Albertus Magnus Urban Studies Students at City Hall

(Pictured left to right) Dakibu Muley (Community Services Administrator), Patricia Birungi (Masters of Public Administration, associate Urban Studies faculty), Diogo Cruz (student), Mayor Toni Harp, Derwin Nunez (student), Ross Edwards (Political Science, Assistant VPAA, associate Urban Studies faculty), Jordan Spiars (student), Matt Waggoner (Philosophy, associate Urban Studies faculty)

Students in the Intro to Urban Studies course visited New Haven City Hall and spent an hour in conversation with Community Services Administrator Dr. Dakibu Muley. He discussed the initiatives and programs he oversees (homelessness and housing, food systems, prison reentry programs, economic empowerment, social services, and health services), his background in Urban Studies and the role it played in his career in state and local government, and the ways that our students are beginning to think about how Urban Studies informs their own majors and career goals.

Joining the students were Matt Waggoner and Ross Edwards (co-instructors for the course), and Patricia Birungi (director of the Masters in Public Administration and associate Urban Studies faculty).

Students were also warmly received by Mayor Toni Harp, who provided a brief overview of New Haven and City Hall

Dr. Muley has expressed enthusiastic support for the budding Urban Studies program and the new MPA program and hopes to be continually involved. He was an inspiration to the students. This visit stands as a testimony to both the development of the Urban Studies program and the continuing initiative of the College to form deep bonds and to expand our portfolio of partnerships with the community and its leaders in the City of New Haven.

ABOUT ALBERTUS MAGNUS COLLEGE

Albertus Magnus College, founded in 1925 by the Dominican Sisters of Peace, is a Catholic College in the Dominican Tradition. It is recognized as a Top 100 Regional University in the north by US News & World Report Best Colleges guide for 2019. The College has an enrollment of 1,500 students in its traditional undergraduate program, accelerated adult degree programs, and 12 graduate programs, including a new Master of Public Administration and the only Master of Arts in Art therapy and Counseling in Connecticut. In the last few months, the College received two significant federal grants, $300,000 from the Department of Justice and a $2 million Title III grant from the Department of Education.