ISSUED: 16 November 2020
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — The Bonnie and Bill Stubblefield Institute for Civil Political Communications at Shepherd University is pleased to announce it has received a grant of $250,000 from the State of West Virginia Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund, (GEERF). The grant is designed to help fund the Institute’s new Listen/Learn/Engage Initiative, an interdisciplinary program targeted to nursing, education, and social work students. The goal of the initiative is for students to be better prepared for community and workplace leadership roles in a COVID-19 pandemic era.
“Nurses, teachers, and social workers will leave our campus and begin their careers facing classroom and public health challenges like never before,” said Stubblefield Institute Director David Welch. “It is imperative they be ready to embrace civic engagement and leadership roles with knowledge and confidence.”
Welch also explained that a central mission of the Stubblefield Institute is to study and promote civil political discourse, inspire intelligent, authentic, and constructive debate, and encourage positive civic engagement and leadership for all students, regardless of their major field of study.
“It is our goal that the Listen/Learn/Engage Initiative will one day be expanded into all departments,” Welch continued. “For now, however, we are very grateful to Governor Justice for realizing the potential of our program to educate those students who will be on the front lines of jobs significantly impacted by coronavirus on the importance of civic engagement and leadership.”
The grant will fund professional and student staff, student leadership forums, training sessions, various educational materials, and six new scholarships for students who demonstrate high performance levels of leadership.
For more information, contact David Welch at dwelch@shepherd.edu or 724-312-2869.
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