Press Release

Leadership Rally Celebrates Lafayette Youth Project Student Achievements

Naropa University and Project YES collaborate on the Lafayette Youth Project

BOULDER, Colo. (November 15, 2005)-Approximately 80 young people and adults convened for the Youth Leadership Rally at Centaurus High School (10300 South Boulder Road) last Wednesday in Lafayette. Sponsored by the Lafayette Youth Project, a grassroots initiative launched by Naropa University and Project YES, the Youth Leadership Rally provided local youth with a venue to articulate their concerns for their community, celebrate their proven commitment to service-learning and public work, and acquire networking and problem solving skills to advance their work. Two public achievement coaches from Naropa University's Public Achievement Project (part of their course "Democracy, Education and Social Change") helped the youth organize and set up the event, and were on hand to help with the participants' presentations.

The Latino Boy's Group giving their presentation at the Youth Leadership Rally.		A number of organized youth groups made presentations to share their past and current work, which has focused on racism, classism, multiculturalism, stereotypes, sexism and peace. Through the Lafayette Youth Project, these young adults have undertaken several initiatives to address problems that they've identified in their communities. Emma Piller, a third-grader at Pioneer Elementary School said, "Because Martin Luther King Jr. is the father of civil rights, he deserves to be recognized on his birthday. So, when we realized Lafayette did not celebrate MLK's birthday, we made a presentation to the City Council to have a peace walk next January." In addition to the youth presenting and observing, many adults also showed their support at the rally, including Evania Archuleta from Senator Wayne Allard's office and Lafayette City Councilmembers Frank Phillips and David Strungis. After the students shared their projects, Dennis Donovan, who runs the Public Achievement program out of the University of Minnesota, facilitated a community organizing activity to help students acquire skills in community-based dialogue. Dennis said, "When it comes to the messy business of public work, it is up to you [the students] to get things done. You can rely on no one but yourselves."

The Naropa University students supporting youth at the event, Heather Mueller and Neil Sharma, are two of 10 Naropa students who have been working since August of this year through the Lafayette Youth Project as coaches to the students at Centaurus. Eric Fretz, director of the Community Studies Center at Naropa, helped create this program two years ago to provide opportunities for students to explore and practice different models of democratic education. "What we are doing at Centaurus is the baseline of the work Naropa is doing in Public Achievement. It is the most innovative, most difficult and most rewarding work we do. This program informs everything that comes out of the Community Studies Center at Naropa," says Fretz.		Naropa students Heather Mueller and Neil Sharma helping with a youth presentation at the rally.

Wednesday's rally was a wonderful embodiment of this work. According to Susie Aquilina, of Naropa's AmeriCorps project, "It was extraordinary to see how involved the Naropa students were with the Lafayette youth who presented at the event. It was clear that they were integral in helping the youth articulate what they care about in the community." Fretz points out that the role of the Naropa coaches is not to dictate, but to guide the youths to find and express their own voices. "What I saw Wednesday night," said Fretz, "was a free space created for youth in Lafayette to voice what they want to change in their community. These are the people who are going to be running the world in 20 years, and they have a lot to give."

Accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, Naropa University is a private, nonprofit, nonsectarian liberal arts institution dedicated to advancing contemplative education. This approach to learning integrates the best of Eastern and Western educational traditions, helping students know themselves more deeply and engage constructively with others. The university comprises a four-year undergraduate college and graduate programs in the arts, education, environmental leadership, psychology and religious studies. It offers BA, BFA, MA, MFA and MDiv degrees, as well as professional development training and classes for the community. In addition, the university runs study abroad programs in Sikkim, India and Prague, Czech Republic.

For high-resolution photographs, please contact Jane Rubinstein, director of Marketing and Communications at Naropa University: 303-245-4643 or jrubinstein@naropa.edu.

Contact

Jane Rubinstein
Director, Marketing and Communications
Naropa University
PH 303-245-4643
jrubinstein@naropa.edu

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