The YEA! Mission
YEA! is a pilot project funded by The University of Iowa Office of the President's Year of Public Engagement campaign and sponsored by the Department of Asian Languages and Literature. YEA! develops and provides educational workshops on subjects such as performance, speaking, "media literacy," and cultural studies to Iowa youth belonging to racial or ethnic groups over-represented in the juvenile justice system and under-represented at the university level. As is the case elsewhere in the United States, youth who are under-represented in Iowa colleges and universities tend to be the same youth who are over-represented in the juvenile justice system. According to Iowa's Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) Resource Center, "Minority youth comprise approximately ten percent of all Iowa's youth, while minority youth comprise nearly a third of the youth in Iowa's Juvenile detention facilities."
The two-fold mission of YEA! is to increase the number of minority youth who attend Iowa colleges and universities and reduce the disproportionate incarceration rate of minority youth. In 2006, YEA! is working to achieve this goal by providing a targeted and innovative intellectual experience for 8th and 9th graders we hope will study at The University of Iowa beginning in 2009 or 2010.
The need for increased attention to the often neglected intellectual lives of so-called "at-risk" youth of color is profound. We are currently working with twenty youth of color (including, but not limited to youth who already have had some contact with the juvenile justice system) and fostering together with them excitement over the possibilities of higher education. YEA! workshops are led by University of Iowa faculty members and guest instructors with a wealth of experience. The core content component of the project encourages critical thinking and empowerment.
YEA! takes as its model the "Books Not Bars" mission of organizations such as the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and will work to reduce incarceration rates by creating academic opportunities for youth and simultaneously serve the University of Iowa's commitment to promoting opportunity and diversity.
"Education should not be the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." W.B. Yeats
