Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Justice and Diversity Reaches Out

With the help of the Georgetown Justice and Diversity in Action Living and Learning Community, a recent graduate brought 40 high school students to campus over Easter break to expose them to college life.

Georgetown alumnus and Teach for America teacher J. R. Fujimoto (COL ’08) returned to campus over Easter break with 40 of his Broadmoor High School students from East Baton Rouge, La. to open their eyes to the possibility of life and education beyond their local community.

“For most students . the end goal of their high school lives is to end up in Louisiana State University. That’s it,” he said. “I wanted them to see that college life outside of Louisiana is more the generality than the exception, and it is a possibility for them if they work hard, and see other students at Howard University and Georgetown who made it through some pretty rough times, but ended up overcoming some pretty challenging circumstances.”

In an e-mail, he credited the JDA with making the trip, which cost $895 per student, possible. The students initially collected most of the funding themselves, but in February the group was still $8,000 short.

Fujimoto appealed to Professor Marilyn McMorrow, the director of the Linz Ethics Project in the School of Foreign Service, who contacted the JDA. A former member of the JDA, Fujimoto said that the money raised by the JDA, in conjunction with several businesses and individual donors, helped make the Broadmoor trip a reality.

The JDA generated the contribution through its annual fundraising Gala.

“Gala was an event where the JDA LLC and wider tent . came together as one group for a multifaceted approach to mediating injustice,” said Alexa Uhrig (NHS ’11), a JDA resident.

The JDA originally intended to use the funds raised to collect books to send to Ethiopian children.

“We asked the Broadmoor students to donate books to the Ethiopian children in exchange for the monetary contributions we would make to them,” said Claudia Triana (SFS ’11), a current JDA resident. “A pay-it-forward in education.”

In addition to the Gala, floor member Nkiruka Ogbuchiekwe (COL ’09) asked each resident of the floor to commit to finding someone to contribute $40, Fujimoto said. JDA ultimately raised over $2000, Uhrig said.

Once the students arrived, the JDA hosted them on campus. Floor members organized a scavenger hunt for the Broadmoor students before sharing a lunch with them and, according to McMorrow, gave their phone numbers to students in case they had questions about preparing for college.

Fujimoto said he chose to bring the students to the District after the 2008 presidential election.

“I wanted to give them a chance to visit their nation’s capital and to be in the same places where Obama was inaugurated, where Dr. King gave his `I Have a Dream’ speech and where the Million Man March took place,” Fujimoto said.

While in D.C., the students visited the White House, Ford’s Theatre, Howard University, the National Archives, the National Holocaust Museum, Mount Vernon and the Air and Space Museum. According to Fujimoto, the students were also given a chance to meet Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and take a tour of the monuments at night.

“In one word, I think they were overwhelmed . I think that they’ll always remember the people they met at Georgetown,” Fujimoto said. “They’ll also never forget Howard University and the students that they met there as they called home and asked their parents if they could attend college in D.C. at Howard. Many had never even mentioned college to their parents before that phone call home . I think those are the memories that will stick with them for the rest of their life.”

Click here for more information on the Justice & Diversity in Action Living-Learning Community.

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