September 21, 2018

SVSU professor to speak on civic engagement for annual Rush Lecture

Saginaw Valley State University is hosting a lecture by a professor of sociology at SVSU on how communities thrive when people participate in civic engagement.

Joni Boye-Beaman will speak Thursday, Oct. 4 at 4 p.m. in SVSU’s Founder's Hall on “Experiential Learning: Building Community and Competence through Civic Engagement.”

The lecture, free and open to the public, is part of the SVSU 2018-19 Dow Visiting Scholars and Artists Series.

Boye-Beaman completed a master's degree and a Ph.D. at the State University of New York at Buffalo. She joined the SVSU sociology faculty in 2000; her lecture is the 21st annual Thomas and Hilda Rush Distinguished Lecture at SVSU.

Boye-Beaman has over 25 years of experience collaborating with colleagues, students and community partners on a wide variety of research and service learning projects. Her work has benefitted over 100 community organizations and agencies, as well as the people they serve.

Currently, Boye-Beaman is working with James Bowers, SVSU associate professor of criminal justice, and student research assistants as evaluators for a project with the Saginaw Police Department. The project focuses on developing and implementing policies and practices to better respond to victims of violent crimes.

Along with working with the Saginaw Police Department, she is also involved with several initiatives for the SVSU campus community.

For her community work, Boye-Beaman is the recipient of the 2015 Bay Area Women's Center Alice and Jack Wirt Spirit of Giving Award. In addition, she and her research team received a 2018 Community Relations Citation from the Saginaw Police Department.