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Enroue Halfkenny and Mamta Dadlani provide support for SSW students throughout their time in the School’s graduate and doctoral programs.
Sotomayor Fellowship Program expands to further support the Community In an effort to better support the school community around issues of racism and social oppression, SSW has expanded its Marta Sotomayor Fellowship. This program has existed for many years but has been available only in the summer terms. As of fall 2016, fellows are available to the community year-round to provide assistance throughout field education terms. Originally called the Bertha Capen Reynolds Fellowship, the program was renamed several years ago to honor distinguished alumna Marta Sotomayor. (See article on page 7.) Fellows serve as confidential consultants and ombuds to the SSW community regarding issues of race and racism, gender and abilities in the context of field education and the classroom learning. With this new expansion, three fellows will be located in different regions of the country. In the summer of 2016, Mamta Dadlani, Ph.D. was the first fellow tapped by SSW and has been serving as lead fellow since October. Dadlani is a clinical psychologist in private practice in —MAMTA DADLANI Berkeley, Calif. and an adjunct faculty member. She is also a Scholar of Multicultural Concerns in the Division of Psychoanalysis of the American Psychological Association. The second fellow, Enroue Halfkenny, M.S.W., began his tenure in November 2016. Halfkenny, who has had a lifelong dedication to social justice activism, is also a graduate of Smith’s M.S.W. program and is in private practice in New Haven, Conn. He taught as an adjunct faculty member in the summers of 2014 and 2015 and is currently a community practice project adviser.
The School decided to expand the Sotomayor Fellowship after conversations last summer revealed that students would benefit from an additional program resource throughout the year, in case issues of social identity, power or privilege emerge and impact some aspect of students’ academic progress. The expansion provides students year-round access to a confidential resource, should they have questions about how to address an interaction or set of events, whether in the classroom, on campus or at the field site, that prompts them to wonder if some dynamic of social oppression is at play. Dadlani brings to the fellowship not only her experience as a practitioner and instructor, but extensive experience in outreach-based work as well. She has also found that, as a person of color in academia, she can be a role model for students and can understand and speak to issues from a variety of perspectives. “Being a woman of color with multiple identities has helped me learn how to code switch, but in an authentic way, and to bring myself forward confidently and name things that are difficult to name.” Enroue Halfkenny has found that his role as a fellow has dovetailed with his priorities in private practice— social justice work, spiritual and mental health and engaging with organizations and agencies for positive change. “While the fellowship is grounded in issues of race, gender identity and ability,” he observes, “it is really overall about equity and justice.” Halfkenny says he is providing a space to listen. “It’s like having two people think about one person—not in a therapeutic way and not in an organizing way, but just accompanying them and giving them support as they determine what they need,” he said. According to Dean Marianne Yoshioka, the School will add a third fellow soon, and she hopes that more faculty and advisers will take advantage of the fellows’ support. In her view, this will not only help them personally and professionally but will help bring more accountability to SSW. “I want this to be a resource that helps us truly infuse the anti-racism commitment into all areas of our work; to help us learn how to live this commitment in very concrete and specific ways.” —Megan Rubiner Zinn
Being a woman of color with multiple identities has helped me learn how to code switch, but in an authentic way, and to bring myself forward confidently and name things that are difficult to name.
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S M I T H COL L E G E SCHO O L FO R SO CIAL WO RK