News from SUNY Oneonta
Maegan Crawford of Stormville Participates in BorderLinks Immersion Program
ONEONTA, NY (05/11/2016)– Maegan Crawford of Stormville, NY, learned firsthand about the complex issues associated with immigration during a five-day cultural immersion program on the U.S./Mexico border this spring.
Ten SUNY Oneonta students spent their spring break participating in interactive activities and immersion experiences organized by BorderLinks, a nonprofit organization based in Tuscon, Ariz.
Crawford, who is majoring in Early Childhood/Childhood Ed (B-6) and Spanish at SUNY Oneonta, learned about border culture and policy through activities such as a desert walk, meetings with migrants being held at a detention center, and a visit to the Mexican side of the community of Nogales, which is divided by a steel fence from the Arizona city of Nogales.
Students said the experience was eye-opening, emotional and motivating.
“As a future educator, I feel I need to learn about situations like these, because I could have students who come from these backgrounds in my classroom,” Crawford said. “It definitely changed my perspective because I had never really met anyone that close to the situation. Being in the environment, meeting with these people on a daily basis and seeing how they really come together to help one another, it just goes to show how strong of a community they are and how resilient they are.”
The students were accompanied by Scott Lehmann, an international student advisor from the college’s Office of International Education, and Alejandra Escudero, a lecturer in the Department of Foreign Languages & Literatures.
The trip was supported by a Domestic Intercultural Immersion Grant offered through SUNY Oneonta’s StAR (Strategic Allocation of Resources) program.
See photos and videos of the students’ experience through the group’s Exposure blog at https://sunyoneonta.exposure.
A liberal arts institution with a strong focus on undergraduate research and service learning, SUNY Oneonta consistently gains recognition for delivering excellence and value. The college has been named to Kiplinger’s list of “100 Best Values in Public Colleges” for 10 years running and sits at No. 9 on the 2016 U.S. News and World Report list of the best public institutions in the region. SUNY Oneonta enrolls 6,000 students in more than 60 undergraduate majors and 14 graduate programs.
