Volume XXIX, Issue 13
February 15, 2008
Let us not be Hamlets: The Epigenesis Program
Students on the Annapolis campus of St. John's often have a great love for the program, but they also often refer to their work as a "useless" degree. This past Halloween when Dan Lewkow appeared dressed in a cardboard box labeled "Home Library," his costume was supposed to represent "an alumnus, of course!"
Lately, the helplessness we sometimes feel on campus is further supplemented by the crimes that are committed off campus. Many students will remember the furor caused by a dead body dumped on the shore of College Creek a few years ago. This past Tuesday, the entire Polity received an e-mail detailing the horrific mugging of a young girl. This string of violent acts forms quite a contrast to the sleepy historical district that most students consider "Annapolis".
As summarized on the Epigenesis Program's website (www.epigenesisprogram.org):
"The problem of violence in Annapolis is clearly a growing one and it cannot be solved until it is truly identified. We feel that this can only be done through the strengthening of a network that is dedicated to reducing violence."
"They" are Rachel Davison (Executive Director), Joshua "Jonas" Becker (Director of operations), Raphaela Cassandra (Director of Community relations), and Jaamal Barnes (Director of Communications), the founders of Epigenesis. During my interview with Mr. Becker and Miss Davison for this article, Miss Davison summed her Johnny experience by saying, "We FEEL as though we're not doing anything – we're spinning our wheels." She was quick to add, "But that's a decision. Virtue is an action!"
How does Epigenesis Program define virtue? "The Epigenesis Program will utilize a combination of seminar style education with hands on experience," Mr. Becker explained. The program he describes will be working with children culled from the Annapolis area youth and aim to provide them with the leadership skills and resources they need to make a positive change in their community. After a series of workshops in the beginning of the summer, the Epigenesis teens will be responsible for developing their own programming and projects.
Miss Davison expanded on the decision to eventually turn the project over to the teens: "True change comes from within, so you can't have someone else tell them how to change their community... We don't think we know what problems they will identify, we certainly don't know how they're going to solve them, so we provide resources." The students will be introduced to the existing infrastructure in Annapolis (community partners already include the Asbury United Methodist Church, We Care and Friends, Stanton Community Center). "We want our students they realize they have everything it takes to do what they want – that they have resources at their disposal," said Mr. Becker.
The theme of the summer, they noted, is community. "What is community?" asked Miss Davison. In order to expand their horizons, the teens will be given one specific assignment: fund-raising for a microloan. The nobel prize winning microloan process identifies target needs, in this case a school in Honduras, and provides them with the funds they need. Ultimately, however, the funds come back to be reinvested, which will ensure that the Epigenesis teens remain active.
Next week in the dining hall, the Epigenesis team will be stationed in the foyer collecting donations every lunch period. "Every bit helps," Mr. Becker said. The money will be used, along with a probable grant from 100 Projects for Peace, to create the program that will help help local teenagers to become leaders in their community.
100 Projects for Peace is an organization started by Katherine Waisserman Davis (who turned 100 two years ago) to give grants for $10,000 each to 100 projects proposed by students at 75 schools to improve their communities. Both the Santa Fe and Annapolis campuses submit proposals, whereupon a committee chooses one to represent St. John's. This year the committee chose the Epigenesis project.
Since the majority of murders in 2007 were committed by kids against kids, Epigenesis applicants are rising high school students who have come from difficult backgrounds and have overcome obstacles in life – "A more PC term," Mr. Becker said, "would be at risk youth."
Though there seems to be a growing trend of students groups coming to the forefront of campus life this year, Mr. Becker quoted the founder of Annapolis based We Care and Friends, one of Epigenesis' community partners, as saying, "There's not a lot of stuff like this going on in Annapolis. There' a lot of talk, but very little action." When asked why the Annapolis campus is so apathetic, Mr. Becker surmised that "There's a culture at St. John's – rumored to be even promoted by the faculty – that we're here to talk about things, not do things. To some extent it makes sense because we don't want our extracurricular activities to interfere with our studies, but if we can spend a few hours a week playing croquet, we spend a few hours a week helping others." Miss Davison pointed out that there's a huge community service culture on the Santa Fe campus (everything from organic farms to prison tutoring), "but why not here?"
Miss Davison added, however, that these things seem to go in cycles. "There are plaques in the coffee shop referring to awards for volunteering in the early 90s." She is hopefull that this growing wave of thoughtful action will continue. Volunteer work can give you another way to grasp the question, "what is virtue?" Miss Davison added, "This could also be a wonderful opportunity for Johnnies who will be staying in Annapolis for the summer. If you would like to participate, or know of anyone that could help, you can e-mail any of the members of the Epigenesis Program:
Rachel Davison (Executive Director): rdavison@epigenesisprogram.org
Joshua Becker (Director of operations): jbecker@epigenesisprogram.org
Raphaela Cassandra (Director of Community Relations): rcassandra@epigenesisprogram
Jaamal Barnes (Director of Communications):jbarnes@epigenesisprogram.org
As Mr. Becker summed up, "We spend years trying with our minds to reach the good when it's right in front of us the whole time – we just have to take it."
Article Written by Erika Stratton, 2009 for The St. John's College Student Weekly: The Gadfly
