Community residents gathered in the University of Chicago Charter School Woodlawn Campus’ gym last week to hear from University of Chicago representatives about an array of resources, programs, and upcoming events open to local residents.
“We’re here to tell you about what the University is doing across a whole bunch of areas,” Christian Mitchell, UChicago’s Vice President for Civic Engagement, told attendees. “A lot of people also ask what does the University own in Woodlawn, what does that look like? We want to let you know exactly what we own and let you know that this is a university that is going to be open and transparent about what we’re doing, what we’re thinking, when, how, and why and so this is just the beginning of a conversation.”
In addition to the University’s Commercial Real Estate Operations team sharing a map of the University’s properties in Woodlawn, speakers at Thursday’s event included UChicago Charter Schools Woodlawn’s Tanika Island-Childress and Donald Gordon discussing how neighbors can utilize the school’s new athletic field; Abel Ochoa, Associate Vice President for Programs and Development in the Office of Civic Engagement, covering the University’s college and career readiness programs for local youth and that the South Side College and Career Catalyst Program will be accepting applications in the coming weeks; Bill Michel and D’onminique Boyd-Riley from the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts talking about their community programming and upcoming events; Wendy Walker-Williams, Executive Director of Community Partnerships in the Office of Civic Engagement providing details about the new dedicated community space inside the just-completed Campus South Mixed-Use Facility and how to reserve it; Officer Tawrence Walton summarizing the UChicago Police Department’s Police Athletic/Activities League (PAL) Program for local youth; and Mitchell inviting residents to attend the University’s third annual South Side Science Festival on October 5.
Attendees also learned about the UChicago Library’s inaugural Library Community Day and other upcoming events and had an opportunity to tour the charter school’s new athletic field.
To learn more, access the community meeting presentation slides here.
Questions? Email civicengagement@uchicago.edu or subscribe to the University’s civic engagement newsletter here.