Students Approve Social Activism Through Levy

From left to right: Jennifer Bégin, Morgan Zinck, Jeff Mitchell and Bailey Nodine

Criminology grad, Jeff Mitchell is off to Osgoode Hall Law School this fall, leaving behind an impressive legacy in the newly minted Community Development Initiative Levy, an innovative student fee of $1.00 that will direct funds to community development projects in the Halifax Regional Municipality for the next four years.

The idea for a small levy surfaced this year while Mitchell was a student in the Sociology Department’s new Community Development course. “We had to do a project that envisioned how to integrate a new community development entity,” says Mitchell. “Instead of following a hypothetical format, I decided to make a real contribution.”

As a Director of Saint Mary’s Student Association, Mitchell had the grounding to navigate the process involved in collecting money from students. The first step was adding the proposal in the form of a referendum to the 2011 Student Association ballot. Once it passed at the SMUSA election, a fluid amount of around $7000 was guaranteed for the next four years depending on the student population.

Mitchell is quick to credit three of his classmates for bringing the levy to life. “Jennifer Begin, Morgan Zinck and Bailey Nodine rallied support for this cause,” he says. “I understood the process, but I couldn’t have done this alone.”

The levy will be administered by a committee of alumni, students and faculty.  “Funds will be allocated to organizations interested in community development projects,” says Mitchell, whose recent work with Pathways as a volunteer tutor in an economically marginalized area has shown him the value of programs to encourage literacy, athletics and skill building.

This page last modified Thursday, 26-May-2011 16:08:41 ADT