Featured MSU Engaged Scholars
- Kent Key, Ph.D., MPH
- Assistant Professor
- Charles Stewart Mott Department of Public Health
- College of Human Medicine
In 2014, Flint, Michigan, made national headlines when it was uncovered that residents’ drinking water had been contaminated with lead after the city’s main water source was switched to the Flint River in an effort to save money.
The water crisis came as no surprise to Flint residents, who observed a change in the color, smell, and taste of their water years earlier. Thousands of people had been exposed to damaging, and in some cases deadly, levels of lead.
Initially, Flint residents’ pleas for recognition of unsafe drinking water were met with a mere “water boil advisory,” perpetuating mistrust within the predominantly Black community. Ten years later, Flint residents are still grappling with the physical, mental, and emotional consequences of the crisis ...
READ MORE
- Justin Simard, J.D., Ph.D.
- Associate Professor
- College of Law
As they deciphered the antiquated language of 19th-century legal cases involving slavery, students at Cass Technical High School in Detroit discovered a troubling narrative. Lawyers and judges often treated enslaved people as property, considering those who were ill or injured “damaged goods.”
Worse, they learned, courts continue to cite these cases as “good law” well into the 21st century. “It’s disheartening when I think about the fact that our country has come so far and African Americans have fought for our civil rights,” said Jessica McCloud, 18. “It’s so hard to see slaves treated as objects. More people should know about it.”
McCloud and her Advanced Placement Government classmates are helping raise awareness of these cases—and the human stories of the enslaved people at the center of them—by participating in ...
READ MORE
For more than 165 years, Michigan State University has been home to students, faculty, and staff who have dedicated their time, studies, and careers to addressing societal challenges at the local level and around the world.
At the All-University Awards Convocation on May 1, MSU will honor these scholars. Of the 10 awards being presented, the Community Engagement Scholarship Award (CESA) shines a light on the highly engaged community-based scholarship collaborations that positively impact both community and scholarship.
This year the CESA will be bestowed upon Courtney Carignan, an assistant professor in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and the College of Veterinary Medicine, and her partner, Great Lakes PFAS Network. Carignan engaged with communities affected by PFAS contamination to share information, connections, and resources, supporting the empowerment and autonomy of community partners ...
READ MORE
