General Timeline

We envision the CEJ as a leading coalition builder for social activism in the region. In one year we expect to accomplish the following main objectives:

  1. collaborating on an existing community event or developing a new "signature" event focused on a key issue;
  2. completing and promoting the new database of social services agencies and individuals;
  3. developing programming for each of the Institutes;
  4. faculty community-based research projects in collaboration with other organizations on topics such as community development, immigration, and the impact of globalization on equality and justice; and
  5. mentoring and collaboration with students on student-initiated projects.

Over the longer term, we hope to secure ongoing funding to enable us to do more community programming and public education to raise awareness of issues such as immigration, violence and health care inequities.

Initial Goals

At the end of its first year of operation, we expect the Center will have served an estimated 1,000 people, through various activities, from new service learning opportunities for students to presentations by speakers. Specific activities and strategies we plan are the following:

  • establishment of the Ventura County Collaborative for Social Justice, a web-based "one-stop" shop to access a countywide network of scholars and activists committed to positive social change;
  • collaboration on the execution of one large event each semester involving community collaboration (such as World Aids Day);
  • establishment of a speaker series;
  • faculty-led community-based research, and initiatives with CLU student clubs to produce campus events, such as the annual "Take Back the Night" event with Planned Parenthood, CLU Residence Life and our "Feminism Is..." student club.

The Center will link the people and resources of CLU to the needs of the larger community of Ventura County. We will provide opportunities for students to become familiar with a variety of cultures, interest groups and value systems as they connect classroom learning with service-learning projects in the community. The Center will promote interdisciplinary teaching, research, collaboration and programming on complex issues such as shifting gender and sexual norms, ethnic and religious conflict, and multiple cultural identities.

As the Center becomes a regional resource, it will support CLU's mission of producing informed, thoughtful graduates capable of leading and thriving in the region's increasingly diverse workplaces and civic institutions.

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