In 2022, Dr. Tricia Lewis, an Assistant Professor of Health Sciences at SHU, took the initiative of improving health advocacy head-on by establishing a partnership between her community health class and the CT Mirror. This partnership allows students to publish op-eds in areas of health science they are passionate about.
While studying at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga., Lewis worked with the Scholars Strategy Network, one dedicated to connecting researchers with lawmakers in pursuit of turning scientific research into policies.
“They really encourage their members to write op-eds, give public testimony or contact policymakers as experts in a topic,” said Lewis. When Lewis returned to Connecticut in 2021, she published her op-ed about housing and security in the CT Mirror, which connected her with Paul Stern, an editor at the news Organization.
After Lewis was hired at SHU in 2022, her department chair said they wanted to incorporate more of an advocacy element in the class.
Source: Instagram, @ctmirror
Lewis immediately reached out to Stern, asking if there was a way to connect public health advocacy directly into her class. Through a grant-funded program called Student Voices, this official partnership was able to begin.
“A lot of times, the people who are writing op-eds are older adults who have the time and are retired,” said Lewis. “We’re doing these kinds of projects to try to see more young people’s voices, like [Gen Zers]. People who are in college or high school now, maybe even younger, we are trying to get them to voice their opinions as well.”
When the Connecticut General Assembly is in session, Lewis has her students write about bills currently being proposed, which get students directly involved with local advocacy.
“That’s why you’ll see some of them writing, like, in favor of or against a certain bill; we also try to tie it to local policy as well,” Lewis said.
Immediately, Lewis noticed the positive impacts the partnership had on her students.
“For some students, they’re like, oh, this is just another class assignment at first, but then they get super interested when they realize they can publish their work and get their voices out there,” she said.
Having the opportunity to write and publish an official op-ed not only teaches students the qualities of professional writing, but also opens doors down the road for future employers to view their work firsthand.
“I’ve had students tell me that they’ve gotten internship requests after publishing. A local nonprofit read their op-ed and said, ‘hey, we’re interested in doing an internship with you,’” said Lewis.
Students are able to choose a topic of their own that relates to public health. This allows them to write about subjects they are personally connected to and passionate about.
“Being able to write and have that published in the Connecticut Mirror, a major news outlet, is very impactful, especially because now I can tell future employers and businesses that my work was published and had an impact on Connecticut state government or that I voiced an opinion on something that truly matters to me,” said sophomore Deven Taggart, a health sciences student who wrote an op-ed about protecting women’s rights in Connecticut.
In the future, Lewis hopes this partnership could expand into other types of classes that are not health-oriented.
“To have more classes take this on, especially classes that are focused on advocacy or journalism, we can get a variety of opinions,” Lewis said.
