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March 28, 2018

Elms to recognize community activist with honorary degree at commencement

REGIONAL
Staff report

 

CHICOPEE — College of Our Lady of the Elms has announced that, during its 87th commencement exercises in May, it will bestow an honorary degree on educator, community activist, and visionary Shirley Edgerton of Pittsfield, whose work to empower and mentor children, young women, and people of color exemplifies Elms’ core values for the college’s graduates and students, who are called to bring about positive change in the world.

Edgerton has been the director of Youth Alive Inc. since 1995. In that role, she coordinates learning opportunities for participants in the Youth Alive Step Dance and Drum teams, and creates art-based experiences to increase self-esteem, teach life skills, and expose participants to professionals in the arts field. She also schedules performances, writes grants, and establishes collaborations with colleges, universities and cultural institutions.

In 2009, she founded the ROPE (Rites of Passage and Empowerment) Program and still serves as its director. ROPE, a program for young women, emphasizes mind-body-spirit self-discovery for each participant.

Edgerton also has served, since 2015, as a cultural proficiency coach in the Pittsfield Public Schools, and works as a cultural competency training consultant for other organizations as well.

In the past, she worked for 20 years as a program director in a state residential program, overseeing staff and offering training, supervision, and other administrative services. In that role, she coordinated a summer youth employment program for six residential programs in western Massachusetts.

Edgerton holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Herbert Lehman College-CUNY in New York, and a master of education degree in educational leadership and administration from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) in North Adams. She previously served as a trustee at MCLA, on the steering committee of the Berkshire Priorities Literacy Project, and on the board of directors at the Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts. She founded the Women of Color Giving Circle and co-founded the arts festival Lift Ev’ry Voice: Celebrating African American Culture & Heritage.

Elms College’s 87th commencement ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 19, at the MassMutual Center in Springfield. Doors will open at 8:30 a.m., and the academic procession will begin at 9:30.

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