CCRE Practitioner in Residence Featured on State of Affairs for Work with Newark, East Orange - Seton Hall University

Jamila T. Davis, Ph.D with Mayor Ras J. Baraka of Newark.

Jamila T. Davis, Ph.D., the Practitioner in Residence for Seton Hall's Center for Community Research and Engagement, was featured on the PBS program State of Affairs.

Interviewed by Emmy award-winning TV host Steve Adubato, who also teaches at Seton Hall, Davis spoke about her role at Seton Hall, acting “as a bridge” from the University to the community and bringing classes to the residents of Newark, East Orange and surrounding cities through her work with the Newark Office of Violence Prevention and Trauma Recovery and the Summer Work Experience Program in East Orange, as well as the Mental Health Ambassadors program for high school students.

Asked what her position at Seton Hall entails, Davis said,

I am, I guess, the middle person between the community and higher education. There are often good people in the community that want to do great things and impact. But they don't have the skillset and the knowledge and a lot of them don't feel like they can go to college – or really know what's possible. I'm there to bridge the gap. I've been able to bring the City of East Orange in to do programs with the youth at Seton Hall. And I'm working with Newark's Office of Violence Prevention and Trauma Recovery at Seton Hall. We create programs for the community and allow them to take part in the higher ed experience.

Some of the programming and initiatives Davis has worked on at Seton Hall (often with Professor Juan Rios, director of Seton Hall's Master of Social Work program) include:

• Seton Hall Works with City of East Orange, Jamila Davis, Tamika Mallory and Yandy Smith to Bring Virtual Summer Work Experience Program to Area Youth
   
• East Orange Summer Program Students Visit Seton Hall with Mayor and Jamila Davis
   
• High School Mental Health Ambassador Program Honored by City of East Orange
   
• 'Social Shark Tank' at Seton Hall Awards $5,000 for Best Project
   
• East Orange Summer Program Finishes Second Year: Trains High School Students to Be Entrepreneurs, Mental Health Peer Coaches, Produce Short Documentary on Impact of Gun Violence
   
• Mayors of Newark and South Orange, Yale Public Health Professor to Present at Social Justice Class
   
• Jamila T. Davis Named Community Practitioner in Residence
   
• Center for Community Research and Engagement Launches Change for Good with Newark

The State of Affairs episode, “Defying the Odds in Higher Education,” is available to view.

Categories: Campus Life