FDU and TEEEM Lay Groundwork for Empathetic, Socially Responsive Academe

High school and middle school students from more than 100 schools in New Jersey were part of an eye-opening workshop held on March 18 at the Florham Campus. The workshop was organized by The Empathy Equality Entrepreneurship Mission’s (TEEEM), a rapidly growing nonprofit focused on fostering empathy and social entrepreneurship among students. Michele Barto, hospitality/tourism management; program director, Master of Hospitality Management Studies (Metro); and director of University core, Metropolitan Campus/online/off-campus, was in charge of the logistical setup of the TEEEM workshop.

Left photo: Taylor D’Alessio, executive vice president, TEEEM, welcomes middle school and high school students to TEEEM’s mid-year workshop. Right photo: High school students strategizing on how to survive a “day of poverty.”

The workshop’s standout activity was the Poverty Escape Room, an immersive experience designed to deepen the students’ understanding of the challenges faced by individuals living in poverty. Within the Poverty Escape Room, participants were assigned the true story of Grandma Leah, who was raising three grandchildren born prematurely with prenatal drug exposure. They then moved through different “stations,” which represented real-life places such as a school, gas station, food bank, pawn shop and WIC program office, where they were forced to make difficult financial and logistical decisions. “This workshop provided our TEEEM students with a powerful, hands-on way to step into someone else’s shoes and experience the tough choices people in poverty must make every day,” said Taylor D’Alessio, executive vice president, TEEEM. “By immersing themselves in these challenges, students developed a deeper sense of empathy and a stronger motivation to create positive change.”

Left photo: Michelle Della Fortuna, upper right, director of social entrepreneurship, TEEEM, talks to students about planning social entrepreneurship events. Right photo: Ted Opderbeck, standing, professional development coordinator, TEEEM, teaches advisers how to infuse empathy lessons into their curriculum.

The FDU-TEEEM partnership began three years ago with the Office of Global Education and the late Jason Scorza, vice provost for academic/international affairs, political science/philosophy and director, University core. According to Diana Cvitan, University director of global education (Metro), “this partnership exemplifies a mutually beneficial collaboration with meaningful, far-reaching benefits for all stakeholders.” It’s anchored on the collaboration between TEEEM’s social entrepreneurship initiative and FDU’s Core Program. “In collaboration with TEEEM, FDU collaborates with high school teachers and administrators to develop college-accredited curricula focused on global issues and world cultures,” said D’Alessio. “These dual-enrollment courses not only allow students to earn college credits, but also teach them to apply the themes and skills necessary to become truly globally minded.”

Projects with TEEEM have been incorporated into two of FDU’s Core classes — UNIV2001 Cross Cultural Perspectives and UNIV2002 Global Issues — that some high schools have required their students to take for Early College classes. “We’re also looking into expanding TEEEM projects into more classes at the University,” Barto said.

At this year’s mid-year workshop at the Florham Campus are, from left, Diana Cvitan, University director of global education; and Michele Barto, hospitality/tourism management; program director, Master of Hospitality Management Studies (both Metro); and Taylor D’Alessio, executive vice president, TEEEM.

The University’s involvement with TEEEM has also benefited FDU students. “Our dynamic collaboration with TEEEM has expanded into a diverse portfolio of global engagement activities, offering FDU students valuable experiential-learning opportunities. Through cross-cultural training, our students have prepared for impactful roles in TEEEM projects, such as serving as mentors to high school teams that are developing entrepreneurial initiatives that support nonprofits and NGOs worldwide,” Cvitan said. FDU students have also gained hands-on experience through internships with TEEEM. “FDU faculty have integrated the TEEEM project model — centered on empathy, equality and entrepreneurialism — into their courses, enriching the academic experience,” she added.

FDU became TEEEM’s first university partner back when the organization was just getting started in New Jersey. TEEEM now partners with several universities and more than 85 K–12 schools throughout the U.S. and Canada, reaching more than 2,000 students and helping communities in eight countries: Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Ecuador, Kenya, Peru, Uganda and the United States.