This year's cohort of Chester Community Fellows at Philadelphia's Magic Gardens. Top row, from left: David Wible '18, Rasheed Bryan '20, and Daya Shrestha '20. Middle row: Elena Do '20, Adil Belgaumi '20, Eishna Ranganathan '20, and Katherine Lima '20. Front row: Nevian Swailmyeen '20, Grace Zhang '20, and Lauren Savo '20.
Chester Community Fellowship
The Chester Community Fellowship (CCF), a signature Lang Center program funded through the Swarthmore Foundation, enhances the capacity of Chester-based community organizations by providing student interns who serve four days per week. On the fifth day, Fellows work together on a project-in-common relevant to the City of Chester. The summer experience focuses on developing each Chester Fellow as a scholar, civic leader, and public servant.
The 2017 Fellows and their Chester internship host sites were:
- Rasheed Bryan ‘20, College Access Center of Delaware County
- Eishna Ranganathan ‘20, College Access Center of Delaware County
- David Wible ‘18, Chester Children’s Chorus
- Elena Do ‘20, Chester Children’s Chorus/Science for Kids
- Katherine Lima ‘20, Chester Education Foundation
- Yichen (Grace) Zhang ‘20, Chester Education Foundation
- Adil Belgaumi ‘20, Chester Housing Authority
- Daya Shrestha ‘20, Chester Housing Authority
- Lauren Savo ‘20, Chester Youth Courts
- Nevien Swailmyeen ‘20, Crozer-Keystone Community Foundation
In Summer 2017, the CCF program started in June with an orientation to the city led by Raj Lewis, the founder of Seven Harvests, a non-profit organization in Chester that supports individuals transitioning out of incarceration and addiction. As the Chester Fellows worked with our Chester-based community partners on projects of civic enrichment, they also worked with Lang Center staff members and affiliated faculty, who helped to contextualize and conceptualize their summer experiences, including:
- Prof. Keith Reeves (Political Science) on incarceration and structural racism in Chester;
- Honorable John Linder on politics and Chester;
- Prof. Mark Wallace (Religious Studies) on the role of faith in Chester; and
- Prof. Lee Smithey (Peace & Conflict Studies) on gun violence in Chester.
In addition to working at their internship sites, the Chester Fellows completed a group project in partnership with the Chester Education Foundation, and also participated in e-portfolio workshops led by Tesenga Duncan Smith, Associate Dean of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Development. The Chester Fellows experience culminated in a gathering where they shared the final iteration of the e-portfolios with the staff, faculty, and community partners. MORE: “Chester Community Fellows Share Experiences of Service”