Annual on-campus social work conference shows Medgar Evers College students different routes to making an impact

By David Gil de Rubio | dgilderubio@mec.cuny.edu

Sophomore Maritza Argueta is getting an up-close-and-personal experience with the different faces that the social work field can put on.

And Medgar Evers College is at the center of this personal transformation.

The 18th Annual Medgar Evers College Social Work Conference held in March gave her an opportunity to not only interact with professional social workers — it gave her a glimpse into the sectors where she could potentially make an impact.

“I think these panels are important because they show that social work can look like different things. It’s not just a social worker in a hospital or a school. It can also look like CPS (Child Protective Services) and people in legislative positions,” Argueta said. “It also shows that we can do things and go far. But also, we need to stay educated and on top of trending information that’s going on in our communities.”

The annual conference was sponsored by the college’s Transition Academy alongside the New York City Children’s Center — NYS Office of Mental Health, the Bronx Psychiatric Center — New York State Office of Mental Health, New York-Presbyterian and the Medgar Evers College Social Work Department.

It attracted nearly 400 attendees — in-person and virtually — to Medgar Evers College’s AB1 Dining Hall. 

The event’s theme was “Roots of Resilience: Navigating Psychosocial and Political Challenges.” The first half of the day featured keynote speaker Melissa Elliott, LCSW-R delivering a speech centered on “Rest, Resilience and Resist.” 

The Founder/Chief Executive of AGAPE Family Therapy and Coaching also led the “HerStory in Healing” workshop assisted by Camille Edwards, M.Ed., an executive assistant at The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

Medgar Evers College Social Work majors gained plenty from this day-long event and its hands-on nature with professionals available for face-to-face interactions after their panels concluded. It’s not unlike what these students experience with their studies given the fact that the average social work course class size is 14 students, second-lowest amongst all the majors. Furthermore, the major offers 28 distinct sections, speaking to the intimacy of this major plus the ability for students to get to know faculty and staff while getting proper support. 

The wealth of social work professionals appearing on these panels were both informational and inspirational for the many Medgar Evers College social work majors in attendance. Argueta, who also has plans to run for SGA president, says she has aspirations that include using her future social work experience to make real change as a legislator and that the social work conference has helped her hone her focus. 

“Panel discussions are important because they bring people together,” Argueta said. “You’re collaborating with different people from all different backgrounds and fields, so you’re all coming together and bringing your ideas together. Maybe even agreeing on certain ideas, which brings emphasis to certain issues. I think this conference is important for our school, since I feel like our people are really interacting with social workers the most.”

Panels for the day were “Strategies to Reduce Stigmas and Promote Mental Health Awareness Among Young People,” ‘Examine the Role of Social Media on Youth Mental Health” and “Elections Have Consequences: The Impact on Social Work and Continued Service Provision.” 

The latter panel really struck home for senior Sheray Goday, who’ll be graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Social Work on May 30 before heading off to the MSW Advanced Standing Pathway at New York University’s prestigious Silver School of Social Work in the fall. 

“I was at the national conference last year, so I wasn’t able to attend the Medgar Evers College Social Work Conference and saw that one on Zoom,” she recalled. “This year’s event was very insightful. We had a lot of panels talking about the new president and how people were getting fired from their jobs. There was this one panelist who spoke about how her whole life has changed. She had to deal with finding work because she got let go from her job within 10 days of the president taking office. She talked about how it affected her mental health, her relationship with her son and things like that. There were a lot of personal insights we got to witness that I appreciated.”

In hearing the personal stories of these social work professionals, Goday’s resolve to make a greater societal impact was further bolstered, particularly given the fact that she was caught between being either a psychologist or a social worker.

“In figuring out the difference between being a therapist and all those different career fields, what really inspired me here was how much I could do within the field of social work,” Goday said. “This event helped me realize I didn’t have to just be at a desk. I could be doing outreach at schools and hospitals and that there is a broad range of things I could do within the field of social work.”

Dr. Waleek Boone, who is the director of the Transition Academy, is in his fifth year chairing the conference. Boone’s involvement in the event goes back to the beginning when he was a student earning a social work degree. He took over the chairmanship role from event founder Dr. Eda Harris-Hasatick.

“Dr. Harris-Hastick started these social work conferences 18 years ago,” Boone explained. “She is also the founder of our social work program at Medgar Evers College. Once she retired, I wanted to take up the mantle and continue to push her mission. One of her gifts was how brilliantly she was able to connect different centers of the community to come to this conference. You didn’t have to be a social worker, psychologist or a mental health professional to attend. It was for everybody to gain information to share with the community, family and friends.”

The day ended with Dr. Edward Hernandez, chair of the Medgar Evers College Social Work Department recognizing students Candy Bowes with the Professor Elaine Reid Spirit Award and Vanessa Granobles with the Dr. Ed Harris-Hastick Academic Achievement Award. The fact that Reid and Harris-Hastick’s names were attached to these awards was Boone’s way of not only showing gratitude to the latter for giving him her blessing to chair the social work conference, but to also honor his mentors. It’s a theme that’s baked into the spirit of this event writ large.

“I wanted to make sure we put awards given to promising Medgar Evers College students in the names of my mentors to keep their names alive at Medgar Evers College,” Boone said.