Lynchburg 101 discusses Lynchburg issues with experts from the community

  • Lynchburg 101 seeks to address issues affecting the Lynchburg area and how students can help.
  • Topics of discussion in the series include poverty, nutrition, prescription drug abuse and sexual assault awareness.

 

LU Send kicked off the first session of the Lynchburg 101 workshop series Sept. 19 by hosting John Hughes, the assistant city manager for the city of Lynchburg, to speak about Lynchburg’s Poverty to Progress initiative.

According to the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Services, the poverty rate in the city of Lynchburg is 24 percent. The Lynchburg City Council set a goal of lifting 50 families out of poverty per year and helping those families to become self-sufficient. The city council has committed $50,000 to the poverty initiative over the past two years.

“We want to reflect what’s going on in the city,” Cassie Marroquin, the campus impact coordinator for the LU Serve office, said.

Marroquin said the Lynchburg 101 series is designed to educate students about issues they have expressed interest in and issues the city of Lynchburg wants to address.

“Our role is to help students get connected to service opportunities in the community,” Marroquin said.

Marroquin said the series consists of lectures followed by Q&A sessions. Last year, one of the sessions involved a panel discussion about different aspects of sexual assault response. The panel included a representative from the Sexual Assault Response Program, two forensic nurses and an investigative detective, according to Marroquin.

All of the speakers for the Lynchburg 101 series will be experts and practitioners in the Lynchburg community. The series will give students and faculty direct lines to get involved in the community.

Marroquin believes the Lynchburg 101 series will help students become more aware of who their neighbors are and how they can help address needs as part of the community.

“While you are a student here… you are a member of the Lynchburg community,” Marroquin said.

On Oct. 31, the Lynchburg 101 series will cover foster care and group homes. According to Marroquin, the session will focus specifically on those who are aging out of the system and entering transitional stages. Other topics in the series will include nutrition deserts, prescription drug abuse, environmental awareness, partnerships with nonprofit organizations and sexual assault response.

Marroquin said the LU Serve office is collaborating with other universities and colleges in the area that have done research on Lynchburg. John Abel, an economics professor at Randolph College will speak Nov. 28 about nutrition deserts — areas of the country lacking healthy food providers.

The Lynchburg 101 series will host sessions about once a month. Most of the sessions will be from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. However, three of the topics will have repeat sessions from 6-7 p.m. Marroquin said the times are selected to fit within the speakers’ schedules but also to fit into the academic workflow of students. Marroquin hopes this will help students see a scholarly way to approach community issues.

“We would absolutely love for students to see this as an academic experience that goes beyond the classroom,” Marroquin said.

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