Dear SHECP Community,
We began our preparation for the SHECP 2021 Summer Internship Program with hopes for returning to an in-person format for our student participants. Unfortunately, a number of factors continue to make in-person internships risky and impractical. We are encouraged by the availability of COVID-19 vaccine options, but the timeline for distribution and access remains uncertain while new strains of the virus have the potential for increasing transmission.
SHECP’s unique location at the nexus of community partners, students, and member institutions in geographic locations across the country, coupled with virus-related financial strains, presents a highly complex scenario for providing students with in-person internships.
For this reason, we will not be organizing living cohorts for 2021. In the coming weeks, we will communicate with our SHECP partners to explore remote options, as well as a few in-person opportunities for students who are willing and able to secure their own housing and transportation for the summer.
As we make necessary adjustments, we continue to be excited about moving through our 2021 program theme, “Practicing Equity at the Intersection of Race and Poverty.” Building on the success of our 2020 program, we will organize virtual cohorts based on professional interests, allowing our students to reflect on what they are learning with their peers over the course of the 8-week internship. In addition to these weekly meetings, keynote events related to our theme begin on April 8, allowing our community to participate early, through a conversation with scholar Dr. Patricia Hill Collins, co-author of Intersectionality, 2nd edition, recommended (not required) reading for our 2021 interns and member institutions.
2021 promises to be another exciting community-building opportunity for SHECP. With the support of our schools and through the vital partnerships with professionals engaged in the direct service work so critical to our nation’s needs right now, we look forward to pursuing the learning goals that are central to our work—Knowledge, Engagement, Responsibility.
For more details on the 2021 program see the “Program Adjustments for SHECP 2021 Summer Internships” document linked here.
Many thanks for your continued participation in our work.
Jim Langford – Executive Director, SHECP
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