Senior Mohamed Malim, Associate Professor and Bachelor of Social Work program Director Dr. Katharine Hill, and community partners Gayle Godfrey and the behavioral health staff at Regions Hospital have received Minnesota Campus Compact Awards for their leadership and civic engagement.
The organization, which annually confers awards that recognize effective leaders who develop campus-community partnerships, will recognize the three recipients as part of a state summit and awards luncheon on Hamline University’s campus on April 19. (For more information and to register to attend the event, click here.)
Mohamed Malim
Malim, a business administration major, is being recognized for the Presidents’ Student Leadership Award, which highlights “an individual student or a student organization that models a deep commitment to civic responsibility and leadership, evidenced by initiative, innovative and collaborative approaches to addressing public issues, effective community building, and integration of civic engagement into the college experience.” Malim embodies that in his founding and leadership of the nonprofit Dream Refugee, “whose mission is to begin to tackle today’s most relevant and troubling themes of exclusion, xenophobia and apathy by connecting refugees with disparate communities in unique ways.” Through storytelling and the building of individual and community pride, Malim’s “courage and creative efforts provide a platform for bridging our divides, for helping us recognize our common humanity, and for enabling us to advance the common good together as a unified community,” said nominator Laura Dunham.
Katharine Hill
Hill is being recognized for the President’s Civic Engagement Stewardship Award, which recognizes a member of the faculty, administration or staff who has “significantly advanced their campus’ distinctive civic mission by forming strong partnership, supporting others’ civic engagement and working to institutionalize a culture and practice of engagement.” Starting with her 2015 Social Policy for Change class, Hill developed a project in which students picked a population with lower voter turnout, registered them to vote, and worked to keep them engaged and informed through Election Day. As a national leader and member of the board of the National Social Work Voter Engagement Campaign, Hill has been a leader at St. Thomas and beyond.
Godfrey is being recognized for the President’s Community Partner Award, given to “a community-based organization that has enhanced the quality of life in the community in meaningful and measurable ways and has engaged in the development of sustained, reciprocal partnerships with the college or university, thus enriching educational as well as community outcomes.” The Regions Hosptial’s behavioral health units staffs have been hosts for the past 17 years of Psychology 428 students as they complete 10 two-hour visits with behavior health units. “To a person, students view this experience as an amazing experience that encourages the development of significantly enhanced skills in listening and skills in providing appropriate encouragement with patients of varying ages and ethnic and economic statuses, not to mention varying mental health statuses. Students note what a powerful experience this is for confronting any remaining stigma they may unwittingly harbor toward people battling mental health concerns,” said nominator Lauren Braswell.
