Communiversity Hits Decade Mark, Expands Effort

The Sonja Haynes Stone Black Cultural Center program will celebrate its 10 years of success by adding new components and expanding its services to a greater number of children.

"Communiversity is a program focused in the service and outreach segment of the Stone Center's program structure," said Anthony Walters, program director. Walters said the program's role is to support the academic mission of the schools it works with, also teaching students about African heritage and culture.

The program has several different components and reaches children of all ages, from kindergarteners to high school seniors. To mark the program's 10th year, the teen outreach, literacy, homework assistance and Saturday school sections will expand from 20 to 25 students.

Communiversity also has added two new sections this year -- Bonner Leaders and In Our Voice: The Youth Review of Arts and Humanities.

Bonner Leaders is an initiative that will provide UNC students a scholarship to be used for educational purposes after they have completed two years, or 900 hours, of volunteer service. The Bonner Leaders serve in an advisory, curricular and supportive role in Communiversity.

Melody Levy, one of four Bonner Leaders, said she developed an overarching theme for the program. Levy said this semester's theme will be a journey through Africa, including information on specific countries, culture, dance, history and other aspects that might be touched on in school classrooms but not fully explored.

This theme will thread through all sections of the program, Levy said.

Another Bonner Leader, Andre Wesson, is excited about the new In Our Voice program, which will begin in October. The program will introduce students to the arts and humanities by taking them to events around the Triangle.

Coordinators are still working on their schedule, but events will include trips to art museums, operas and the musical "Les Miserables," Wesson said. The students will write and publish essays reviewing the events. Wesson said that he had never been involved in such a program and that he enjoys the new experiences just as much as the students.

Walters said that although the students greatly benefit from working with counselors from UNC, the counselors often gain valuable lessons from the program as well. And Wesson agreed. "It's helped me to understand the true essence of volunteering -- I could never help the students learn as much about themselves as they've helped me learn about myself," he said.

Levy said working with the children, who come to the Student Union in the afternoons, often turns her bad days into good. "All the hours, all the work you put into it are worth it because of the dividends," she said. "It's a genuine part of my life."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.