Northeastern Illinois University has been selected as one of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities participating campuses in the Economic Inequality Initiative.
Twenty colleges and universities were selected for the initiative—the first joint American Democracy Project and Democracy Commitment national civic action series.
Northeastern’s Division of Student Affairs and the College of Arts and Sciences are teaming up to support students’ learning inside and outside of the classroom around issues of economic inequality. Kris Pierre, senior director for academic and community partnerships and Wamucii Njogu, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said the following in a joint statement:
This initiative is a testament to the strong working relationship between Northeastern’s faculty and administrators—a collaboration between the College of Arts and Sciences and the Division of Student Affairs. The location of our campuses and the demographics of our student body also provide a rich environment for exploring issues related to economic inequality. Northeastern’s involvement in the Economic Inequality Initiative will help us as we begin to implement our new University Core Curriculum, which includes experiential learning opportunities such as internships and community projects. This also provides an opportunity to create “civic pathways” between community colleges and public regional universities like Northeastern.
The goal of AASCU’s Economic Inequality Initiative is to help students think about and take action to confront the complex causes of growing economic inequality.
“This initiative will provide a timely opportunity for the Northeastern community to explore issues of economic inequality, issues that have a direct impact on our students,” Njogu said. “Through dialogue and curricular and co-curricular activities, we hope to empower our Northeastern students with the tools to become agents of change in their own lives, and in the lives of the members of our community.”
