Wanda Cheeks:
She wasn’t a Wofford student, but community activist and grassroots leader Wanda Cheeks used to sneak on campus in the mid-1990s to study in one of the college’s computer labs before she began her 11 p.m. night shift at Krispy Kreme.
“I was in my 20s, and I needed a quiet place to read and study,” says Cheeks.
The perception of the college at that time was closed off and not welcoming. “I felt that we were only there to go to football games, or if we were invited,” adds Cheeks.
Over the past 25 years that perception has dramatically changed.
Cheeks doesn’t need an invitation or the excuse of a game to come to campus today; in fact, you often will find her eating with students at Zach’s. And in May 2019, Cheeks was at Commencement as the non-student recipient of the Mary Mildred Sullivan Award, partly because of the community-based learning opportunities she and other grassroots community leaders are engaged in with Wofford students and faculty.
Alysa Handelsman:
Assistant Professor of Sociology and Anthropology Dr. Alysa Maria Handelsman knew she was interested in social learning at an early age. “My mom is from Ecuador, so I spent a lot of time there observing different cultures and communities,” says Handelsman. That interest led her toward academic research in hip-hop followed by research into gangs and gang formation before she joined Teach for America and was assigned to an urban high school on Chicago’s South Side.
Her position with the college blends these experiences and interests as part of the Milliken Sustainability Initiative at Wofford, which is focused on community-based coursework and research in the Northside and Glendale communities. The initiative was funded by a $4.25 million grant from the Romill Foundation.
Connecting coursework with the community is the bedrock of Handelsman’s anthropology course Building Sustainable Communities. As part of the class, students complete projects ranging from providing families of Spartanburg’s Cleveland Academy of Leadership with a cookbook of healthy and accessible meals to planting fruits and vegetables for school lunches; from starting an after-school reading program for area youth living in Victoria Gardens to beginning a mentoring program for fifth grade boys.
“This kind of learning is as hands-on as it gets, and the work is meaningful and relevant,” says Handelsman.
Kealie Engels ’20:
Kealie Engels ’20, a sociology and anthropology major from Spartanburg, and other Wofford students spend time every Thursday working with the Cleveland Academy C.H.E.F.S. Club. “We work with the students to plant, grow and use food in simple and healthy recipes,” says Engels, who says she gets just as much out of the experience — if not more — than her students. “I’m growing with them as much as they are growing with me, and I’m learning from them just as much as they are learning from me.”
This mutual growth is by design. “Community sustainability is a two-way partnership grounded in the methodology of learning from one another,” says Handelsman. “We don’t want to burden our community partners but engage them in a dialog — a relationship that is connected by shared goals.”
“Working with the students at Cleveland Academy has made me more well-rounded, has extended my thinking, has helped me think beyond myself and has enabled me to understand that I can both teach and learn from others,” adds Engels.
Jonathan Carter ’21:
Jonathan Carter ’21 has a lot going on. A pre.law psychology and sociology and anthropology major with a minor in philosophy from Clinton, S.C., Carter is president of Wofford Men of Color. He’s also a Gateway Scholar and a Wofford Scholar. As part of Handelsman’s class, he restarted the Kings Club for fifth grade boys at Cleveland Academy.
“The goal of the Kings Club is to enhance the character traits of responsibility, respect and problem-solving skills that will be beneficial at school, home and in the community,” says Carter, who runs the program with the help of the Wofford Men of Color.
“I became interested in this club because in today’s society African American men are only praised for their abilities to make plays on someone’s field or court or for their ability to make music,” says Carter. “We are also quick to have our images posted on news outlets for mistakes we have made resulting in branding as thugs or gangsters. It’s the responsibility of other African American men and myself to guide the youth on the right path to a more constructive future. We ultimately would just like to show these boys that they matter and they can have interests outside of being a rapper or a famous athlete.”
Bill Barnet:
“Great educational institutions like Wofford have come to realize how critical adjacent geography can be to its health, safety and opportunities to expand its footprint,” says Bill Barnet, CEO and board chair of the Northside Development Group. “Additionally, it offers a unique canvas for student learning, especially about human sustainability. Students can — and do — learn much in classrooms and labs, but we all understand, with increasing importance, the learning that goes on in communities and spaces around our comfortable campus settings.
“The investment in the Northside by Wofford and others creates hope,” he says. “The ability for students and faculty to learn and contribute through helping families and interacting with young learners is critical and inspiring.”
Amy Telligman:
Working in the community extends to other academic areas. Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Dr. Amy Telligman’s sustainable agriculture class learns how to grow and produce food by maintaining garden plots on Edgewood Avenue. Recently they harvested Jerusalem artichokes at Wofford’s Goodall Environmental Studies Center and worked with the Church of the Advent in Spartanburg to pickle them to sell as relish for a fundraiser. “It’s a practical learning experience for our students during which they can more fully appreciate their reality as well as understand how a geographic location can put others at a disadvantage,” says Telligman.
Wanda Cheeks:
“I know that I’m welcome to anything Wofford has to offer, and Wofford students are welcome to anything the community has to offer,” she says. “This is our community.”
By Annie S. Mitchell