Bromberg to be recognized by Su Casa Hispanic Center

April 16, 2007

Dr. Shelly Jarrett Bromberg, Miami Hamilton Assistant Professor of American and Latin American Studies, will receive the Cesar Chavez Award from the Su Casa Hispanic Center during a banquet April 26 at Xavier University’s Cintas Center.

The prestigious award represents distinguished service to the Latino community.

“I’m pretty excited about it. This is a real honor because Su Casa in the premier organization for Latinos in the greater Cincinnati area. Some of the work I have done with Su Casa has been with students in my Latin American Studies classes, so Miami too can take pride in this acknowledgement,” Bromberg said.

Su Casa is a division of Catholic Social Services. It was founded 10 years ago in response to the sudden increase in the number of immigrants arriving in greater Cincinnati from Mexico and other countries in Central America.

Miami’s partnership with Su Casa

“This award has a lot to do with Miami’s partnership with Su Casa in terms of civic engagement,” she said.

Miami students work with Su Casa through the Office of Civic Engagement in Oxford. Advanced classes in Latin American Studies have an embedded civic engagement component as part of the regular coursework, requiring at least 10 hours to be spent working with the community.

“It’s a great way for students who read text in class to transform it into real life. It’s a transformative process for these students. Now, every time I go to Su Casa, I have students with me,” Bromberg said.

She is quick to differentiate between civic engagement (also known as public work) and community service.

It’s about citizenship and democracy

“Civic engagement is about citizenship and democracy, getting young people engaged in partnering with their communities. It’s a two-way street. We learn from their experiences. It’s more than just giving them something they need and walking away,” Bromberg explained.

Miami students, for example, help Latinos fill out the forms required to obtain identification cards, make sure they have the correct documents, watch children while parents are being interviewed, provide transportation and help organize events.

And through the Wilks Leadership Institute, groups of Miami students are involved in a language and cultural exchange with the Latino community.

Helping the Latino business community

“We also have a student group helping Latino businesses call attention to all the positive things they’re doing in the community. We’re organizing a cleanup festival that will benefit Hamilton’s Fourth Ward. Our goal is to form a Latino Business Association,” Bromberg said.

“We’re very active in our communities and we feel good about the work we’re doing.”