Nine students who spent this semester volunteering with refugees in nearby Utica, N.Y., and learning about the refugee resettlement process in the United States gave a presentation on April 25 sharing what they have learned about the experience. The students of Government 202, "Immigrants and Refugees in the U.S.," spoke about the process by which refugees come to be resettled in the U.S. and the challenges they face in adapting to their new home. They also told the personal stories of refugees they came to meet through their volunteer work with Project SHINE (Students Helping in the Naturalization of Elders) in Utica. Project SHINE is supported by the Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center.
In Government 202, students spent one hour each week in class learning about the refugee process from Hamilton professors and experts from the Mohawk Valley Refugee Resource Center. They also spent two hours each week tutoring at one of three sites in Utica where refugees are enrolled in ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) classes. Utica, a city of approximately 60,000 people, has had 11,500 refugees resettled there to date. In 2005 alone, 245 new refugees were resettled in Utica. These refugees, including large groups from Bosnia, the former Soviet Union, Vietnam and Myanmar, study under ESOL teachers with the help of college student tutors.
Hamilton students participate in ESOL tutoring as part of Project SHINE (Students Helping in the Naturalization of Elders), a national service-learning initiative that began a program at Hamilton in 2004. Through local community organizations, SHINE links college students with older refugees and immigrants seeking to learn English and navigate the complex path to U.S. citizenship. About 125 Hamilton students have volunteered with Project SHINE this academic year, either as a service-learning requirement for a course or as volunteers.
The students in Government 202 this semester are Michael Allen '07, Mariam Ballout '10, Tim Eddy '07, Alison Gaske '10, Lauren Hayden '07, Laura Holt '10, Kenya Lee '10, Samantha Royes '08, and Lotte Spear '09.
-- by Caroline Russell O'Shea '10
