Announcements
(notes provided by the venerable Neal Chamberlain)
The meeting was opened with invocation an by Scott.
We celebrated Robb’s birthday by singing, although according to Robb it was not the club’s best performance
Alert, members who have ordered Rotary shirts but have not paid will be prosecuted by Jack.
Fruit sales, as reported by the much older Robb, are being organized; information and literature will be available next week.
Ata announced a farewell party for Benny Lapid starting at 5pm on Wednesday, November 6th at Boltini in downtown Champaign. Benny will soon move back to Israel. Benny, with mixed emotions we will bid you adieu – sad in losing you from CUSR – happy for you in returning to your native land and family.
Eric Batsie announced that “Big Brothers and Big Sisters” is having their annual fund raising event November 15. Tickets are available from Eric for the dinner and/or raffle (all expense paid holiday trip to Key West, or dinner and a movie with Neal Chamberlain).
Program
Phyllis Mischo introduced our speaker for the day, Rebecca Ginsburg. Dr. Ginsburg is a faculty member in the College of Education at the University of Illinois. She is also the director of the Education Justice Project, which is an education program for incarcerated individuals. In addition to these duties, Dr. Ginsburg teaches and does research on the Atlantic slave trade, the history of prisons, and education and social justice.
Dr. Ginsburg’s explained the project by which men who are incarcerated have the opportunity to receive an education through UIUC. The Education Justice Project takes place in the Danville Correctional Center in Danville, Illinois. This program gives the men the opportunity to take a wide variety of courses – from theater to small business management – and receive college credit. Approximately 100 students are enrolled in one or more of these subjects. In addition to the professional instructors, there are 60 to 70 volunteer instructors – these volunteers are from the community – grad students, retirees, old farts, etc.
Dr. Ginsburg stated that the thrust of the project was to provide education to citizens wherever we find them. The project’s goal is to build a model for other institutions that can follow their lead. She stated that the average prisoner has a fifty one percent chance of being imprisoned again. After participating in the Education Justice Project program the rate of prisoners who have been imprisoned again is only four percent.
Dr. Ginsburg mentioned that ESL (English as a Second Language) classes were mostly taught by fellow prisoners. She said that this program, English Language Partners, had received national awards for its effectiveness. She explained the many of the prisoners are bilingual and can teach ESL more effectively because of common cultural background.
Dr. Ginsburg mentioned that her objective was not only to give prisoners a chance to receive education but also to “humanize” the persons who are incarcerated. She said that she feels she is reaching her goal when her students go to speak at community groups or when they function as role models. She said that she feels the Education Justice Project has helped make the world a better place.
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| Oct 31st | Nov 7th | Nov 14th | Nov 21st | |
| Introductions | Ata Durukan | Jim Gould | Patrice Grant | Bruce Hatfield |
| Invocation | Robb Patton | Larry Johnson | Ed Perry | Marsha Reardon |
| Greeters | Ata Durukan | Jim Gould | Patrice Grant | Bruce Hatfield |
| Gary Olsen | Scott Paceley | Robb Patton | Allan Penwell | |
| Song Leader | BJ Lytle | Ben Mast | John McDaniel | Phyllis Mischo |
| Notetaker | Perry | Johnson | Hodson | Lintner |
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Upcoming Schedule
October 31st – Kate Morgan Olsen will talk about her former work with No More Deaths
November 7th – Mary and Tom Hodson, Taking a World War II Veteran to Europe
November 14th – John Colombo, The Carle Problem
November 21st – Matt Bollant, head coach of women’s basketball at UIUC
December 5th – TBD
December 12th – C-U Sunrise Rotary Holiday program, featuring The Other Guys
Postponed due to relationship difficulties – Cary Woolard and Donna Giertz will discuss their new book, Friendship: The Art of Getting Along with Difficult People
