Jill Scoggins – UofL News Thu, 16 Apr 2026 19:59:09 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Robe worn by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis on display at UofL Brandeis School of Law   /post/uofltoday/robe-worn-by-u-s-supreme-court-justice-louis-d-brandeis-to-be-on-permanent-display-at-uofl-brandeis-school-of-law/ Sat, 16 Nov 2024 21:00:38 +0000 /?p=61603 A judicial robe worn by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis is on permanent display at the only law school in the world that bears his name. 

The robe was dedicated at the on Nov. 16 with university officials and Brandeis descendants taking part in the event.

“We have several artifacts of Justice Brandeis’s in our archive collection, but the robe he wore while serving as a justice personifies him in a way that no other item can,” said Brandeis School of Law Dean Melanie B. Jacobs. “Seeing the robe – and knowing its history – is thrilling and brings us closer to him as a person in a way no other artifact does.”

The robe was donated by Rick Raushenbush, Brandeis’s great-grandson, on behalf of the family of Walter Raushenbush. Rick Raushenbush and his brother, the Rev. Paul Raushenbush, took part in the dedication ceremony with UofL Provost Gerry Bradley and Jacobs.

The Brandeis School of Law Class of 2011, led by Dean’s Advisory Board Chair Gulam Zade of Nashville, provided funding for the protective case necessary for the robe’s permanent home in the law school’s Cox Faculty Lounge. Assisting Zade with raising funds were Class of 2011 alumni Chris Ballantine, Guion Johnstone and Sandra Moon.

A native of Louisville born in 1856, Brandeis did not attend college at the University of Louisville. However, he was a strong supporter of the university and its law school, which was named after him in 1997. He donated his personal papers, books, pamphlets and library, which includes rare texts on early civil and common law, to the school. 

The Brandeis School of Law lives up to Brandeis’s belief in a strong devotion to public service, an interdisciplinary approach to law and a commitment to liberty. Brandeis law students are required to complete 30 hours of public service at approved placements after the first semester of their first year of law school.

Brandeis was nominated for the court by President Woodrow Wilson in January 1916. Known as the “People’s Lawyer,” he was a prominent attorney of his time. He challenged monopolies, criticized investment banks, advocated for workers’ rights and called for the protection of civil liberties.

He also was the first Jewish jurist to be nominated to and sit on the Supreme Court. His nomination was grueling, with opponents accusing him of being radical and lacking judicial temperament. However, he became one of the most respected and influential members of the Supreme Court. He served on the court from June 1916 until his retirement in February 1939.

Brandeis died in 1941 and his cremated remains are interred at the Brandeis School of Law along with those of his wife, Alice Goldmark Brandeis (1866-1945). 

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UofL law professor developing generative AI toolkit to aid legal writing instruction /section/science-and-tech/uofl-law-professor-developing-generative-ai-toolkit-to-aid-legal-writing-instruction/ Tue, 14 Nov 2023 11:00:27 +0000 /?p=59590 While many are wary of artificial intelligence and its feared effect of supplanting the human creation of content, one University of Louisville professor is leading an effort to help her colleagues use it in the classroom.

, assistant professor of law at UofL’s , has won a teaching grant from the  to develop a toolkit that law professors anywhere can use to incorporate generative artificial intelligence (genAI) into their legal writing curricula.

GenAI is technology that can create text, images, videos and other media in response to prompts inputted by a user – otherwise known as a human being. Of the various types of genAI software currently available, ChatGPT is probably the best known.

Over the next year, Tanner and her team will design, develop and test resources that will become open-source materials for use in teaching legal writing and other law subjects. As the word infers, “open-source” means the materials will be open to anyone, free of charge.

Tanner wants the legal community – particularly those, like her, who teach legal writing – to accept that genAI is becoming part of the teaching environment, and having resources that enable an instructor to use it is key to making it work effectively in the classroom.

“Generative AI will change the way we teach. Some professors worry that a sea change is on the horizon – that we will not be able to assess student learning the way we did pre-ChatGPT,” she said. “Undoubtedly, we will have to adapt. And though generative AI will challenge the way we teach, there is also significant potential for innovation.”

The toolkit will help curious teachers without much prior preparation in genAI to develop knowledge and skills that will help them to embrace it in a way that enhances rather than deteriorates their sense of competency. “A law professor who teaches legal writing will be able to use the toolkit to continue developing their teaching identity rather than be threatened by the increased tempo of technological change,” Tanner said.

“We intend to show instructors how to frame teaching objectives that either work around or embrace generative AI, giving them a framework that is adaptable to evolving technologies. We also will provide examples of how to align teaching objectives with student outcomes.”

The toolkit also will enable those who use it to customize their use of genAI. “We do not intend for this to be a prescriptive approach to legal writing instruction nor one-size-fits-all writing assignments. Instead, it will focus on principles that each professor could adapt for their own purposes.”

Working with Tanner on the project are Tracy Norton, professor of law, and William Monroe, assistant director for instructional technology, of the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University.

The toolkit is expected to launch in fall 2024.

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Constitution Day commemoration focuses on education’s role in a democracy /post/uofltoday/constitution-day-commemoration-focuses-on-educations-role-in-a-democracy/ Fri, 22 Sep 2023 19:39:14 +0000 /?p=59310 ‘s Breit Courtroom was nearly full to capacity with faculty, staff and students when Dean Melanie B. Jacobs and UofL President Kim Schatzel welcomed attorney and former university president Frederick Lawrence on Sept. 19.

Lawrence keynoted the school’s commemoration of Constitution Day 2023, which kicked off a in celebration of as UofL’s 19th president and was part of the yearlong series of events marking the university’s 225th anniversary.

Lawrence today is the secretary of the Phi Beta Kappa Society and was previously president of Brandeis University and dean of George Washington University’s School of Law. His topic was the role of universities in a fully functioning democracy.

He opened with a quotation from Justice Louis D. Brandeis: “If we are to be led by the light of reason, let our minds be bold.” And he closed with a quote from Brandeis’ protégé, Justice Felix Frankfurter: “To regard teachers—in our entire educational system, from the primary grades to the university—as the priests of our democracy is … not to indulge in hyperbole.”

“It is the special task of teachers to foster those habits of open-mindedness and critical inquiry which alone make for responsible citizens who in turn make possible an enlightened and effective public opinion (needed to create a functioning democracy),” he said.

“A renewed and strengthened national commitment to accessible and inclusive education will not only permit members of our society to live more meaningful lives, and more productive lives, but it will allow our nation to resist authoritarian impulses and embrace the openness of mind and spirit that are as essential today for a self-governing people in a democratic society as they were … 236 years ago when the framers signed the Constitution. …

“Indeed, the ultimate authority of their signing and the ultimate authority to which we must continue to appeal and which our nation is duty bound to educate, is, ‘We the People.’”

Lawrence’s address was followed by a spirited panel discussion that included Brandeis Law professors Cedric Merlin Powell, Enid Trucios-Haynes and Joe Dunman and UofL General Counsel Angela Curry.

The presentation can be viewed in its entirety A photo gallery from the event is

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Grant awarded to law professor will fund climate adaptation project /post/uofltoday/grant-awarded-to-law-professor-will-fund-multi-institutional-climate-adaptation-project/ Wed, 13 Sep 2023 13:40:41 +0000 /?p=59235 The Resilience Justice Project (RJ Project) at the University of Louisville’s Brandeis School of Law has been awarded a one-year multi-institutional grant through a national competitive process to evaluate how climate adaptation planning can be more equitable for low-income communities in eight U.S. coastal areas.

The RJ Project will use the $75,000 award from the National Sea Grant Law Center through NOAA’s National Coastal Resilience Fund to examine coastal urban adaptation in the eight cities: Boston, Cleveland, Miami, New Orleans, San Diego, Savannah, Seattle and Tampa. Principal investigator Tony Arnold, the Herbert F. Boehl Chair in Property and Land Use at Brandeis Law, and his team will collaborate with researchers at Georgetown University and Georgia State University.

The project will examine how the cities are currently ensuring that their climate adaptation plans are equitable and fair.

“We will assess plans, policies and laws affecting climate adaptation in these eight coastal urban areas with an eye towards addressing the vulnerabilities of low-income neighborhoods of color,” Arnold said. “We’ll then use our assessments to produce a guidebook of best practices and a series of webinars so that any city can use the information to make their climate adaptation planning equitable for all neighborhoods.”

The project utilizes the Resilience Justice Assessment Framework, pioneered by Arnold and Resilience Justice Fellows at Brandeis Law. The Resilience Justice Project addresses the inequitable vulnerabilities of communities, such as neighborhoods, to many different shocks and changes.

“Systems of injustice, inequality, marginalization and oppression have undermined the capacities of low-income communities of color to resist and adapt to shocks and changes,” Arnold said. “These shocks and changes include climate change, economic shocks, political change, disasters, pollution, health crises and many other disruptions.

“Many low-income neighborhoods of color have both community-based resilience but also vulnerabilities that come from inequitable conditions and systems of inequitable policies. We aim to empower marginalized communities so that they can thrive, not just survive.”

Arnold and his team will build on work they began last year using the framework in a project funded by the EPA and Kentucky Division of Water to examine the 34-square-mile Mill Creek watershed in southwest Louisville. In this study, the research team gathered the views and needs of residents on environmental and community conditions and is providing the information to the Louisville/Jefferson County Metropolitan Sewer District.

“We’re taking what we’ve learned about how the framework worked with Mill Creek to the eight cities in the new project,” Arnold said. “We’ll continue to be engaged with the Mill Creek watershed community while we carry out the work under our new grant. In this way, all communities involved can learn from one another.”

Along with his law school appointment, Arnold holds an affiliated professorship in , part of the College of Arts and Sciences. The Resilience Justice Fellows working on the project are Brandeis Law students Ralph Banchstubbs, Carcyle Barrett, Irie Ewers, Jake Mace, Colin Sheehan and Laken Wadsworth and Ph.D. candidate in Urban and Public Affairs Rebecca Wells-Gonzalez.

The collaborating groups working with UofL on the project are the Georgetown Climate Center at Georgetown Law School and the Center for the Comparative Study of Metropolitan Growth at Georgia State. They also will work with local governments and community-based environmental justice groups in the eight coastal areas.

The research project is titled “Equitable Coastal Urban Adaptation to Climate Change: A Resilience Justice Assessment” and is supported by National Sea Grant Law Center grant PTE Federal Award Number NA22OAR4170089, Subaward Number 24-07-08.

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UofL Passport Place helps alleviate current application backup /post/uofltoday/uofl-passport-place-helps-alleviate-current-application-backup/ Thu, 27 Jul 2023 12:51:24 +0000 /?p=58970 If you’re planning to travel abroad this summer and need to obtain or renew your passport, be forewarned: As the number of travelers rebounds to pre-pandemic levels, passport applications are backed up, and the U.S. State Department predicts the number of passports issued will top the 22 million issued last year.

News reports tell of passengers from coast to coast forced to re-schedule or forego travel altogether because their passport applications were not processed in time. But help in alleviating the backup in applying for a passport is available at the University of Louisville’s International Center, home to Passport Place.

The recently opened Passport Place was created as part of the International Center’s work to help students, faculty and staff navigate the requirements for traveling abroad. Though Passport Place has seen steady growth, its ability to accept passport applications has never been limited to only those with UofL connections.

“We are authorized by the Department of State to help all eligible U.S. citizens apply for a passport, whether they are affiliated with UofL or not,” said Kristin Samer, marketing coordinator and Passport Acceptance Agent at UofL’s International Center. “For the same $35 fee charged at post offices and other facilities that provide passports, we can take your application and submit it; all fees collected go to support international education at UofL.”

“While we can’t change the (State Department’s) processing time, we are able to assist right away and get most applications sent out the same day. And, unlike other facilities, no appointment is necessary; we take walk-ins.”

Samer said Passport Place’s ability to speed up the application process is probably due to the public’s lack of knowledge of its existence. “People at UofL know us, of course, but the general public does not,” she said. “That void of information creates capacity.”

The facility is included on the State Department’s list of offices where passport applications can be filed, however, leading to a trickle of people already finding it. “We even had a family come up from Nashville to apply for their passports with us because we were the only place taking walk-in appointments in the region, and they found out about us on the State Department website.

“We’ve heard the horror stories about other facilities. People have tried scheduling appointments weeks out, and then the facility cancelled them the day of the appointment because there are too many applications to process or an acceptance agent isn’t there to assist with the application. These problems have not occurred at Passport Place,” she said. “The staff is well-trained, friendly and extremely knowledgeable. We have a waiting room with coffee, coloring books for children and comfortable seating. We believe these factors are what differentiates the Passport Place at UofL from other Passport Acceptance Facilities.”

Is Samer worried that getting the word out will lead to overrunning Passport Place’s ability to speedily submit passport applications? “We’ll cross that bridge if we have to,” she said, “but right now we have the capacity to process many applications each day.”

Passport Place is open six days a week, Monday-Thursday, 8:30 a.m.-7 p.m., Friday, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., and Saturday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. It is located in the UofL International Center at 2220 E. Centennial Walk off Third Street. During the week, parking is available for a fee in the Speed Art Museum Garage on Third Street. On Saturdays, the gated lot next to the center is open and parking is free.

For details on what you need to apply for a U.S. passport, go to the State Department website, or contact Passport Place at 502-852-0300 or passportoffice@louisville.edu. Currently, the State Department recommends you apply for your passport six months in advance of your trip out of the country.

 

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The full package /post/uofltoday/the-full-package/ Mon, 12 Jun 2023 10:23:59 +0000 /?p=58598 Back in the late 1990s, UPS’s Louisville air hub, known today as Worldport, was wrestling with a significant problem. Needing employees round-the-clock, the company was finding it difficult to retain workers for its overnight shifts. As it planned a much-needed expansion, the company knew the problem would only grow.

The solution? Metropolitan College – a unique public-private partnership that dramatically increased retention among workers during the wee hours each night. Average tenure of a third-shift worker grew from eight weeks prior to the program’s launch to three years as of fall 2022.

The program also provided more than 22,000 students over the past 25 years the opportunity to earn a college degree 100% debt-free.

Metro College allows students at the University of Louisville or Jefferson Community and Technical College to work at Worldport, earning a weekly paycheck and payment of their tuition, academic bonuses and fee payment assistance. The program receives state support to fund up to 50% of tuition and fees. The company also provides academic bonuses that include semester and graduation bonuses. The program launched in the fall semester of 1998 as a partnership among UofL, JCTC, UPS, Louisville Metro Government and the commonwealth of Kentucky.

“Metropolitan College seemingly has no downside,” said UofL President Kim Schatzel. “Prior to my academic career, I spent 20 years in industry, so I see the value of Metro College across the board. The state of Kentucky, UPS, JCTC and UofL have created a national model of what a combined education-workforce-economic development initiative can and should be.”

“In addition to paying for college, Metro College provides a student with a livelihood while they are in college,” said Ty Handy, JCTC president. “That is crucial for many students who must support themselves either fully or partially while they are in school. And the added value of the career and academic guidance they receive cannot be underestimated.”

“For UPS, the success of Metro College has been integral to our ability to deliver what matters to our customers around the world,” said UPS President Jim Joseph. “In addition to the steady source of talent to help us run our Worldport operation, the program provides student-workers the opportunity to pursue their dreams debt-free, while also receiving competitive pay, benefits and work-life experience and guidance. Our community benefits by growing and enhancing the talent pool within the commonwealth. The program really is a win-win-win for all involved.” 

Thalia Almenares came to Louisville in 2016 from Cuba and began work at UPS in 2017. Through Metro College she started taking classes at JCTC before transferring to UofL where she graduated in May as a dental hygienist.

“UPS was the best bet for my dreams,” she said. “I couldn’t believe it when they told (me) they were going to pay my tuition 100% in full. But also, with the help of the UPS team, I was able to overcome the language barrier and have a job to support my family while earning a great education. The program also provides you with a great work-life balance. I wasn’t sure if it was possible to be a student and work at the same time, but UPS opens that door.”

Another program benefit is the chance to learn leadership skills and to rise in the ranks while still enrolled in college. Just ask graduates Jeff Wafford (2003) and Donovan Neal (2019).

“Coming out of high school, I knew I couldn’t pay for college. I was actually planning to go into the military until a friend of mine told me about UPS two months before the semester started,” Donovan Neal said. “I began in August 2012 in the UPS hub as a package handler and eventually got a role as a supervisor in finance and accounting.”

He graduated from UofL with a degree in finance and today works in human resources for UPS.

Likewise, Jeff Wafford progressed through the ranks of the multinational shipping company. He enrolled in Metro College more than two decades ago and started as a package handler. Now director of public affairs, Wafford continues to tout Metro College. “Today, I not only have the chance to talk about it to our leaders here locally and throughout Kentucky but also to the states I cover, in the Virginias and the Carolinas. They all want to know, ‘What can we do in our states to have a program like this?’ ”

The rigors of overnight work – Metro College students work 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. about 15 hours per week – coupled with college enrollment can be daunting, but Metro College staff advise entering students to enroll as a parttime student to get adjusted to the new routine. And they provide advice on life skills that students may need throughout their time in college.

Yet Wafford notes that working overnight may not be as much of a problem as might be imagined.

“Twenty-three years ago, my then-college roommate and I were up at 3 o’clock in the morning, as college students sometimes are, and we saw this ad for Metro College,” he said. “We said, ‘We should do this. We’re up all night anyway. We have these loans we’re getting ready to take out, and we need some money.’ So the next day, we applied.

“I’ve talked about Metro College now for 23 years and hopefully, I’ll get to talk about it for the next 23 years,” Wafford said “Let’s keep this program going for the future of the commonwealth.”

For more information about Metro College visit metro-college.com.

 

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Reduced sleep linked to air pollution, heat, carbon dioxide and noise /post/uofltoday/reduced-sleep-linked-to-air-pollution-heat-carbon-dioxide-and-noise/ Tue, 18 Apr 2023 17:43:32 +0000 /?p=58385
  • Penn, UofL study finds drop in sleep efficiency for high exposures to environmental factors
  • Study published in Sleep Health is one of the first to measure multiple variables on sleep
  • Participant data from UofL’s Green Heart Project utilized to obtain results
  • Air pollution, a warm bedroom and high levels of carbon dioxide and ambient noise all may adversely affect our ability to get a good night’s sleep, suggests a study from researchers with the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Louisville’s Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute (CLBEI).

    The study, published April 18 in Sleep Health, is one of the first to measure multiple environmental variables in the bedroom and analyze their associations with sleep efficiency—the time spent sleeping relative to the time available for sleep. The analysis found that in a group of 62 participants tracked for two weeks with activity monitors and sleep logs, higher bedroom levels of air pollution ( or PM2.5), carbon dioxide, noise and temperature were all linked independently to lower sleep efficiency.

    The study was a collaboration between Penn Medicine and UofL’s CLBEI which is led by Aruni Bhatnagar. The researchers recruited participants from the CLBEI’s National Institutes of Health-funded Green Heart Project that investigates the effects of planting 8,000 mature trees on the cardiovascular health of Louisville residents.

    “These findings highlight the importance of the bedroom environment for high-quality sleep,” said study lead author Mathias Basner, professor and director of the division of Sleep and Chronobiology in the department of Psychiatry at Penn Medicine.

    The researchers suggest that more research is needed now on interventions that could improve sleep efficiency by reducing exposures to these sleep-disrupting factors.

    “This could be as simple as leaving a bedroom door open to lower carbon dioxide levels, and using triple-pane windows to reduce noise,” Bhatnagar said. “We also applied for (future) funding that will allow us to investigate whether planting trees can improve sleep and cardiovascular health through improving health behaviors and the bedroom environment.”

    About the study

    In addition to work and family obligations that , a quickly changing environment due to growing urbanization and climate change seems to have made it harder to get a good night’s sleep. Sleep that is of inadequate duration, or inadequate efficiency due to frequent disruption (“tossing and turning”), affects work productivity and quality of life. It also has been linked to a higher risk of chronic diseases including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, depression and dementia.

    This research is among a limited number of studies that looked at associations between multiple objectively measured factors in the sleep environment—such as noise and temperature—and objectively measured sleep.

    For each of the environmental variables measured, the researchers compared sleep efficiency during exposures to the highest 20 percent of levels versus lowest 20 percent of levels. Through this analysis, they found that high noise was associated with a 4.7 percent decline in sleep efficiency compared to low noise, high carbon dioxide with a 4.0 percent decline compared to low levels, high temperature with a 3.4 percent decline compared to low temperature, and high PM2.5 with a 3.2 percent decline compared to low PM2.5. Two other sleep environment variables, relative humidity and barometric pressure, appeared to have no significant association with sleep efficiency among the participants.

    Interestingly, only bedroom humidity was associated with sleep outcomes assessed with questionnaires, such that higher humidity was associated with lower self-reported sleep quality and more daytime sleepiness. This suggests that studies based on questionnaires may miss important associations readily detected by objective measures of sleep. This is not surprising as humans are unconscious and unaware of themselves and their surroundings during large portions of their sleep period.

    Also, most study participants rated humidity, temperature and noise levels in the bedroom as “just right” regardless of the actual exposure levels.

    “We seem to habituate subjectively to our bedroom environment, and feel there is no need to improve it, when in fact our sleep may be disturbed night after night as evidenced by the objective measures of sleep we used in our study,” said Basner.

     

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    UofL earns distinction through the Tree Campus Higher ֱ Program /post/uofltoday/uofl-earns-distinction-through-the-tree-campus-higher-education-program/ Mon, 27 Mar 2023 20:51:50 +0000 /?p=58269 For the 13th consecutive year, the University of Louisville has earned Tree Campus Higher ֱ recognition by the Arbor Day Foundation for its commitment to effective urban forest management.

    The Arbor Day Foundation is the world’s largest membership nonprofit organization dedicated to planting trees. Its Tree Campus Higher ֱ program began in 2008 to encourage colleges and universities to plant trees on their campuses.

    “As chair of UofL’s Campus Tree Advisory Committee, I know just how passionate our staff, faculty, and students are about protecting, diversifying, expanding, and learning from the trees on our campuses,” said Justin Mog, Assistant to the Provost for Sustainability Initiatives.

    Trees on campus and in urban spaces can lower energy costs by providing shade cover, cleaner air and water, and green spaces for students and faculty. In addition, trees improve students’ mental and cognitive health, provide an appealing aesthetic for campuses, and create shaded areas for studying and gathering.

    “Trees not only play a vital role in the environment but also in our daily lives,” said Dan Lambe, chief executive of the Arbor Day Foundation. “Having trees on college and university campuses is a great way to show a commitment to students and faculty’s overall wellbeing.”

    The Tree Campus Higher ֱ program honors colleges and universities for effective campus forest management and engaging staff and students in conservation goals. UofL achieved the distinction by meeting Tree Campus Higher ֱ’s five standards, including maintaining a tree advisory committee, a campus tree-care plan, dedicated annual expenditures for its campus tree program, an Arbor Day observance and student service-learning project.

    Currently, there are 411 campuses across the United States with this recognition. More information about the program is available at .

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    ‘Telling Their Stories’ shares women veterans’ experiences /post/uofltoday/telling-their-stories-shares-women-veterans-experiences/ Tue, 21 Mar 2023 19:43:28 +0000 /?p=58235 One of the first female officers to serve aboard two U.S. Coast Guard cutters with all male crews will highlight the experiences of women veterans in a program sponsored by the Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs and the University of Louisville’s Commonwealth Center for the Humanities and Society.

    Retired Capt. Martha Kotite will present “Telling Their Stories: A Celebration of Women Veterans” at 6 p.m., Wednesday, March 22, at Chao Auditorium in UofL’s Ekstrom Library. Veterans advocate Heather French Henry will emcee.

    Admission is free but RSVPs are needed by email at women.veterans@ky.gov. The Kentucky veterans affairs department also will furnish parking for the first 100 people who RSVP.

    Kotite will discuss the importance of the female veteran experience and its significance in relating military history, drawing upon the stories she collected in writing five books: “Changing the Rules of Engagement: Inspiring Stories of Courage and Leadership from Women in the Miltary,” “My Name is Old Glory: A Celebration of the Star-Spangled Banner,” “Legacy: A History of the Coast Guard Foundation,” “So Others May Live: Coast Guard’s Rescue Swimmers” and “Innovators: Rock Stars of STEM”. The program will conclude with a book-signing event with Kotite.

    For more information, visit the .

    About Martha Kotite

    Kotite’s leadership style empowered her to be one of the first female officers to serve aboard two Coast Guard cutters with all male crews. Patrolling the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans as well as the Caribbean Sea, she remained true to herself while changing the rules of engagement.

    A graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy with a masters from Harvard University, Kotite rose to the senior rank of captain and is an award-winning author of five books. Her presentations are influenced by her 29-year career serving at sea and ashore and the courageous trailblazers she has profiled in her books.

    Kotite earned numerous personal and team awards for her mobilizations during national disasters, missions saving lives at sea and work as a public relations spokesperson for the Service, the Commandant’s Press Secretary and as a New York City public relations firm’s account director for IBM.

    Kotite lead the Coast Guard’s development of emergency crisis management liaisons across the FEMA regions and nation. She deployed on scene for significant national events like the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and numerous catastrophic hurricanes including Sandy and Maria. Hand-picked by the Commandant, she worked in Washington as the Commandant’s Press Secretary and served at sea on a cutter sailing the Pacific Ocean and as executive officer of a patrol boat patrolling the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea. Today, she lives in Florida with her family.

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    American Council on ֱ leader to keynote 8th Annual UofL Engaged Scholarship Symposium /post/uofltoday/american-council-on-education-leader-to-keynote-8th-annual-uofl-engaged-scholarship-symposium/ Fri, 10 Mar 2023 21:19:06 +0000 /?p=58204
  • Advance registration required by March 21 for free event
  • Symposium theme: “Making a Difference through University-Community Collaborations”
  • Outstanding Community Engagement Awards also to be presented
  • Providing information on ways community and university partners can connect and collaborate will be the focus of the 8th Annual Engaged Scholarship Symposium at the University of Louisville.

    Sponsored by , the event will be held Friday, March 24, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in Chao Auditorium, Ekstrom Library, 2215 S. Third St. Admission is free and lunch will be provided. The event is open to the public with .

    head shot of Marisol Morales
    Marisol Morales is the keynote speaker for the 2023 Engaged Scholarship Symposium

    Keynoting the event will be Marisol Morales, executive director of the Carnegie Elective Classifications for the American Council on ֱ (ACE). Her presentation will address “More AMOR Please: Accountability and Organizational Results (AMOR) for Community Engagement Practitioners and Leaders.”

    Managed by ACE, the elective classification program is sponsored by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The Carnegie Foundation’s Elective Classification for Community Engagement is a way for colleges and universities to develop and gain recognition for institutionalized community engagement. Campuses must apply for the classification, and UofL is one of only 79 universities in the United States to earn recognition by the Carnegie Foundation as both a Research 1 and a Community Engaged university.

    UofL also will present its Outstanding Community Engagement Award. The award recognizes outstanding community engagement service such as volunteerism, outreach, partnerships, curricular engagement, and community-based research. Four awards will be presented to a faculty member, a staff member, a student group and a community partner. 

    The symposium’s concurrent sessions will help community partners such as individuals, organizations, associations, non-profits and governmental agencies learn more about connecting with university programs, groups, faculty, staff and students to collaborate on shared initiatives.

    Among the 24 concurrent sessions will be: “Raising Hope Kentucky: A Nursing and Agriculture Collaboration to Address Farmer Mental Health,” “The Resilient Families Project @ Wayside’s Hotel Louisville – Back-Pocket Strategies for Building Resilience, Mindfulness & Happiness in At-Risk Adults,” “School-Based Depression Prevention: Considering Sociocultural Factors,” “Bridging the Gap to Access to Quality ֱ for Healthcare Providers in Latin America,” “Navigating the Road to Ignite Excellence in a Post-Pandemic World” and “Emerging Generations Z & A: The Youth Development Phenomenon.”

    Some of the concurrent session presenters are recipients of the Office of Community Engagment Gheens Foundation Mini Grants, and several other grant recipients also will attend. The mini grants provide funding for a variety of projects in collaboration with underrepresented communities such as west and south Louisville, the immigrant and refugee community, rural communities and the international community.

    The mini grant recipients, all from UofL, are:

    Nicole Adams, College of ֱ & Human Development

    Becky Antle, Kent School of Social Work

    Stephanie Boone, School of Public Health & Information Sciences

    Fannie M. Cox, Libraries

    Sarah Emery, College of Arts & Sciences

    La-Tisha Frazier, School of Medicine

    Melanie Gast, College of Arts & Sciences

    William Scott Gunter, College of Arts & Sciences

    Lora D. Haynes, College of Arts & Sciences

    Alexandra Howard, Libraries

    David Johnson, School of Public Health & Information Sciences

    Kendria Kelly-Taylor, School of Public Health & Information Sciences

    Kristi King, College of ֱ & Human Development

    Angel Okorie & Nile Rowe, Engage Lead Serve Board

    Nina Vasavada Panchal, School of Medicine

    Patrick Possel, College of ֱ & Human Development

    Shelby Pumphrey, College of Arts & Sciences

    Cara Snyder, College of Arts & Sciences

    Geneva Stark, College of ֱ & Human Development

    Tammi Alvey Thomas, School of Public Health & Information Sciences

    Ashley Triplett, Digital Transformation Center

    Randy Whetstone Jr., College of ֱ & Human Development

    Jamie Lynn Young, School of Medicine

     

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