Elizabeth S. Ricks is a student at University of the Redlands. Her graduation Contract in The Johnston Center for Integrative Studies is entitled: Facilitating Community Sustainability: Environmental and Social Justice and German Language. Elizabeth will graduate in May of 2009. In her contract, she reflects on her Anytown experience: During high school, I took an African-American Studies course with a team of teachers whose educational philosophies are similar to my own. They challenged the class to recognize systems of racial privilege and targeting through a historical perspective. For the first time in my life, I began to recognize some of the racial privileges I receive because of my white racial identity. My teacher and mentor recommended that I participate in a program called the Anytown Youth Leadership Institute. The institute seeks to raise awareness of systems of oppression and dismantle them by empowering young people to become change agents. I was intrigued, took the advice of my teacher, and attended the program. In doing so, I embarked on what I quickly realized was a turning point in the way I understand and interact with the world around me... To read more: Facilitating Community Sustainability | 
