overcoming adversity and achieving dreams through higher education
Shortly after announcing Odyssey theater professor Baron Kelly’s national honor and Odyssey cofounder Jean Feraca’s selection for the Athena Award, we learned that Odyssey’s Director of Development and Community Partnerships, Jenny Pressman, had been chosen as a 2021 YWCA Woman of Distinction for her decades of pioneering work championing racial and gender equity. At a …
“It’s a sweep! When I nominated four amazing Odyssey women for prestigious Business Forum of Madison scholarships, I hoped all four would win the four adult scholarships — and they did!” says Odyssey codirector Emily Auerbach. In their acceptance remarks, Nicole Pecku ’09, Char Braxton ’06, Milli Lau ’14 and Lolita Phillips ’13 all pointed …
“Odyssey is a major reason why I have succeeded. It was my foundation, my stepping stone, to overcoming so many obstacles.” So said Dominique Christian, Odyssey Class of 2009, who earned her master’s degree in social work (MSW) last month from the UW–Madison. Other Odyssey graduates earning May 2021 bachelor’s degrees include Tasha McKenzie (Edgewood …
“We linked the George Floyd killing to centuries of racial injustice,” explained Auerbach. The program studied Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Langston Hughes and others. “We link today to what we’re reading from the past and many of our students found a voice in poetry in editorials and essays and on the frontlines …
Channel 3000, May 18 2021
Inside Higher Ed, May 18 2021
With the Story Exchange, we wanted to create a virtual space where folks could share short stories about their relationship with writing, in the hope that these stories would inspire others to recognize their labor as writers and to push forward on their writing journeys. One particularly impactful cluster of contributions to the Story Exchange …
The heartache and the hardship for this class has been overwhelming, but so has the perseverance and the courage, -UW Odyssey Project Director Emily Auerbach tells Madison365. The University of Wisconsin–Madison Odyssey Project, now in its 18th year, will celebrate 35 graduates at the Odyssey Class of 2021 Online Graduation Ceremony tonight at 6 p.m. …
In the middle of coaching Odyssey students for their graduation videos, Professor Baron Kelly got a call that left him in tears, overwhelmed: He had just been selected for the prestigious College of Fellows of the American Theatre. Baron is being “recognized for his outstanding contributions in the field acting, teaching, and scholarship — with …
“It was a full circle moment for me,” says Odyssey alum Hedi Rudd ’12, as she snapped pictures of the graduating Class of 2021 and their families. “I remember the day my class got our photos taken and how good I felt about myself. I cried. Now nine years later as the photographer, I want …