As soon as the class heard one answer, hands shot up with more questions for Rice University faculty Fay Yarbrough and Luziris Pineda Turi as well as junior Jessaly Chavez. But the students who filled the Duncan College classroom weren’t from Rice; they’d arrived on campus earlier that morning from Aldine High School as part of the School of Humanities’ Civic Humanist program. Managed by Yarbrough, professor of history and senior associate dean of humanities for faculty and graduate programs, Civic Humanist extends the reach of Rice Humanities to high schools across Houston and beyond.
“There was a version of Civic Humanist before I got into the dean’s office,” Yarbrough said, explaining that it involved Rice faculty visiting area schools. “When I came into the dean’s office, (Dean Kathleen Canning) asked me to take a look at this and see how we could make it more impactful.”
Under Yarbrough’s leadership, the program has evolved to include students visiting Rice’s campus where they meet with faculty to discuss humanities, take campus tours and engage in interactive sessions. Teachers or school administrators can reach out to request presentations from a curated list of Rice Humanities faculty that are tailored to address Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills standards. For example, teachers may select themes such as global cultures or social justice, and Yarbrough coordinates a faculty panel accordingly. Pineda Turi, associate teaching professor of Spanish and associate vice provost for diversity, equity and inclusion, has participated in a number of those panels, but the Aldine visit was a special one.
“Thinking about 18-year-old Luziris at Aldine High School back in the ’90s, it was important for me to let them know that they can dream big,” Pineda Turi said. “The focus of what I wanted to share today was, ‘You should dream big. You shouldn’t limit what you think you can do. And if somebody from Aldine was able to do these things, you can too.’”
Pineda Turi told students about her own academic journey after graduating from Aldine, which began at a local community college and culminated with a Ph.D. from the University of Houston. She said she felt that was an important message since college can be a distant and often intimidating prospect for first-generation, limited-income students.
“To actually physically be here, it provides a sense of reality and makes it a little less scary,” Pineda Turi said.
“The students also got to hear from Jessaly Chavez, who is also from the Trinity Gardens area of north Houston,” Yarbrough said. “It’s so powerful for them to see other students who look like them, sound like them and know the place that they know.”
“Public schools are woefully underfunded,” Yarbrough said. “Even though teachers might be excited to take students on a field trip, something as simple as not having funds to pay for the bus to get them to the field trip location can nix the whole plan.”
Funding from Terrence and Terri Gee bridges that gap for underrepresented and economically disadvantaged high school students, allowing Rice to provide transportation and meals for visiting students. Terrence ’86 is a Rice alumnus, trustee and member of the humanities advisory board.
“Terrence Gee was very explicit about the fact that he grew up in Houston and realized that a lot of Houstonians don’t know that this great university is right in their backyard,” Yarbrough said. “It’s fantastic if the students we meet want to come to Rice. It’s also great if they can see themselves on a campus somewhere.”
Learn more about the Civic Humanist program here.