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Community Organizer in the Making
Organizing runs in Rachael Altman’s blood. It may not count as a prerequisite for her position as president of the Graduate School Association (GSA), but it certainly is a great skill to have when organizing the graduate student body at Bradley University, a task that Altman has made one of her priorities. Her father’s position as a union organizer may help explain Altman’s knack and enthusiasm for bringing people together. Although she has run into some difficulty finding the right incentive to draw interest from our diverse graduate student body, her effort is very visible, and her goal is clear: “to host various social and educational events throughout the school year in order to bring about a sense of community.
Rachael Altman (center) with Tuskegee Airmen Dr. Welton Taylor (left) and Beverly Dunjill (right) at a Tuskegee Airmen event Altman organized.
Whether it is on Facebook, in class, or around campus – any member of the various Bradley communities can find Altman promoting campus events. Altman’s reminders about various speakers, such as the Tuskegee Airmen and visiting poets, or political awareness meetings, give students no excuse not to look to Bradley as a place of activity. On April 9, Altman and the association’s faculty advisor, Lori Scroggs, brought Dr. Rita Ali, executive director of diversity at Illinois Central College (ICC), to campus to further their message to the Bradley community Dr. Ali is former director of Multicultural Student Services at Bradley University and a former graduate student in leadership in educational administration at Bradley.
To reinforce her message of community, Altman invited Dr. Ali to talk about her research into the success of role models and mentors. As a graduate student at Bradley and as a doctoral student in organization and management at Capella University, Dr. Ali examined the roles that mentors play in the lives of African Americans. These initial steps led her to pursue a book series entitled African American Success Series and has resulted in the first title of that series Role Models: Profiles of Successful African American Professionals in Peoria, Illinois. Currently, Dr. Ali plans to use her project and book to bring ICC students and high school students together with local mentors. Her book assists students in finding exemplary individuals leading lives they would like to pursue. Many of these people are Bradley University alumni, and among the Bradley faculty and staff also included in the book are Drs. Fran Armmer, Anika Bissahoyo, and Dawn Hall and Ms. Frances Jones.
Moreover, Ali’s message resonates with Altman’s attempt to strengthen the Bradley community by fostering an empowered and active graduate student body. Both Ali and Altman, when talking about community, emphasize the need for personal contact. Not only does Altman believe that the GSA can help promote a healthy pluralistic community, but she also has another motive for these meet-and-greets. The activities and people Altman and GSA promote are integral to reinforcing the values of Bradley’s campus. So next time you receive that electronic invite or see a posted advertisement, be sure to be part of the glue that holds together the Bradley community—personal connections.
Once Altman and GSA reach their first priority, “to bring about a sense of community and form a more cohesive group on campus,” the next step is to expand the Graduate School community. In the future, Altman would like to “see the GSA plan and provide various volunteer opportunities. Volunteer work benefits the self and the community, so it would be nice for the grad students to go out into the community and provide various services. We would also like to begin partnering with other GSAs and/or student organizations, host professional development seminars and social networking events, and begin having a graduate student Thesis of the Year Award.” Altman has big plans for the graduate student body, but she also recognizes that many of the benefits of such an organization begin with bringing people together and forming a community based on shared experiences.