A passion for hip-hop studies and culture drives Ahmad Washington’s research and practice in counselor education, recognizing hip-hop for its therapeutic value. As an associate professor in the College of Education and Human Development’s Department of Counseling and Human Development, Washington received a dual appointment with the Department of Pan-African Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences in 2021.

He took time to talk with UofL News about recent career accomplishments, Black Studies and Black Educational Theory as areas of research, as well as the interdisciplinary nature of his work.

UofL News: It seems your career has expanded over the past year, including tenure, a dual-appointment, high productivity in publications – what is the force behind this success?

Washington: The dual-appointment with Pan-African Studies has allowed me to revisit both my academic work and the person I was when I entered my doctoral program. So, I tell a lot of folks that this dual appointment is really me being my most honest and congruent professional self. I went into my doctoral program deeply immersed in Black psychology and Black educational practice literature. I felt alienated because it sometimes seemed there wasn’t anyone in my department that tapped into that work and made the connection back to counseling. It feels rejuvenating to be back to where I started thinking about these issues whether they be counseling or education through the lens of Black peoples’ experiences. That’s what I am most excited about.

UofL News: Hip-hop doesn’t always seem like the most common area of research. Talk a bit about that passion and translating it into your academic work.

Washington: I went into my doctoral program already in love and infatuated with hip-hop studies and hip-hop culture. It never occurred to me during my matriculation that it could be an area of research. For me, part of being the researcher and academic I am today is an effort to ultimately develop a presence in counselor education that lives and breathes hip-hop and recognizes its inherent therapeutic value.

In terms of translating this work to practice – I knew hip-hop was therapeutic from the moment that I met it. It’s an epiphany to white school educators – like ‘wow, hip-hop is amazing and can be therapeutic.’ My question is, when has Black cultural production not been therapeutic? The frustrating part of this is having to convince folks of hip-hop as a discipline. The things that Black and Brown folks have been saying for ages is meaningful to their existence – we are just coming around to treating it as a discipline? It can be frustrating. I’m not doing anything innovative, this work has been going on since the 80s. But it is still difficult to find an accredited program with references to hip-hop culture.

UofL News: While the dual appointment is relatively new, how has it informed your work in the College of Education and Human Development and vice versa? How has it informed your teaching?

Washington: Pan-African Studies has so many ethical responses to the questions that are assumed to be asked in other disciplines. Critical race theory – the conversation that folks in education seem to have only just now showed up to – constitutes the core of what Black studies has been since its inception.

Take the Socratic method, for example. It is inherently problematic to associate the ability to do this pedagogical intervention to a man named Socrates, when there were folks doing it before he even existed. You can’t talk about the Socratic method and say you don’t engage in forms of white supremacy. So, this field is about creating basic and foundational courses that raise consciousness. There are things we do as teachers that we proclaim we would not do, but we do them because they are woven into the way we are taught to be teachers.

UofL News: Talk a bit about your work in schools throughout Jefferson County.

Washington: Most of my work has occurred at Central High School and the Academy at Shawnee. At Central, my work is with the Muhammad Ali Institute and the Muhammad Ali Scholars program. That program seeks to create a pipeline to our undergraduate programs.

I also co-developed and co-taught a course there called Hip-Hop Culture in American History. That was a rigorous and intense elective course. They were working through the same textbook that we would use for college students, and the course was the last period of the day. We had students signing up for that class even after the semester had begun. So, in terms of evidence of investment and engagement, that is meaningful. 

UofL News: How do you see that developing in the future?

Washington: I have never relinquished the aspiration and the desire to contribute to the creation of a school counseling program that has hip-hop culture and pop culture as a core foundational ingredient. I think that’s meaningful and important, and it doesn’t exist in school counseling. There are programs and certificates that are related to hip-hop studies that show promise, so there are examples to prove that it’s viable.

UofL News: What makes the work we do at UofL distinct or unique from other schools across the country?

Washington: UofL’s Department of Pan-African Studies is one of the first in the region and the only degree-granting department in Kentucky. That’s impactful. Thinking about that and the possibility of contributing to that revitalization and history is something that makes our work unique.

Washington recently published a co-authored chapter in the book Antiracist Counseling in Schools and Communities by Cheryl Holcomb McCoy, released November 2021. His chapter entitled, “Decolonizing the Counseling Canon” was written alongside Janice A. Byrd, Pennsylvania State University and Joseph M. Williams, University of Virginia. 

Becoming a doctor is more than learning anatomy and medicine for a group of University of Louisville medical students. They also want to help children affected by violence in Louisville.

Whether they are victims themselves or witness violence involving someone they know, children exposed to violence experience emotional and psychological trauma. A group of social-justice-minded students in the UofL School of Medicine have created Future Healers, a mentorship program to provide these children with new goals and new role models.

The idea grew out of the White Coats for Black Lives rally held on the Health Sciences Center campus in June 2020 in support of health equity and social justice. Members of the UofL chapter of the Student National Medical Association who spearheaded the rally wanted to continue work to mitigate the effects of violence in the city, which has been rising over the past several years.

“The rally was great, but that was just a temporary way for us to show support,” said Karen Udoh, a third-year medical student and then-president of the UofL SNMA chapter. “We were brainstorming about how we could get our departments and students involved with long-term initiatives that really would be an asset for the community.”

With support from SNMA faculty advisers Keith Miller and Christopher Jones in the UofL Department of Surgery, along with the UofL Health – Trauma Institute and Christopher 2X, a local anti-violence advocate and executive director of Christopher 2X Game Changers, they formulated the program to help children overcome the effects of violence by inspiring them to become healers themselves.

Out of this collaboration, the Future Healers program was born.

Following a pilot program with preschoolers at the Chestnut St. YMCA in early 2021, the students worked with Miller, a trauma surgeon, and Jones, a transplant surgeon, to create a series of videos and interactive learning modules for preschoolers to young teens that teach them about anatomy, health and healing and introduce the idea of becoming a health care professional.

The students present the modules at monthly sessions for the preschoolers and for Future Healers Ambassadors, kids from the community ranging in age from 4 to 13 who have been exposed to violence. As of February, the Ambassadors included 80 kids, with 10 more preschoolers participating through the YMCA.

“These students and the surgeons are providing hopeful images to show these kids a different path, to get them interested in the medical arena,” 2X said.

UofL alumna and SNMA member Zahara Gully, director of the Future Healers education committee, said they try to put themselves in the place of the kids as they develop the programs.

“We thought about ways our younger selves would have enjoyed learning about medicine and health. We incorporated a lot of hands-on activities,” Gully said. “The first activity we did, in October, was around nutrition and the food groups. We had the kids decorate fruit as Halloween characters. We had pompoms and bandage tape and they dressed up bananas as mummies.”

Gully, who teaches anatomy and biology at Jefferson Community and Technical College, said she hopes the kids retain at least some of the information.

“Of course, not everything is going to be remembered, but to have kids say, ‘Mom, I know what the strongest bone in the body is! It’s the femur!’ Those moments are priceless,” she said.

In addition to getting the kids interested in the sciences, medicine and health care, the monthly sessions include a care component to help them cope with stresses related to exposure to violence.

“We have additional elements to make sure we’re taking care of their other needs as well, because a lot of them are coming into our space just having a loved one shot earlier that week or hearing gunfire the night before,” Udoh said. “They’re constantly being exposed to violence, so we always take time within our sessions to address mental health to have different exercises where there are ways for them to express themselves.”

For May, the group is planning an entire session focused on mental health with assistance from child psychiatrists and psychologists.

2X believes the Future Healers program will help give the kids an alternative vision for their lives.

“It’s not their job to stop the violence, but these medical students and the doctors are creating a narrative that they are here as healers and want to be an example to these young victims,” 2X said. “There is no better partner than UofL and UofL Health, with the medical students and the surgeons showing an interest in these kids. You can’t describe the value of that. The kids and the parents have bought into it. It’s unique, it’s magical.”

The medical students also volunteer for other Ambassadors events, such as the Got Zoo Buddies program at the Louisville Zoo. They students are motivated to help the kids, but as future physicians, the understanding they gain about their community also is valuable.

“Our mission with Future Healers is to build better bridges between health providers and the communities they serve,” said Satya Alluri, a third-year UofL medical student and Future Healers wellness director. “Not only is it beneficial for the kids to have representation, to see people of color as doctors and have mentors to help them dream bigger, it helps us as future physicians to see first-hand how our current socioeconomic structures impact the health and well-being of patients. It helps us become better physicians and surgeons.”

Briana Coleman, a third-year UofL medical student and Future Healers technology director, appreciates the opportunity to make a difference for her community even while she is preparing for her career in medicine.

“It’s a passion of mine to help out with the community,” Coleman said. “You don’t want to see any violence or any bad things happen to the people around you. My message to all is you need to get out there get involved in anything because you can really make a difference, even if you are just a student.”

To learn more or to get involved, email Future Healers.

Douglas Craddock Jr. has been named interim vice president for community engagement by the University of Louisville. Craddock currently serves as chief of staff to the executive vice president and university provost and will continue in that role.

“Dr. Craddock has the experience, talents and, most importantly, the commitment to lead UofL’s efforts in forging effective community partnerships and promoting transformative experiences for our students, faculty and staff through engaged scholarship, outreach and service,” said UofL Interim President Lori Stewart Gonzalez. “He will be a superb leader for our programs addressing community issues across the local, regional and national spectrum.”

In his new role, Craddock will build and expand linkages for the university across multiple efforts within the Office of Community Engagement. He will oversee UofL’s Signature Partnership, the university’s initiative to enhance the quality of life and economic opportunity for residents of west Louisville. By partnering with city and state governments, schools and other organizations, UofL coordinates and enhances existing programs and launches new ones to eliminate disparities that residents experience in social, education, health and economic development areas.

In addition, Craddock and the Community Relations team will oversee programs including Cards Come Together, the university’s week of service; the university’s TRIO, Upward Bound and Talent Search programs, which are federally funded efforts that identify and provide services for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds; the student philanthropy program; and UofL’s Annual Engaged Scholarship Symposium.

“The university reaches a broad scope of people and organizations through the Office of Community Engagement,” Craddock said. “Our work encompasses a wide variety of programs including working with college students who want to apply their learning to real-world situations; hosting students or groups who are interested in providing community service; and collaborating with faculty to address community issues.

“At its core, community engagement means meeting people at the place where they currently are, finding out where they want to go and applying the strength of the University of Louisville to help them get there.”

Craddock has served as the provost office’s chief of staff since 2021. From 2020 to 2021, he was chief of staff in UofL’s College of Education and Human Development, where he has served as a faculty member since 2017. He also has faculty and administrative experience at the University of Alabama, where he earned his bachelor’s and doctoral degrees. He earned a master’s degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

With other faculty at UofL, Craddock founded the Black Male EDquity Network (B.M.E.N.), a grassroots effort focused on creating a pipeline of Black male educators in multiple disciplines. The effort links Black male students from across disciplines and universities so they have peers to bond with while completing their graduate degrees. Many times, there are few or even just one student of color enrolled in a department’s doctoral degree program.

“As many of these individuals are the ‘only ones,’ it is vital to have a support system to ensure their program of study completion,” Craddock said. “At its core, B.M.E.N. centers on building a linkage of brothers from all levels that can positively impact areas of job hiring, research and publications, teaching and general support that can only be found within the confines of this group.” 

The University of Louisville, Louisville-based Humana Inc. and The Humana Foundation today announced a new cooperative agreement and additional financial investment in the university’s Health Equity Innovation Hub to advance health equity and improve health outcomes for marginalized populations in Louisville and communities around the world.  

The Hub is funded by a potential total investment of $25 million, including $10 million from UofL, $1.5 million from Humana and up to $13.5 million from The Humana Foundation. The investment by The Humana Foundation represents one of the largest single donations in UofL’s history and is contingent upon progress against the collaboration’s objectives and achievement of established milestones.

The Health Equity Innovation Hub is an integrated, multi-disciplinary collaboration among Humana, The Humana Foundation and UofL. The Hub will focus on groundbreaking research, talent development, entrepreneurship and innovation, with a deliberate focus on health equity, social determinants of health and digital health and analytics.

“Humana is committed to improving health equity and we will be intentional about addressing the underlying societal and structural factors that impede good and fair health, especially for people in communities that have been historically marginalized and made vulnerable,” said Dr. Nwando Olayiwola, chief health equity officer and senior vice president at Humana. “This unique collaboration with the University of Louisville and The Humana Foundation to create the Health Equity Innovation Hub is an exciting opportunity for Humana to partner with a leading research institution in our founding city where so many health disparities exist, establish shared goals and drive positive change beginning in local communities.”

Enabled by Humana and The Humana Foundation’s investment and support, the Hub will seek to develop solutions for health inequities in Louisville and globally. This includes the up-skilling and re-skilling of community members who have been underserved to provide a talent pipeline for Louisville’s significant concentration of major health care companies, thereby creating a pathway for family-sustaining jobs. The Hub will also conduct dedicated outcomes-based research on population and social health issues to derive a wide range of insights on how to mitigate health inequities and the adverse impacts of health-related social needs. In addition, the Hub will support diverse creators, innovators and entrepreneurs whose ideas can positively impact populations around the world that have historically been marginalized and underserved.

“UofL is a research powerhouse dedicated to making a positive impact on our world and addressing the challenges affecting the human condition,” said UofL Interim President Lori Gonzalez. “We are proud to work with Humana and The Humana Foundation to further health equity for all through this new Hub. Together, we can have a tangible impact that benefits our shared community and far, far beyond.”

UofL is among the top U.S. research institutions, holding the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education’s “Research 1” designation for doctoral universities with very high research activity. In addition to being a Research 1 institution, UofL also holds the Carnegie community-engaged designation, which recognizes institutions that work with community partners to exchange knowledge and resources for public benefit. UofL is one of just 79 U.S. institutions to hold both designations. 

At UofL, the Hub is led by Dr. Monica Wendel, a renowned public health researcher with significant expertise in health equity. A national search is currently underway to fill the role of executive director. The Hub’s leadership team also includes Deputy Director Ben Reno-Weber, a seasoned tech entrepreneur who previously led the Microsoft Future of Work Initiative; Director of Community Engagement Ivory Rollins Cross, a Louisville native and community champion; and Director of Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship Natalia Bishop, who founded prominent Louisville co-working brand, Story Louisville.

“Everything affects our health, our health affects everything. We all want to be healthy, but the choices people make are the choices people have. In seeking to advance health equity, then, we have to change the choices people have. And we have that opportunity,” Wendel said. 

The Hub also will create and collaborate with advisory boards, including national thought leaders, community organizations and local community residents who are passionate about improving social and health equity in their neighborhoods, as well as local business leaders and mentors from a diverse cross-section of the health equity ecosystem. 

The launch of the Hub will further UofL’s three Grand Challenge strategic research priorities identified and launched in 2020, which include: Empowering our Communities, Advancing our Health and Engineering our Future Economy. The investment from Humana will advance the first challenge, Empowering our Communities, with a focus on promoting equity by engaging partners and strategically integrating research, innovation and training to address complex social and structural issues driving health inequity.

“These are huge challenges that will impact our world for years to come,” said UofL’s Executive Vice President for Research and Innovation Kevin Gardner. “Through this Hub and work with our partners at Humana and The Humana Foundation, UofL research and innovation will help empower those in our community — promoting equity, eliminating disparities and strengthening the ability of all individuals to achieve well-being and prosperity.”

The Hub’s mission also is well-aligned with Humana’s Bold Goal of advancing the health of the communities it serves by addressing social determinants of health and the health-related social needs for its members and communities.

UofL students will roll up their sleeves on Jan. 17, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, for activities ranging from organizing the Cardinal Cupboard on the Belknap campus to helping families at the Ronald McDonald House.

“We hope that MLK’s activism and leadership will inspire students to be active members of their community and make an impact through service,” said Engage, Lead, Serve Board (ELSB) student leader Sydney Tharp.

Tharp and Loghan Currin are ELSB service co-coordinators and hope students see the MLK Day of Service as an opportunity to connect with the community and campus in a way that is impactful, intentional and engaging.  

“Service can teach so much about leading and being human,” said Currin, who is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in the Individualized Major through the College of Arts and Sciences. 

Students will gather in the Swain Student Activities Center multipurpose room, W201, at 8:30 a.m. to participate in a short program before heading out to complete their service projects. The audience will hear from UofL Interim President Lori Gonzalez, one of UofL’s MLK Scholars and community leader Jackie Floyd, who will discuss a justice-based initiative focused on the people and places of Louisville’s Russell neighborhood.

Additional campus service locations are CASA of the River Region and Critically Loved. Several students also will stay on campus to help make fleece blankets for the homeless population. In addition to the Ronald McDonald House, other community service opportunities include: The Dream Factory, Harbor House of Louisville, Dreams with Wings Inc., and The Book Works.

The ELSB also has listed several online resources to commemorate the life of Martin Luther King Jr., along with virtual services opportunities for students, staff and faculty.

University of Louisville graduate student and Louisville native Corey Chitwood was recently named the 2021 Special Olympics Kentucky Volunteer of the Year. The award is presented annually to the volunteer who most exemplifies the Spirit of Special Olympics. 

Chitwood began his work with Special Olympics five years ago as a UofL student through the organization’s Unified Collegiate program, participating in Unified sports activities on campus. Since then, his work with Special Olympics has continued to expand.

While in-person activities were not possible, Chitwood helped organize virtual activities to help keep athletes involved. Earlier this year, Chitwood competed with athlete Caitlin Roy in the Global Special Olympics Unified Esports event, Gaming for Inclusion. Even while completing an internship at Cincinnati’s Children’s Hospital, Chitwood remained involved, commuting back to Louisville one night a week for Unified Basketball events because he knew our athletes were depending on him.

In addition to Unified sports, Chitwood has helped provide health screenings at MedFest, participated in the Polar Plunge and regularly recruits family and friends to join him as volunteers at events. Chitwood completed his Master’s Degree in Bioengineering at UofL in December and plans to attend medical school. 

In presenting his award, SOKY Director of Unified Champion Schools Karen Michalak-Parsley said, “(Chitwood) has become a friend and Unified partner to many athletes, a trusted volunteer and someone all of Special Olympics Kentucky can depend on.”

The University of Louisville is part of a coalition that has received $500,000 to launch a new effort aimed at workforce development and innovation in health care.

The new Kentucky Digital Health Tech and Artificial Intelligence Innovation Coalition is backed by one of 60 phase-one planning grants awarded through the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s Build Back Better Regional Challenge. As a finalist receiving phase-one funding, the coalition now will compete for up to $100 million in phase-two implementation funding.

The coalition is led by the Louisville Healthcare CEO Council (LHCC) and includes UofL, the Academy of Music Production Education and Development, Greater Louisville Inc., Kentuckiana Regional Planning and Development Agency, Louisville Metro Government, the Louisville Urban League and Metro United Way.

“This work will be transformative for our city and our region,” said Kevin Gardner, UofL’s executive vice president for research and innovation. “By bringing together a powerhouse research university and our community partners, we can build on our strengths and past success in health care, innovation and entrepreneurship to make a real impact.”

In phase one, the coalition partners will plan new workforce development, entrepreneurship, research, innovation and commercialization programming and supports centered on digital health care and artificial intelligence.

“Our goal is to establish the Louisville region as a national hub for digital health care and train a high-tech health care workforce,” said Tammy York Day, president and CEO of LHCC, which represents 14 of the region’s largest health care companies, including Humana Inc. and Kindred Healthcare.

This new effort builds on previous collaborations between UofL and LHCC to boost regional health care startups and innovation. Together, they run Aging 2.0, which supports programming, training and mentoring for aging and health care innovators and entrepreneurs.

“Louisville already has significant strength in all of these areas — in health care, technology and startups,” said Will Metcalf, an assistant vice president for research and innovation at UofL and a lead on the grant. “With this new funding from the EDA, we hope to build on that success and to promote economic development and equity.”

UofL supports entrepreneurs through its UofL New Ventures office, which works to launch and grow startups built around UofL intellectual property, through LaunchIt, a 10-week entrepreneurship and innovation boot camp and through a rotating roster of entrepreneurs-in-residence — seasoned founders who help guide the university’s research-backed technologies to market.

At LHCC, Aging 2.0 supports programming through the LHCC Corporate Innovation Center, housed on UofL’s downtown entrepreneurship and innovation campus. This includes LHCC’s Chairman’s Circle, a group of former health care executives available for entrepreneurial mentoring, and annual CareTech aging innovation pitch competition.

Jordyn Hunter expected to find an ordinary playground when she and her UofL classmates visited the Playcosystem at Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest.

Instead, they saw natural elements of wood and stone scattered around a sculpted grassy area.

“I thought it would be a normal playground like the ones we are accustomed to, but it was not an ordinary playground,” said the senior elementary education major. “I looked at the balance beam – it was two tree stumps and a long piece of wood. We used to do that when I was a kid! It was very natural.”

Zone 1 of Playcosystem is part of a 17-acre playground created to provide elementary-age children with open-ended, physically challenging play opportunities using natural elements and items, referred to as “loose parts,” strategically included to stimulate their imaginations.

Sherri Brown, associate professor in the College of Education and Human Development, brought 15 students from her science methods class to the playground in October to help the future teachers explore natural surroundings as an opportunity to consider new ways to teach science concepts to elementary students.

“The idea was to get them out there and see what’s possible in a playground that is very unique. You see boards, you see levers, you see ramps,” Brown said. “Earth science, physical science, materials – all that is in the science curriculum. Here children can experience things that stimulate child-generated questions. This helps our UofL students as future elementary science teachers see what is possible and what is different from formal learning environments.”

The students chose and examined three separate areas of Zone 1 to consider how children might use the space and how, as a teacher, they might use items found in the natural world to introduce discussions about science and other subjects to their own students.

Another feature Hunter noticed was a swing suspended on a single line so it could move in multiple directions.

“That shows force and motion. You could talk about music in the noise it makes as it moves. There were so many content areas and concepts that could be taught in this place,” Hunter said. “The kids are playing and having fun, but learning at the same time. They are going to learn on their own whether they realize it or not.”

Designed by Claude Stephens, director of Bernheim’s Children at Play Network, and other members of the Bernheim team, Playcosystem is intended to inspire children to learn by exploring the natural world. Zone 1 of the site, geared to young children, is one of three planned zones. Zones 2 and 3 will introduce progressively larger and more challenging landscapes and natural elements to appeal to more mature children.

Brown, Jill Jacobi-Vessels and Meg Gravil, also of CEHD, are studying and documenting the thought and planning behind the Playcosystem and plan to study how children and families experience it.

“Research has shown that outdoor play benefits children’s social, emotional, cognitive and physical development,” Brown said. “Knowing why and how it was built deepens their knowledge and the framework of how children and parents engage with the site.”

While serving as dean of the Brandeis School of Law in 2001, Laura Rothstein helped initiate a partnership between UofL and Central High School’s Law and Government Magnet. 

Now 20 years strong, the relationship of the two schools illuminates the value UofL places on community engagement. The Cardinal influence through Central’s law magnet represents a cornerstone of UofL’s Signature Partnership Initiative in west Louisville. 

During a Louisville Bar Association event celebrating the partnership this month, Rothstein received an award as the 2021 LBA Diversity Trailblazer. UofL News caught up with her to talk about her life’s work through the partnership. 

UofL News: Why did you become involved in the Central High School partnership? 

Rothstein: I had gone to law school because of my interest in social justice and race and gender issues, so this was a program that was a priority for me from the beginning. The goal of the program was not just to create a pipeline of students to becoming lawyers, but to encourage these high school students to become civically engaged and active citizens and leaders in other ways. Initially, the program involved an essay contest, and having Central students visit the law school or attend special events.   

UofL News: How did the program evolve over time? 

Rothstein: In 2005, after Joe Gutmann became the Law and Government Magnet teacher at Central, we decided to do more than ‘spark the interest,’ but to build the skills through having law students teach at Central. After I left the deanship in which I had served from 2000 to 2005, I was able to devote more time to developing and enhancing the program. I have also worked with the principals at Central and various departments on campus to replicate similar partnerships.  

UofL News: What impact do you hope to make on these high school students?  

Rothstein: We want them not just to become lawyers, we want them to be engaged civically. The questionnaires at the end of the year indicate that this goal has been met. They are more aware of and interested in current events. They have developed skills of analytical thinking and improved writing and communication skills that are useful in any higher education context and in life generally. Central graduates credit Joe Gutmann with giving them the confidence to succeed in college and beyond. 

UofL News: Do you know how many students involved in the Central High School Law and Government Magnet program went on to earn a Juris Doctor degree?  

Rothstein: I think there have been 35 Central graduates who have become (or will become) lawyers. I am counting three who are expected to graduate in 2022. We also know of at least two who plan to apply to law school in the next year or two. 

It’s important to note that many of the law magnet graduates have also gone on to other significant professional careers and to obtain other graduate and professional degrees. For example, graduates since the partnership began include students who’ve earned a PhD in Agricultural Economics, a Master in Business, a Master in Public Health and a PhD Candidate in Pan African studies at UofL. Additionally, several individuals have become teachers.    

UofL News: Why is it a great opportunity for law students to be involved in teaching the high schoolers?   

Rothstein: We began an enhanced program in 2007 by incorporating law student taught coursework – Street Law for sophomores, Writing Skills for juniors, and Marshall-Brennan Civil Liberties for seniors. Each year about 25 law students receive public service and/or academic credit for this work. At the end of the year, law students often note that the experience has been eye-opening and many say it is the best thing they did in law school.    

UofL News: Why is this program and partnership with UofL so important?   

Rothstein: It is of value to both Central and UofL students, and it highlights the value that UofL places on community engagement with Louisville and the West End through its Signature Partnership Initiative, part of the UofL Office of Community Engagement.   

UofL News: What is the future of the program?   

Rothstein: We would like to add a program at the undergraduate level where Central students who attend UofL stay connected and engage in other activities. This includes things like staying involved with the law school, preparing for the LSAT and remaining connected with each other. Since the program began, there has been a significant increase in the number of Central High Law Magnet students attending and graduating from law schools. These law schools include UofL, UK, Washington University St. Louis and University of Chicago. We also continue to work with other UofL departments to develop similar partnerships at Central.   

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer joined partners from the University of Louisville, Seven Counties Services and Spalding University on Oct. 13 to announce plans for a pilot program to deflect a number of 911 calls to a non-police response focused on problem-solving, de-escalation and referral to appropriate community services.

The pilot, recommended in a report from the University of Louisville’s  Commonwealth Institute of Kentucky (CIK), housed in the School of Public Health and Information Sciences, would initially be limited to critical incident 911 calls from LMPD’s Fourth Division. It involves establishing:

• A Behavioral Health Hub, with health crisis interventionists integrated in the MetroSafe 911 call center. Call takers would direct certain Critical Incident calls to an interventionist, who would help further triage the crisis to determine whether it could be de-escalated over the phone, if the person in crisis would benefit from a mobile response, or if the scenario called for an LMPD response due to safety concerns. Their mission would be “to assist persons in crisis and first responders by providing empathy, connection, de-escalation and linkage to the right-sized care,” the report says.
• A mobile response unit consisting of trained crisis interventionists to “rapidly respond, effectively screen and assist persons in crisis in accessing the appropriate level of care.”
• A 24-hour “community respite center,” a fully staffed safe place where individuals can stay for up to 24 hours when connected by the mobile response team. There, qualified mental health and substance use professionals will provide evaluations and connect individuals to needed services and resources, beyond what the mobile response team can provide onsite.

The research team recommended the pilot be centered in LMPD’s Fourth Division because of its high number of what Metro terms Crisis Intervention Team-related events; an average of 11.63 events of this type occur each day.

“Our team has been grateful for the opportunity to partner with the community to build a better way of addressing a public health crisis,” said Susan Buchino, who co-directed the research. “Our research has allowed us to examine what other communities have done, while being intentional about listening to the unique needs of our own community. The one thing emphasized by other cities is that it is best to start small, learn from the community what’s working and what needs to change, and then refine the process before scaling it.” Buchino is assistant professor in UofL’s School of Public Health and Information Sciences and assistant director of the CIK.

Now that the report has been shared, Fischer said, UofL, Seven Counties Services and other partners will begin to work to implement the plan, with UofL’s stated goal of beginning the pilot in December 2021.

In announcing a nearly $5 million investment in deflection and diversion programs as part of the FY22 budget, Fischer noted that “some situations are best served by a social service response, particularly when dealing with people living with homelessness, mental health challenges or substance use.”

“By quadrupling our investment in violence prevention and capacity-building programs, including in deflection and diversion, we are acting on our shared goal of creating a safe city with fewer arrests and less incarceration for non-violent offenses,” Fischer said. “I appreciate the hard work of the university team to move us closer to that goal.”

Louisville Metro Government contracted with CIK to draft the report and implement the pilot, as part of a plan for reimagining public safety with an emphasis on the whole-of-government and whole-of-city approach, Fischer said.

In its Alternative Responder Model report recommending and outlining the pilot model, the UofL team acknowledged the national debate around public safety, and cites “a pattern in which law enforcement has become a default response in crisis calls, even when the crisis may be a civil issue or one best resolved by health care or social services.

“Even the officers themselves – in Louisville and elsewhere – admit they are asked to do too much, often without the best tools for serving the person in crisis, especially when it is a behavioral health need,” the report says.

The report is the result of seven months of study by CIK and a multidisciplinary team consisting of the Kentucky Department of Behavioral Health, Development and Intellectual Disabilities; Spalding’s School of Social Work; Seven Counties Services (SCS); and community members, charged with assessing the feasibility and development an alternative response model that appropriately meets the need of Louisville’s residents.

“As the region’s leading provider of mental health services, Seven Counties Services is well positioned for this community partnership to help our neighbors in crisis who need mental health treatment or other social services as opposed to a police response,” said Abby Drane, president and CEO of Seven Counties Services/Bellewood & Brooklawn. “We are hopeful that this deflection program will best serve our neighbors and aid in the effort to modernize public safety for the Louisville Metro area. This plan will provide a more streamlined path to critical services for those with a mental health or addiction crisis.”

Their work included a review of police deflection activities in other U.S. communities; a series of interviews and focus groups with community members, behavioral health providers, and Metro Government leaders, as well as observations of Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) responses to 911 calls that could potentially be deflected and activities in the MetroSafe 911 Call Center, and an extensive review of MetroSafe 911 data.

The team also engaged with a Community Advisory/Accountability Board, which has met routinely since April to provide oversight and recommendations to the team’s research and planning – an effort to enhance community ownership and sustainability for the new program.

The report stresses that continual evaluation of the program is key, and that expansion beyond the pilot phase should occur “in phases that allow researchers to evaluate implementation and outcome and identify areas of improvement and success.”

In the early days of COVID-19 when things were scary and uncertain, many of us chose to stay at home and mind our own business.

For UofL student Karthik Kalvakuri, however, that simply wasn’t an option. When businesses and schools shut down across the country, too many people found themselves struggling to make ends meet and he felt the urge to help.

Ten of his peers also felt such an urge. Together, they started facilitating projects for Mission CuraKid, with a simple intent: “Doing our part to help spread smiles in these unprecedented times.”

At that point, Bangalore, India, native Kalvakuri had already started Mission CuraKid to help ensure children in impoverished countries had access to proper health care services. But when COVID-19 hit, he turned the nonprofit’s global focus closer to Louisville.

The junior biology major recruited 10 of his UofL peers to help: Shria Narapaneni (biology), Donna James (neuroscience), Amini Patel (neuroscience), Manav Patel (mechanical engineering), Gopika Gopan (biology and neuroscience), Dakshin Devanand (neuroscience), Chandani Patel (neuroscience), Neel Patel (exercise science), Karthik Malyala  (computer science engineering) and Pranav Talluri (finance).

Their first project was to collect supplies and food for schoolchildren who were pulled out of their schools in 2020. They reached out to local businesses asking for donations of school supplies, health and hygiene items, snacks and masks, and assembled backpacks for 150 children. They also wrote notes of encouragement for those students abruptly isolated from their peers.

The Mission CuraKid group didn’t want to stop with a one-and-done service, however. They completed a second, similar project in August 2020, donating backpacks to 370 children within the Louisville area.

Their third project was completed in December 2020, during which Mission CuraKid donated 200 backpacks with school supplies and sanitary materials, and 130 baskets filled with food and nonperishable items.

The group’s fourth and most recent project was completed last month and was its biggest yet, with 600 totes filled with sanitary and school supplies for children starting school this fall. The totes were donated to nine different charities.

“We noticed that more often, it was kids caught up in the middle of these struggles. We chose these projects based on need. Our second and fourth projects were completed right as school began so that we could provide school supplies to children and give them a good start to the year,” Kalvakuri said. “Our third project was completed in December 2020. We wanted to help families have a secure and happy holiday season even with the pandemic happening.”

Though the idea to localize Mission CuraKid came from the pandemic, Kalvakuri wants to continue its mission if/when it ends. The UofL students also want to continue the work after they graduate.

“We are hoping to expand with more members and bigger projects,” Kalvakuri said. “As long as there is work to be done and people in need of help, Mission CuraKid wants to do its part. I believe a good community looks after each other and grows together.” 

Follow Mission CuraKid’s projects on its Facebook page here.

UofL Health – Urgent Care Plus is now open in west Louisville’s Parkland neighborhood. Area residents can conveniently access affordable preventative and urgent care seven days a week at the new site, located at 2746 Virginia Avenue.

The west Louisville facility is staffed with both primary and urgent care providers. Services include treatment of non-life-threatening illnesses and injuries, routine exams, and work-related drug testing.

“UofL Health is committed to expanding access and reducing barriers to care in our community,” said Tom Miller, CEO of UofL Health. “This location brings the Power of U closer to home.”

Over the last six years, UofL Health has taken care of more residents in west Louisville than the other two hospital systems combined.

Dr. Tamea Evans, UofL Physicians – Primary Care Associates, is leading the medical team at the Urgent Care Plus facility in the Parkland neighborhood.

“Around 700 UofL Health team members call west Louisville home,” Evans said. “We live here, and we are passionate about improving this community. I want to give the best to the West, especially when this area has been underserved for so long.”

This year, UofL Health has expanded its Urgent Care Plus services and the site in west Louisville is the fifth to open. Approximately $500,000 was invested in the property to ensure it has all the innovations necessary to care for the community.

“This site is particularly significant because it fills access needs in a federally designated Medically Underserved Area,” said UofL president Neeli Bendapudi. “UofL Health continues to show its commitment to improve the health of west Louisville and all the communities it serves.”

Medically Underserved Areas are defined as having too few primary care providers, high infant mortality, high poverty or a high elderly population.

This UofL Health – Urgent Care Plus location includes a dedicated telemedicine suite where patients can access UofL Health specialty care services such as neurology, psychiatry, and cardiology. “Plus” leverages the unique academic and community-based health services to expanded care, including occupational medicine, Department of Transportation physicals and drug testing.

Monday through Saturday, all Urgent Care Plus locations are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Sunday’s hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Appointments, including for telehealth visits, are available through MyChart or by going to UofLHealth.org/Urgent Care/. No appointment is necessary for urgent care.