ABSTRACT
Katie is a recent college graduate from Allegheny College and a Bonner Scholar. Demetri is a doctoral candidate in higher education at the University of Pennsylvania, and Adam and Cecilia are recent doctoral recipients. While the author's paths in higher education vary, collectively they believe that tracing the origins of their public identities and connecting personal motivations beyond their lives inside schools and universities can help others understand the pathways to engaged scholarship available to undergraduate and graduate students. They attempted to present a play that told the story of racial tensions without violent confrontation, and by doing so, it created a space that was uniquely inclusive and welcoming. The year with AmeriCorps exposed him to the power of an asset-based approach to community building between higher education and marginalized communities and led him to pursue his master's in higher education at Merrimack College.
