Periclean Scholars Steering Committee Meeting: September 15, 2016

In attendance: Sam Lubliner (‘17), Will Wetter (‘18), Camille Kelly (’19), Dr. Mat Gendle, Associate Director and Mentor for Class of 2019, and Dr. Tom Arcaro, Director

Class Updates

Class of 2017 (Sam Lubliner)

Morale Update: Morale of the class is high, despite setbacks. The class is currently divided into four committees that work together to accomplish four main deliverables.
Deliverables: Currently, the class has four main goals, which are listed below.

The class hopes to successfully hold a conference, called Voices of Sustainability: Addressing Food Insecurity in Namibia, from January 26th to January 27th, 2017. They have raised about $8000-9000, and are still trying to raise more money. They are currently hoping to win the Kind grant of $10,000 (link to vote: https://causes.kindsnacks.com/cause/voices-of-sustainability-3/ ). Thirteen students from the class are travelling to Namibia for the conference, which will include completed and ongoing research regarding food insecurity in Namibia.
Kendra and Madi are working on Cookies To-Go-Go to continue fundraising. While this is a labor-intensive fundraiser, it is a bonding experience for the class, and any extra money raised will help the cause. The scholars are hoping to have Cookies To-Go-Go four times throughout this semester.
The class is hoping to hold a conference in May at Elon. This conference will discuss agricultural sustainability in this community. The 10 scholars not travelling to Namibia in January will work to organize this conference during that month. The scholars plan to allocate SGA funds toward this conference. Dr. Arcaro suggests looking into presenting this research on Student Undergraduate Research Forum, in addition to holding this conference.
Kayla Yates reached out to the Burlington Housing Authority in hopes of creating a local partnership. The class has committed to send three or four people to BHA each Tuesday to create lesson plans regarding agriculture and sustainability in this community.

Other News:

The scholars are working to make a booklet about travels / conference in Namibia
Oiy and Kelsey are also working on creating a documentary about the work done by the class.
The class is selling Pura Vida bracelets around campus to continue to raise money for the Voices of Sustainability conference. These are being sold by individual scholars.

Class of 2018 (Will Wetter)

A few scholars travelled to Zambia early this summer. These students are reporting back to the rest of the class about what they saw in Zambia, and what projects the community would actually benefit from. The class is vetting potential partners, including Habitat for Humanity, ZDF, and Samaritan Strategies, and is determining a plan to move forward with these partners.
Dr. Arcaro suggests that the class use a log frame to prioritize tasks that need to be done to move forward with their work.
The class has talked about the idea of returning to Chipulusku to hold a conference to bring together several (potential) partners to discuss how to best work together etc.
The class has about 100 bags made of scraps from a textile factory by women in Zambia. The class will sell these bags for $20 each, and the $8-$10 profit will be invested in the Zambian community where the bags are made. It has not been determined where or when the bags will be sold, but the scholars are hoping to start selling the bags around Holidays.

Class of 2019 (Camille Kelley)

The class is currently researching Sri Lanka culture to become more familiar with the complex social issues that the country is facing.
The class has divided into 11 committees, including budget, travel organization, and social media committees, and has identified general short-term and long-term goals.
The class hopes to raise $8,000 by the end of the year to relieve future travel costs. The class has discussed potentially selling t-shirts to start fundraising and to raise awareness of the Periclean program around campus.
The class hopes to choose seven to ten social issues that could potentially be addressed by the scholars in the next three years. The class will research these issues this semester and discuss what issues the people of Sri Lanka would actually like to be addressed.
The class hopes to have most decisions regarding projects and potential partners made before the end of this year, to avoid making these important decisions when many students are abroad next fall.
The class librarian, Teresa Lepore, has created an extensive web-based resource guide for the class to use when researching social issues in Sri Lanka. The guide can be found here: http://elon.libguides.com/Periclean_2019
The class is debating the importance of creating an elevator speech this early into their work. Some scholars feel as though the class should not waste time right now creating a vague elevator speech that will need updating, but rather, the class should create the speech when more exact future goals have been determined. Others feel that it is important to have at least some form of an elevator speech, so scholars can articulate to community members and potential donors what exactly Periclean is, and why the class is seeking donations.
Sam Lubliner (Class of 2017 representative) suggests arranging for a junior/senior in the program to come speak to the Class of 2019 to discuss how they initiated their work during their sophomore year.

Sophomore Year Elevator Speeches

The sophomore class has expressed concern about the need for an elevator speech this early into their work.
Historically, the sophomore year elevator speech is used to explain what the Periclean Scholars Programs, and to identify broad goals for future action. The sophomore year elevator speeches are generally vague, but as the class identifies exact goals throughout the year, the speech is updated to be more informative.
Dr. Arcaro explains that drafting the speech is not meant to be onerous, or extremely time consuming. It is not the entire class giving much valuable time to the speech, but rather a few people (Elevator Speech Committee) drafting outside of class. The speech should be, if possible, woven into a class assignment.
Previous classes argue that creating an elevator speech during their sophomore fall was a unifying experience. The speech is the first thing the class works on together, and becomes the class’s first deliverable
A video of each class’s elevator speech should be completed by October 12^th so that they may be screened at the Celebrating Periclean event.

Celebrating Periclean Scholars

Celebrating Periclean Scholars will be held on October 19, 2016 from 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm.
At this event, each class will present visual displays to represent their work and the country in which they work.
Dr. Arcaro is hoping there will be a presence from the school administration at the event. If given enough advance warning, hopefully Dr. Lambert will attend the event.

Update Regarding Advisory Council

The function of this committee, which will include two mentors and two Periclean alumni, is to advise the class and the directors about how the program is functioning and how to improve its functionality. The council could possibly give a final word on certain aspects of the program, like class syllabi and Periclean in Residence.
This council will provide the current and future classes an extra body of people to help vet potential partners.
Classes will meet with the council twice a year to provide an update about class plans, and the council will give current scholars advice about future steps and potential partners.
Dr. Gendle (Class of 2019 mentor) hopes that the meeting in front of the council and defending their decisions about future plans will lead classes to think more critically and deeply about partnerships and projects. The sense of being a Periclean Scholar will rise because the classes must now explain and defend their choices in front of the council.

Update regarding recruitment of Class of 2020

Dr. Arcaro hopes to boost the appearance of Periclean around campus, in hopes that more people will learn about the program and apply to be a part of future classes.
This fall, the program will be giving Periclean bandanas to current scholars, as well as distributing phone wallets and car magnets to Elon students and alumni. The hope is that these will promote the program around campus and this community.
The digital poster shown below will be screened in Mosley and around campus to help recruit more freshmen to apply to be a part of the Class of 2020.

Other News

The Periclean Programs is hoping to partner with the Student Professional Development Center to plan a session at which scholars will learn how to market themselves as Periclean Scholars while still at Elon and after graduation. These sessions could potentially occur once or twice a semester.
Dr. Arcaro would like to hold a workshop to look over his summary of the overall mission of the Periclean Programs and the core humanitarian that the program highlights. Dr. Arcaro hopes to modify the Periclean pledge to clarify exactly what is meant by everything mentioned in the core.
Starting this fall, Barnes and Nobles has assembled a bookshelf with books recommended by the Periclean Program. Books to be sold will include books used by current Periclean Classes.
Barnes and Nobles is also donating all profits made from selling a particular t-shirt to the Periclean Program.

Car Magnet: Digital Poster: