Community Engagement
“By giving people access to education and the resources and support to cultivate their minds, the program empowers people to succeed both in the classroom and beyond its walls.” —Vivé Griffith, Director, Free Minds
Free Minds: Changing Lives by Jumpstarting a College Education Sitting around a big square table, twenty-odd students lean over their notebooks, scribbling notes, nodding, and raising their hands now and then as their instructor paces and gestures in front of a white board. It is immediately apparent this is not your usual cast of college students—and not just because no one is texting under the table. This class is made up of adults representing diverse, low-income backgrounds and ranging in age from 20- to 60-something, all with one thing in common: Each has faced barriers to the pursuit of higher education. Now, two evenings a week, they are breaking down those barriers together as students in a free, year-long accredited humanities course called the Free Minds Project. The Free Minds Project was hatched in 2006, initially under the umbrella of UT’s Humanities Institute. The pilot program was modeled after the Clemente Course in the Humanities, a unique educational initiative started by Earl Shoriss in 1995 to teach the humanities to individuals living at or near the poverty level in New York City. Like the Clemente Course, Free Minds seeks to eliminate the financial and social obstacles that prevent lowincome adults access to education. Tuition, books, and materials are free, and childcare is provided for the students’ children. Each class meeting begins with a free meal and some time for the students to relax a bit before embarking on that evening’s intellectual exploration. Free Minds became a Community Engagement Incubator project in the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement in 2009, and now operates as a partnership between the DDCE, The University of Texas Humanities Institute, Austin Community College (ACC), and Foundation Communities. Through the Free Minds Project, students sharpen their critical thinking, writing, and communication skills while expanding their knowledge of key works in the humanities. The course syllabus is a sampler of humanities classes and workshops taught by some of the top faculty members from both UT Austin and ACC. Readings include selections from authors that range from Homer, Plato, and
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Free Minds students sharpen their critical thinking, writing, and communications skills through humanities classes taught by UT and ACC faculty.
St. Augustine to David Sedaris, Toni Morrison, and Austin’s own Spike Gillespie. Each semester, students study a Shakespeare play and watch the Actors from the London Stage perform it on the UT campus. The program not only helps students realize their intellectual potential while building a sense of community among the class members, but it also opens doors to a college education. In May Abbie Navarette became the first Free Minds participant to graduate from college. She earned an associate’s degree in philosophy from ACC. “It was the culmination of a dream,” said Navarette who is continuing her education at St. Edward’s University. Navarette’s experience is typical of other Free Minds participants. She dropped out of high school at age 16 to start working and didn’t return to the classroom until she started Free Minds in the fall of 2006: “All it took was the opportunity, and since then I haven’t stopped,” she said.
Division of Diversity and Community Engagement • The University of Texas at Austin