building Bridges program awards 
seed grants of up to $200 to student and faculty groups in the 
colleges of Business, Education, and the Arts and Sciences to 
promote learning opportunities beyond the classroom.

"We've had students request grants for film series, 
student/faculty receptions and family days," said McDonald-
DeVese.  "There is even a group planning a faculty hop, in which 
students would visit a number of professors' homes, with a 
different activity at each home."

Lenora Barnes-Wright, director of Community Development and 
Student Judicial Affairs, said, "It's important that students 
experience a learning community outside, as well as inside, the 
class room.  We're trying to make a link between academic affairs 
and student affairs and work in concert to fulfill the 
university's mission."

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Contact:  Lenora Barnes-Wright, director, Office Of Community 
Development and Judicial Affairs, (614) 292-0748.
Written by: Tracy Turner


[Submitted by: Von Reid-Vargas (ereid@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu)
               
Wed, 15 Nov 1995 11:37:06 -0500]
All documents are the responsibility of their originator.