- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

��Vlog��ý Little Rock to Host Virtual Lectures to Celebrate National Day of Racial Healing

John Hill — Tue, 11 Jan 2022 16:00:26 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock is celebrating the 2022 National Day of Racial Healing with two special virtual lectures. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation started the National Day of Racial Healing (NDORH) in 2013 as part of its new Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation initiative aimed at revolutionizing the way that foundations fund nonprofits working on social issues. ��Vlog��ý Little Rock will join communities and campuses across the state in celebrating a weeklong schedule of events in observance of the National Day of Racial Healing. The first event, “Dave Tell Talks: Remembering Emmett Till,” will take place from 6-7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 18, via Zoom. The event is free and open to the public. Participants may register for the event . ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Downtown, Racial Barriers Committee, Student Government Association, and Center for Arkansas History and Culture as well as CALS Roberts Library will present an evening of conversation and learning with Dr. Dave Tell, co-director of the Institute for Digital Research in the Humanities at Kansas University, facilitated by Dr. Guy Lancaster, Arkansas historian and author. Since 2014, Tell has been the lead investigator on the Emmett Till Memory Project, a collaborative, public, and digital humanities project. His 2019 book “Remembering Emmett Till,” tells the complete story of Emmett Till’s commemoration in the Mississippi Delta. Till was a 14-year-old African American teenager who was lynched in Mississippi in 1955 after he was accused of offending a white woman in her family’s grocery store. Till’s killers were found not guilty by an all-white jury in 1955. They publicly admitted to the crime in a 1956 magazine article. ��Vlog��ý Little Rock will also host a virtual panel, “The State of Diversity and Equity in Arkansas,” from 6-7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 20, via Zoom. The event is free and open to the public. Participants may register for the panel . Donald Wood, executive director of Just Communities of Arkansas, will facilitate an engaged conversation about diversity, equity, and inclusion in sectors across the state with perspectives from ��Vlog��ý Little Rock scholars and community professionals in education, city management, law, religious studies and cultural affairs. The panelists include:

Dr. Melvin Beavers, assistant professor of rhetoric and writing and inaugural chancellor’s fellow for diversity, equity, and inclusion at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. Beavers has been engaged in national conversations about diversity, equity, and inclusion with specific attention on antiracist pedagogies and writing assessment.
Tamika Edwards, special advisor to the CEO on diversity, equity, inclusion, and engagement at Central Arkansas Water. She has 20 years of experience in public policy and community development. Prior to Central Arkansas Water, she served as the executive director of the Social Justice Institute at Philander Smith College, director of governmental affairs at Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, director of public policy at Southern Bancorp Community Partners, and community affairs specialist for former U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln.
Dr. Rebecca Glazier, associate professor in the School of Public Affairs at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. Her research is focused on religion, framing, and U.S. foreign policy. Since 2012, Glazier has directed the community-based research project, Little Rock Congregations Study, which seeks to understand how congregations’ community engagement impacts the community, places of worship, and their members.
Dr. Dionne Jackson, chief equity officer for the City of Little Rock. Jackson has previously served as Hendrix College’s first chief diversity officer and executive director of AR Kids Read.

In addition to the lectures, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock will also hold a virtual open mic night from 6-8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 21, with the theme of racial healing. This evening of music, poetry, comedy, and inspiration will be centered around equity, diversity, and healing. Anyone who would like to perform or attend should register . Sponsored by the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Racial Barriers Committee and the Graduate Student Association, the evening will be emceed by Ron McAdoo, aka Ron Mc the Hiphoptimist, a nationally recognized spoken word poet, sought out personality, exhibiting professional artist, motivational speaker, actor, author, and seasoned educator. The special featured guest will be Osyrus Bolly, artist and activist, who combines his passion for the arts and social justice to create his own platform for liberation arts. He is also a member of the nationally-ranked poetry slam troupe Foreign Tongues. Visit this website for more information about the 2022 National Day of Racial Healing events.

Little Rock Congregations Study Dialogue Reveals How Congregations, Nonprofits Can Work Together to Address Community Issues

John Hill — Wed, 02 Jun 2021 14:05:26 +0000

The (LRCS) research team at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock worked with a team of students from the ��Vlog��ý-Clinton School of Public Service to host a series of community dialogue discussions during the spring semester to explore how congregations and nonprofits in Little Rock can come together to make an impact on important community issues. The three community sessions focused on the issues selected as the most important from a survey of nearly 2,300 congregants from 35 places of worship across Little Rock who took part in the 2020 LRCS Survey. Their responses indicated a particular interest among the community on the issues of education, healthcare, and marriage and family. The LRCS is led by ��Vlog��ý Little Rock professors Rebecca Glazier, Gerald Driskill, and Kirk Leach, in consultation with the project’s Clergy Advisory Board, a group of eight clergy members in Little Rock who advise the Little Rock Congregations Study. The Clinton School of Public Service students who led the community dialogue sessions include Amanda Cady, Layne Coleman, David Lewis, Oluwaseun Olaniyi, and Essence Thomas. More than 30 people attended the community dialogue sessions from congregations and nonprofit organizations. In each session, participants from a wide variety of backgrounds discussed their own experiences with each of these issues and the ways in which they hoped to collaborate for positive change in the community. Through each session, participants identified barriers to collaboration between congregations and nonprofits, including time and money, religious and political differences, historic racial inequities, and resistance to change. They also discussed ways to overcome these barriers, including open communication, targeted efforts within congregations to raise awareness, and most importantly, building connections within the community. In small-group discussions, participants were able to meet community members with shared interest areas and discuss new and current initiatives in areas of education, healthcare, and marriage and family. “We were excited for this opportunity to bring people together, despite the pandemic,” said Glazier, director of the Little Rock Congregations Study. “The research we have done over the past few years has shown that both congregations and nonprofits in our city really have a heart to serve. The more they can connect with one another and find areas of commonality, the more we can make progress on these important issues in our community.”�� In the dialogue on education, participants discussed the history of Little Rock’s education system as well as numerous limitations to education, including racial inequity, poverty, and school funding. Barriers to collaboration were identified as race relations, time, and lack of economic resources.�� Their collaboration ideas to address issues in education include engaging with different congregations through volunteer opportunities, volunteering in mentoring programs for local students, and having individual congregations partner with a local school. In the healthcare session, participants discussed issues impacting healthcare in Little Rock, including equity and access to healthcare, rising costs, and differing priorities. One focus of the discussion included racial disparities in healthcare issues and access to healthcare. Participants were interested in finding ways to connect with organizations and congregations outside of their usual circles to learn about initiatives taking place across the city.�� Their collaborative ideas to address healthcare issues include collaborating to arrange health screening and vaccine clinics, building conscious connections across community groups, and prioritizing empowerment and education around health issues and rights. During the marriage and family session, participants from a wide variety of backgrounds found common ground in the stressors that marriages and families encounter and how to provide empathy and support to families in times of need. When families have a strong support system, they are able to persevere through challenges, which benefits family members and their community.�� Participants also explored ideas for how congregations and nonprofits can collaborate to address issues in marriage and family. Their ideas included mentoring programs for families and couples, providing support for children in foster care and their families, and outreach programs to identify and address issues facing families. “As Clinton School students, this dialogue series was a wonderful learning experience for us,” said Amanda Cady, a graduate student. “These dialogues allowed us to apply the academic skills we’ve learned in our program while connecting with the community. We learned that people in Little Rock truly care about their neighbors and want to work together to improve their community. As aspiring public service providers, this was a great way to learn from residents and give back to the city!” A of the participants found that the dialogue series overwhelmingly helped them become more willing to work through barriers to collaboration between congregations and nonprofits. Across dialogues, data showed that most participants became more willing to collaborate across differences, including religious and political differences. Additionally, all participants reported that they would participate in a similar dialogue event again.

Graduating SGA President DeKay Headed to George Mason University to Pursue Law Degree

John Hill — Fri, 14 May 2021 16:48:45 +0000

After just three years at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, Landon DeKay, of Maumelle, has completed his studies one year ahead of schedule and will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in political science this month. “I feel like I just started school, but I’ve loved my time at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock,” DeKay said. “Initially, I was not set in stone in going to ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. I initially wanted to attend a larger university. After studying abroad and doing research with professors and being involved in all the student organizations, I’ve really learned to love ��Vlog��ý Little Rock and all that it offers its students. I’m sad to be leaving, but I’m looking forward to the new adventures I will have in law school.” This fall, DeKay will attend Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University in Arlington, Virginia. “I am planning on concentrating my studies on national security law,” he said. “Throughout my undergraduate tenure, I focused much of my studies on foreign policy and the Middle East. I have also been involved with the Middle Eastern Studies Program at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock and have competed in numerous Model Arab League competitions in the U.S. and in Morocco. I have grown to love studying the implications to our national security following 9/11 and the rise of domestic terror groups here in the United States. To me, national security is one of the most interesting areas to study, and that is why I want to continue learning about how we can better protect our security interests while in law school.” As president of the Student Government Association, DeKay is best known around campus for his work advocating on the behalf of students. “I’ve loved being involved in the SGA and seeing the work I’ve done with different senators come to fruition,” DeKay said. “After the mass protests after the killing of George Floyd, I worked with SGA to advocate for the creation of the Racial Barriers Committee to look at current university policies and procedures that might disproportionately impact students of color at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. I hope that SGA has inspired positive change at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock.” DeKay’s time as president also included a global pandemic that left most students taking classes from home and some facing emergencies on an unprecedented level. “I knew coming into the school year that my term as president would be impacted by COVID 19, but I didn’t realize how impacted it would be until I experienced it firsthand,” he said. “I met with the leaders on campus to see how COVID-19 impacted our students. I also served on numerous university committees to see how we could help students negatively impacted by COVID 19, like delivering computers for students who needed technology to take classes online.” Since there were few on-campus events during the 2020-21 school year, DeKay said the SGA spent much of its time revising the constitution and donating portions of the SGA budget to student groups on campus who needed funds for projects or events. “It’s essentially been a year of rebuilding SGA,” DeKay said. “We made 11 different changes to our constitution. I hope the next president will see SGA grow exponentially.” In addition to his work with the SGA, DeKay counts conducting research with the Little Rock Congregations Study, a 2020 summer internship with U.S. Rep. French Hill’s office, and a 2019 trip to the International Model Arab League Conference in Morocco among his most memorable college experiences at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. “I would definitely say my trip to Morocco has been one of my most influential parts of going to ��Vlog��ý Little Rock,” he said. “It was partially funded by the Middle Eastern Studies Program, so having the opportunity to study abroad for a reduced cost was life-changing. This trip was my first time going abroad. I saw firsthand how people in other countries live their daily lives, which was eye-opening. This trip made me even more invested in international service and public affairs.” DeKay highlights Dr. Richard Harper, dean of students, and Dr. Rebecca Glazier, professor of public affairs, as two mentors who made a significant impact on his life at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. “Dean Harper has been a huge mentor. He’s the advisor for SGA so I worked with him on numerous projects,” DeKay said. “I would also definitely say Rebecca Glazier has been a great mentor. She was also my faculty mentor for my Signature Experience Project. I’ve been in one of her classes every semester I’ve been at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. She has been one of the most motivating professors I have ever had. I would also like to thank all the professors from the School of Public Affairs, like Dr. Williams and Dr. Giammo. Both of you have made a big impact on my life and have prepared me for my future studies in law school.” As DeKay reflects on his time at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, his advice for new students is to find and get involved in something they love. “I tell new students not to be afraid to get involved in things they are interested in,” he said. “I know coming to college can be intimidating for new students, but you should take it one day at a time, meet new people, and then go from there.”

��Vlog��ý Little Rock Announces Events to Recognize Diversity Month

John Hill — Thu, 25 Feb 2021 18:38:18 +0000

To celebrate Diversity Month, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Diversity Council has scheduled a variety of events set to take place throughout the month of March. Presentations will include discussions on a range of topics, research findings, and historical events. Addressing Microaggressions – Noon, Wednesday, March 3 The Academy for Teaching and Learning Excellence (ATLE) will present this upcoming Lunch and Learn session as an opportunity for faculty to engage in conversations about how to deal with microaggressions in the classroom. Disability and Diversity – Noon, Thursday, March 4 The director for the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Disability Resource Center, Reed Claiborne, will present a discussion on disability and the things that frame perceptions of disabilities such as legal definitions, media portrayals, historical treatments, and more. Anti-Blackness, Social Feelings, and Public Policy: 1964-2020 – 6 p.m. Thursday, March 4 ��Vlog��ý Little Rock English Department’s Cooper Honors Program will present a talk with Dr. Lisa Corrigan, associate professor of communication and director of the Gender Studies program, who will discuss her latest book, “Black Feelings: Race, Affect, and the Long Sixties.” Building Collaborative Relationships to Improve Race Relations – 10 a.m. Tuesday, March 9 A panel of researchers from the Little Rock Congregations Study (LRCS) will discuss findings relevant to race relations from their Fall 2020 survey with 35 community congregations. The panel will consist of ��Vlog��ý Little Rock professors Gerald Driskill, Rebecca Glazier, and Kirk Leach. In partnership with the Clinton School of Public Service, the panelists will also present a process of facilitating community dialogues on key issues found within their survey results. Modern Warriors of World War I: American Indians in the Great War – Noon, Wednesday, March 10 Presented by Erin Fehr, an archivist with the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Sequoyah National Research Center, this event will highlight the sacrifice and bravery of American Indians and Alaska Natives that served in World War I. It will inform audience members about things such as how they used their language to create a code that was never broken by the Germans. The Sequoyah National Research Center created a to identify all 12,000 American Indians that served in World War I, which can be found online as part of the ’s website. New Funds for Minority Businesses in Little Rock – 2 p.m. Thursday, March 11 The Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center will present a panel discussion on new funding opportunities available in Little Rock for minority businesses. We Sing! A Celebration of Women’s Heritage – 3 p.m. Sunday, March 14 ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Choirs will host a live-streamed performance celebrating Women’s Heritage Month, featuring historically informed music performances, poetry reading, a speaker with commentary on notable women of the suffrage movement, and a special musical oratory presentation with Dr. Linda Holzer and Dr. Yslan Hicks. Putting the Pieces Together: A look at how Universal Design for Learning, Open Educational Resources, and Affordable Learning Content work together to benefit students and faculty – 3 p.m. Monday, March 15 in the Ottenheimer Library Presented by e-Learning Specialist Hannah Hurdle, will discuss the Universal Design for Learning (UDL), Open Educational Resources (OER), and Affordable Learning Content (ALC) frameworks for inclusive learning. Entrepreneurship: My Journey into the Unknown – 2 p.m. Tuesday, March 16 Entrepreneurial Education Specialist Pamela Reed, with the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center, will present a panel discussion featuring minority entrepreneurs. Connecting & Utilizing Social Media for Each Generation – 1 p.m. Thursday, March 18 Jennifer McDannold, coordinator of student orientation and transitions, will present information about each generation, focusing on social media and marketing tricks as well as best practices for Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z. “This is Not Who We Are:” Discussing Whiteness, Denial, & Division – 10 a.m. Monday, March 29 Laura Casey, a student success coach with the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Student Retention Initiatives (SRI) team, will host a discussion on the experiences of whiteness and confronting denial. She will be utilizing references such as Ibram Kendi’s book “How to Be an Antiracist” in her presentation to unpack what denial mixed with whiteness looks like. Exploring Our Power and Privilege – 10 a.m. Tuesday, March 30 Sharon Downs, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock assistant vice chancellor for student affairs, will present this final event to encourage conversation on the concepts of power and privilege.

Little Rock Congregations Study shows impact of COVID-19 on religious institutions

John Hill — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 23:01:44 +0000

The results of the (LRCS), a research project based at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, shows that COVID-19 had a major impact on religious institutions in Little Rock.�� The study is led by ��Vlog��ý Little Rock professors Rebecca Glazier, Gerald Driskill, and Kirk Leach, in consultation with the project’s Clergy Advisory Board, a group of eight clergy members in Little Rock who advise the Little Rock Congregations Study. The LRCS researchers, including a class of nine students, worked with 35 diverse congregations in Little Rock to survey nearly 2,300 church members in October 2020. The surveys included questions about congregation priorities, physical, mental, and spiritual health, and community issues.�� The Little Rock Congregations Study research team and the Clinton School of Public Service will host three facilitated dialogues this month on the issues survey participants identified as the most important: education (Feb. 11), healthcare (Feb. 18), and marriage and family (Feb. 25). The Covid-19 pandemic was the most common reason provided for why respondents had changed their attendance behavior. Most (71.88%) of the respondents are attending worship services about as often as they were a year ago before Covid-19, but 21 percent say that they are attending less often and nearly 7 percent say that they are attending more often. “Some people are attending more because the pandemic has sparked a greater need for spiritual connection, but many more people are attending less because the pandemic has reduced service times, made in-person services more difficult, or made online services the only option, which some find less appealing,” Glazier said. Churches also found creative solutions, in addition to online services, to hold worship services during the pandemic. Second Baptist Church Downtown, for example, began holding outdoor services at Lake Nixon, where the church hosts a summer camp and preschool. Meanwhile, City of Refuge Community Church held curbside communion in its parking lot, where members could drive up, receive communion and a prayer, and then drive home. “We married the sacred with safety,” Pastor Neal Scroggins said. “Using what the culture had shifted to in order to survive financially, our local churches used the same principle to survive spiritually. It’s the simple things that stand out. Driving a car to our church parking lot, while remaining physically distant, our masked and gloved servers were able to accomplish convenience, community, connection and communion.” At a time when many people are suffering from mental health issues because of the pandemic, the study also found that having a close connection with a worship community and providing service is associated with better mental health. Those congregation members with better mental health also attend worship services more often, have warmer feelings about their congregation, give more hours of service to their community, and give more hours of service to their congregation. Increased spiritually has positive benefits for congregations and also for communities. About 1/3 of the respondents are more deeply spiritual, compared to the rest of the sample. These are people who feel closer to God today than they did a year ago, who regularly feel thankful for their blessings, who regularly experience God’s love, and who often feel a deep sense of spiritual peace.�� “These people are significantly more likely to provide service to their congregation and to attend worship services, a finding we would expect,” Glazier said. “But their spirituality also has positive consequences for the broader community. Deeply spiritual respondents are also more likely to provide service to the community, believe they can make a difference in their community, and be engaged in talking about and helping to solve community issues.”

Race and Religion in Little Rock

Over the past eight years, race relations have increased in importance as a community issue for the clergy in Little Rock. In 2020, 88 percent of responding clergy leaders agree or strongly agree that Little Rock has a problem with racial division, but the vast majority also believes that things will get better. A lower number of congregation members, 77 percent, agree or strongly agree that Little Rock has a problem with racial division. “Talking about issues of race can be difficult, especially in a city like Little Rock, with a living history of racial injustice, but religious leaders have the moral authority to lead these difficult conversations,” Glazier said. “More than any other community issue, people believe their places of worship should be involved in helping to address the issue of race relations.” The study also showed that a majority of church members want their congregations to help solve issues within the community. The top issues that members want their congregations to solve include: race (90%), foster care (86%), marriage/family (85%), prison (81%), inequality (80.5%), health (74.5%), homelessness (67.5%), and crime (60%).

Community Engagement

Churches were found to adapt their ongoing mission work to meet the new needs of the community during COVID-19. St. James United Methodist Church, for example, shifted meals with the homeless to go-to boxes, changed the on-site food pantry to a drive-thru model, brought meals to medical staff at local hospitals, and sewed thousands of facemasks to donate. “There’s a hunger in people to find ways to make a practical difference with their faith,” Reverend Carness Vaughan said. “As our people are getting more deeply connected with Christ, they’re searching for that outlet to exhibit their faith and to live out their faith.” Likewise, the Madina Institute also started a Community Mask Campaign to financially support women who have lost jobs during the pandemic by giving them sewing machines to help stitch facemasks and donating masks to those in need. “Now we are not only helping Muslims and immigrant communities, but we are also providing face masks to several faith communities, nursing homes, and churches whose congregations primarily consist of colored, marginalized or low-income communities in Central Arkansas,” said Sophia Said, founder of the Madina Institute. Jade McCain, a senior political science major from Poplar Bluff, Missouri, was a student researcher working on the 2020 LRCS as part of a class on Religion and Community Engagement, taught by Glazier. As part of the course, Jade McCain researched the differences between religious minorities and majorities in Little Rock. Black Protestant, Muslim, and Jewish congregations are classified as religious minorities, while Mormon, Mainline Protestant, Catholic, and Evangelical congregations are classified as majorities. “Some of my major findings were that the clergy messages from religious minority congregations were focused more on political advocacy and social action, while the clergy messages from religious majority congregations were more focused on the importance of marriage and family,” McCain said. “Religious minority clergy leaders are also more focused on urging members to vote, while religious majority clergy leaders are focused on personal spiritual growth. My overall findings concluded that religious minorities in Little Rock have more progressive views like advocacy while religious majorities in Little Rock are more traditional views like family.” The Little Rock Congregations Study research team is working with a practicum team of five students from the Clinton School of Public Service this spring to host three facilitated dialogues for the community on the issues survey participants identified as the most important: education (Feb. 11), healthcare (Feb. 18), and marriage and family (Feb. 25). These dialogues will bring together congregations and nonprofits to talk about these important community issues and help make connections for collaboration. The discussions will be held virtually, and those interested can. The LRCS Facilitated Dialogue Series will take place: Thursday, Feb. 11, 6-8 p.m., Education Thursday, Feb. 18, 6-8 p.m., Healthcare Thursday, Feb. 25, 6-8 p.m., Marriage and Family For more information about the LRCS, visit or contact Glazier, at raglazier@ualr.edu. The full 2020 Little Rock Congregations Study Executive Report is available .

Little Rock Congregations Study shows more clergy are concerned about race relations

John Hill — Tue, 30 Jun 2020 21:32:06 +0000

Research from the at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock shows that religious leaders in Little Rock are growing more concerned with the issue of race relations. The Little Rock Congregations Study is led by ��Vlog��ý Little Rock professors Rebecca Glazier, Gerald Driskill, and Kirk Leach, in consultation with the project’s Clergy Advisory Board, a group of eight clergy members in Little Rock who advise the Little Rock Congregations Study. Glazier, a professor of political science, and her student researchers are surveying religious leaders over the summer as part of the 2020 study. After seeing the protests that enveloped the community after the death of George Floyd, Glazier turned to the Today, there are no longer any faith leaders in Little Rock who are responding that the issue of race relations is “moderately important” or “slightly important.” A recent look at the results shows that 30 percent of clergy identify the issue of race relations as “important,” while 70 percent identify it as “very important.” “I think the clergy in Little Rock have been concerned about race relations for many years,” Glazier said. “We see a trend of increasing importance in this issue that has been going on for years. I think it reflects a growing awareness of this issue in our society. As we have seen more instances of police brutality caught on video, you see our society saying this is unacceptable. You’ve seen the Black Lives Matter movement grow. We’re seeing how important racial justice issues are.” After hosting a Little Rock Religious Leaders Summit last year, the Little Rock Congregations Study research team decided they would more directly address questions of race and social justice during the 2020 study. Among other topics that faith leaders emphasized at the summit, racial division rose to the top again and again. “When we look at the data we have collected over the years, they tell a story of a city that is deeply divided,” Glazier said. “Little Rock has a history of racial violence, segregation, red-lining, and hate. It is no surprise that the vast majority (86 percent) of 2020 responding clergy strongly agree or agree that ‘Little Rock has a problem with racial division.’” Clergy, historically, have played an important role in civil rights in the United States in terms of mobilizing and healing. Many of the religious leaders participating in the study have talked about their roles as leaders in the current crisis. “I think they can continue to play a very critical role at this moment in history,” Glazier said. “The clergy that I have been talking to for years have said we’ve heard a lot of talk about the need for social justice and better race relations, but we haven’t seen a lot of actions. I believe the religious leadership think now is the time to take more action. They are leading conversations across racial lines, holding meetings with police, protesters, and legislators, holding peaceful protests, and talking about working peacefully toward reconciliation. The call is very much to action and not just to words.” During an interview with Pastor Billy Burris of St. Peter Missionary Baptist Church, Burris recalled the many activities he participated in during a single day, which included a prayer call, an interview on a radio station, and a meeting with other pastors and the chief of police. “We are just trying to help, trying to be a conduit, if you will, between law enforcement and the community, and doing what we can for the peaceful protests,” Burris said. Hope remains strong among religious leaders in Little Rock that the situation will improve. Sixty percent of early clergy respondents agree or strongly agree that race relations are likely to improve in Little Rock in the future. “Places of worship and people of faith have always played a powerful role in mobilizing people to fight for justice and in healing past wounds,” Glazier said. “The early results from our 2020 study reveal that there is still a lot of hope in our city. Communities of faith are key to making that happen.” In the upper right photo, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock professors and student researchers, from left, Gerald Driskill, Jessica Olson, Jasmine Pugh, Kaylyn Hager, and Rebecca Glazier are researching how partnerships between churches and nonprofit organizations can provide services to the community. Photo by Ben Krain.

Little Rock Congregations Study seeks to benefit, connect congregations through new survey

John Hill — Fri, 15 May 2020 20:13:55 +0000

When Rebecca Glazier first began the Little Rock Congregations Study in 2012, her goal was to learn about faith-based community engagement and to provide her students with an opportunity to learn outside the classroom. In 2020, her goal is to use the results to make a difference in the community by bringing together congregations and nonprofits who want to tackle Little Rock’s biggest problems.�� “Last year, we brought in over 50 clergy leaders in Little Rock and asked what are the most important issues facing the city,” Glazier said. “We learned that one of the key things congregations struggled with was connecting across these issues and finding other congregations and nonprofit organizations that were working on the same issues. They wanted a better way to work together to help solve problems facing the community.” The 2020 will move completely online. This move will allow significantly more people to participate in the survey and for the data to be compiled more easily. “We have learned that when congregations serve the community, it creates a culture of service that also leads members to serve in their own places of worship,” Glazier said. “We have learned that growing congregations are significantly more likely to be led by clergy who are engaged in the community.” The surveys have been prepared by an interdisciplinary research team at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, including Glazier and ��Vlog��ý Little Rock professors Dr. Gerald Driskill and Dr. Kirk Leach, in consultation with the , a group of eight clergy members in Little Rock who advise the Little Rock Congregations Study.�� Graduate and undergraduate student researchers are also part of the Little Rock Congregations Study team. ��Vlog��ý Little Rock students participating in a course on religion and community will be working on this project and helping to write reports that will be shared with each congregation and with the broader community during the fall 2020 semester. Researchers are working with individual congregations to send the survey to all of their members.�� “We know being physically distant from each other in places of worship has been hard,” Leach said. “This survey provides an opportunity for leaders and members to reconnect and share how they are doing.”�� Every congregation will receive a report that includes data on demographics; worship service attendance; mental, physical, and spiritual health; congregational and community engagement; perceptions of community and racial unity and division; and ways members desire to serve. A unique feature of the report is that leaders will learn of other congregations and nonprofits that share a desire to collaborate on specific community needs. The research team is currently recruiting places of worship to participate.�� “I think the work of the Little Rock Congregations Study provides a great opportunity for all of us to learn more about what congregations and other religious groups are contributing to the community and also more comprehensive information about what the members of our individual congregations care about and value,” said Lindy Vogado, associate pastor at Second Presbyterian Church and member of the Clergy Advisory Board. “We hope the information we gain from this study will help us to serve our neighbors better.” The most important data congregations will receive in Glazier’s opinion is information that will hopefully build partnerships between congregations and nonprofits who wish to combine resources to take on a community issue affecting Little Rock. “Leaders will receive data on whether their members think their place of worship should be involved in helping to solve the community issues they see as most important and whether the members would be willing to volunteer on those issues,” Glazier said. “Because we know how important collaboration is to religious leaders, for each of the top three community issues of concern to their congregants, we will include the contact information for other congregations and nonprofits currently working on those issues. These reports will provide immediate, valuable data to leaders to know what matters to their members and how to get engaged.” “We continue to learn that we are better together,” Driskill said. “We can tackle the most difficult challenges when we collaborate. This survey will aid us all in working together toward bigger dreams–toward building hope.” The surveys are expected to be available to fill out online between Oct. 1 to Nov. 2. Congregations who are interested in participating in the 2020 Little Rock Congregations Study may contact Glazier at raglazier@ualr.edu.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock study explores need to form partnerships between nonprofits, congregations

John Hill — Wed, 29 Jan 2020 14:43:30 +0000

While many nonprofits and religious congregations partner together to help people in need in the Little Rock area, more partnerships are needed to meet the city’s growing demand for services, according to the results of a University of Arkansas at Little Rock study. The Little Rock Congregations study is an ongoing research project led by Dr. Rebecca Glazier, associate professor in the School of Public Affairs, stemming from research begun in 2012 about the effects of religious organizations on community engagement in Little Rock. Her research partners include Dr. Kirk Leach, assistant professor in the School of Public Affairs, and Dr. Gerald Driskill, professor of applied communication. Glazier recently released the results of the 2019 survey, which focused on surveying and interviewing nonprofit leaders to learn more about how and when collaborations with congregations occur. “We were surprised and excited about how open nonprofits are to working with congregations in Little Rock,” Glazier said. “The lens that we brought to this part of the research was to fulfill a need that we’ve heard about congregations wanting to work with more nonprofits. We saw an overwhelming amount of nonprofits that wanted to partner with congregations. We were worried that many might have policies that prevent them from working with religious organizations, but that wasn’t the case.” Researchers spoke with 118 nonprofit leaders in the Little Rock area, out of 329 that were contacted. The survey found that 70 percent of the respondents have partnered with congregations in the past. All of the respondents who’ve partnered with congregations expressed interest in partnering again. An additional 20 percent of respondents have not had a partnership with a congregation, but expressed interest in doing so, while 7 percent of respondents have no desire to partner with a congregation, and 3 percent reported their nonprofit’s policies don’t allow collaboration with a religious organization. “A lack of interest is not preventing partnerships,” Glazier said. “Nonprofit policies are not preventing partnership. Nonprofits are actively seeking partnerships. Our conclusion from this data and from the clergy study in 2018 is that more partnerships will happen as more connections across organizations are made. We hope to facilitate such connections throughout 2020.” The vast majority of respondents (79 percent) are collaborating with other organizations, including congregations, to deliver needed social serves in Little Rock. Of the nonprofit leaders surveyed, 19 percent said they collaborate to connect with the community, 17 because of the topic, and 13 percent as a cost-reduction strategy. The community services provided by nonprofits are more diverse than those offered by local congregations. In 2018, the study found that marriage and relationship counseling are the most popular services (61 percent) offered by Little Rock-based congregations followed by food pantries (48 percent) and education services (34 percent). On the other hand, the most common service offered by nonprofits is education (30 percent), followed by healthy eating (17 percent). The diverse range of services provided by Little Rock nonprofits include community gardens, pregnancy testing, and entrepreneurial support, which are all topics that never came up in previous research with congregations.There is a great potential for the expansion of partnerships between nonprofits and congregations to meet the rising needs of the Little Rock community. Out of those surveyed, 80 percent reported an increase in demand for their services. Glazier feels that two key areas for future collaboration include education, one of the highest service areas offered by both nonprofits and congregations in Little Rock, and food initiatives. “Many congregations host food pantries and many nonprofits focus on healthy eating education,” Glazier said. “Working together, the two types of organizations could get more and healthier food and better nutrition information to people in need in our community.” Since the study began in 2012, more than 170 students have conducted research. When the project began, the researchers investigated the impact of community engagement by congregations. Since 2018, they’ve looked more closely at the role of nonprofit organizations. The 2019 study focused on surveying and interviewing nonprofit leaders to learn more about how and when collaborations with congregations occur. Researchers looked at the impacts of local faith-based community engagement while also providing relevant and meaningful information and resources to the community, such as an interactive map of the city’s food pantries. “Churches may have been more focused on people in their congregations in the past, but now, more than ever, they’re raising their heads and looking around their community for opportunities to serve,” said Lauri Currier, executive director of The Call. The Little Rock Congregations Study will continue this year with a survey of congregation members in Little Rock. The surveys will include questions about community issues church members see as most important to the city, what issues they would like their congregations to be active in, and if they are willing to volunteer. Congregation leaders can use the results to prioritize their community engagement initiatives, while the researchers will connect congregations and nonprofits that are interested in working on the same issues. “We want to facilitate partnerships between nonprofits and congregations,” Glazier said. “We’ve heard them say they want to make more connections to help the community and to really make a difference for our city. We can make the process so much easier by connecting congregations and nonprofits together.” In the upper right photo, from left, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock professors and student researchers Gerald Driskill, Jessica Olson, Jasmine Pugh, Kaylyn Hager, and Rebecca Glazier are researching how partnerships between churches and nonprofit organizations can provide services to the community in the Little Rock Congregations Study. Photo by Ben Krain.

Glazier awarded grant to create international religious freedom course

Ajani Oyindamola — Mon, 21 Oct 2019 13:28:39 +0000

A University of Arkansas at Little Rock professor and international studies scholar has received a grant from Notre Dame’s Global Religion Research Initiative to develop a new international religious freedom course that will be offered at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock for the first time in spring 2020. Dr. Rebecca Glazier, associate professor of political science, said the desire to create the new course came from her research with the Little Rock Congregations Study, a research project she began in 2012 to study the effects of religious organizations on community engagement in Little Rock.�� “This course also connects to my community-based research project, because students will go into the community to attend and learn about faith communities in Little Rock,” Glazier said. “Additionally, community members and religious leaders will attend our class to talk about their experiences with religious freedom in the United States and in other countries. The students will all write stories about the places they visit, which will be available for the public on the Little Rock Congregations Study website.”�� This course examines the topic of religious freedom from a global perspective, evaluating how religious freedom is understood across cultures and religious traditions. Students in the course will study contemporary controversies surrounding religious freedom, consider the role of religious freedom as one among other human rights, the role of religious freedom in diplomacy, and the relationship of religious freedom to violence and terrorism. “We will discuss religious freedom from a global perspective and then connect it to our local communities,” Glazier said. “We will discuss what religious freedom is like for women who wear veils in France, Christians who face hardships in China, and the conflict between Hindus and Muslims in India. The students will attend religious services in different denominations and religions around the city. This will give them a chance to understand religion from a global perspective, and then see how these religions are practiced in the local area.”�� The course is funded by a $4,000 grant from the, which is dedicated to supporting the study of religion in global perspective in order to address two weaknesses in contemporary scholarship, namely the neglect of religion as a subject of study in the social sciences and relative neglect of religions outside of the North Atlantic region. The initiative is funded by the Templeton Religion Trust of Nassau, Bahamas, and will fund more than 150 research proposals by distributing $3.1 million to scholars of global religion.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock students conduct research with Little Rock Congregations Study

Ajani Oyindamola — Mon, 14 Oct 2019 13:13:10 +0000

Three ��Vlog��ý Little Rock students are helping to uncover the secret to successful community partnerships between religious and nonprofit organizations in Little Rock.�� The Little Rock Congregations Study is an ongoing research project led by Dr. Rebecca Glazier, associate professor in the School of Public Affairs, stemming from research begun in 2012 about the effects of religious organizations on community engagement in Little Rock. This fall, they are surveying nonprofit organizations to learn more about when and how partnerships form.�� The students who are working on the research project include Jessica Olson, a double major in biology and political science, Kaylyn “Presley” Hager, a graduate student in the joint Master of Public Administration/Juris Doctor program, and Jasmine Pugh, a mass communication major.�� Hager, of Keller, Texas, joined the Little Rock Congregations Study as a graduate assistant after gaining a passion for the project last year. She is one of the nearly 60 student researchers who worked on the Little Rock Congregations Study in 2018, when they studied the community service patterns of religious organizations in Little Rock.�� “I worked on the project previously and loved it,” Hager said. “I believe the work we are doing is extremely important, and I really admire Dr. Glazier’s passion for her projects.”�� In 2018, student researchers surveyed more than 110 clergy members in the Little Rock area, conducted interviews with 24 clergy members, and wrote 22 stories highlighting partnerships between congregations and community organizations.�� This year, Hager is working on the survey that is being distributed to nonprofit leaders to understand how nonprofit organizations facilitate programs with religious organizations. She is hoping to learn more research skills before she completes her master’s degree in public administration in December.

From left, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock professors and student researchers Gerald Driskill, Jessica Olson, Jasmine Pugh, Kaylyn Hager, and Rebecca Glazier are researching how partnerships between churches and nonprofit organizations can provide services to the community. Photo by Ben Krain.

“I finished up my law degree last spring,” Hager said. “Now, I am hoping to make more connections in the field, and learn more about the technical side of survey research.”�� Olson of East End, Arkansas, said she wanted to work on the Little Rock Congregations Study because of a love of nonprofits.�� “Over the course of my life, I have been involved with many nonprofit organizations such as Girl Scouts,” Olson said. “This led to me having an interest in how organizations function and make decisions.”�� Through an independent study class, Olson is researching nonprofit organizations and creating a contact list to encourage survey participation. She hopes this project will give her the research skills she needs for veterinary school.�� “I hope to understand more about how nonprofits decide who to work with,” Olson said. “Further, I hope to learn research skills that can translate across many fields since I am applying to vet school. This will require me to know how to do proper research procedures.”�� Pugh, a junior from Little Rock, is completing a communications internship with the Little Rock Congregations Study. She is responsible for creating flyers and brochures and managing the website and social media posts.�� “I joined this team because I felt like it was a great opportunity to use what I have learned so far and put it to use,” Pugh said. “I also joined this team because I was captured by their service, and I wanted to get involved and help out in some way. I am hoping to learn more about how social media makes an impact in projects like these.”�� The Little Rock Congregations Study shares findings and community spotlights on their . “Involving students in research is a major goal of the Little Rock Congregations Study,” Glazier said. “We love for students to get out of the classroom and into the community to have experiences and learn skills they otherwise wouldn’t be able to. We are thrilled to have these dedicated students on our research team this fall and we are excited to be able to share the results of the study with the community once the surveys are in.” Any nonprofit leaders can complete the ��The survey will be live through Oct. 15.

- University News Archive - ����Vlog��ý Little Rock

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