Social Embeddedness: Sam DiGangiSocial Embeddedness: Sam DiGangiHello. I’m glad to have the opportunity to introduce you to social embeddedness.Engaging with communities is an important part of Arizona State University, as well as an important part of who we are as citizens in a democracy. ASU’s vision to be a new American university taking responsibility for the economic, social andcultural vitality of our region.Since the days of Governor Safford, Arizona has recognized the need for an institution to train teachers to work in the territorial public schools, but it was not until the 13th legislature was seated in 1885 that the political will to address Arizona education was manifest.What you see here is a scanned image of the first page of the Act establishing the Arizona Territorial Normal School, courtesy of the Arizona State Archives.When the bill passed, all that remained was securing 20 acres for the school from the citizens of Tempe. One account states that Charles Hayden, the founder and leading citizen of Tempe, arranged for a town meeting in January in which citizens of Tempe agreed that a normal school was desirable and that George and Martha Wilson’s cow pasture was the best location.The Wilsons originally agreed to donate five acres in exchange for $500 raised by the citizens at that meeting. Now they would need to donate their entire pasture, which was needed to support their business, the Pioneer Meat Market, to meet their 20-acre requirement.On May 5th, the Wilsons donated the entire 20 acres in exchange for $500, creating the core of the original campus and ensuring the establishment of Arizona State University.ASU was originally formed as a teachers’ college with the purpose of training public school teachers and providing instruction in agriculture and mechanical arts. The formation was called the Arizona Territorial Normal School, which is a ASU 101: The ASU Experience Arizona State Universitycommunity partnership. We were established in Tempe in 1885 by an act of the 13th territorial legislature, and it was the citizens who provided the land.The first principal was Hiram Bradford Farmer from 1886 to 1888. This picture shows Farmer and his first group of students. He was very selective in giving outdiplomas since, in his view, unprepared teachers would be of no value to the communities, nor to the students they served.There were 33 students in Farmer’s first class, but ASU has grown rapidly to meet the educational needs of Arizona.Between 1945 and 1946 with the GI Bill, enrollment at ASU has increased more than 1,000 percent. In 1995, 46,000 students attended ASU, and today there aremore than 60,000. In the last five years alone, we’ve grown 30 percent and will likely grow another 30 percent in the next five years.Growth is interconnected at ASU and in Arizona. In Arizona, our population was 3,665,228 in 1990. To date, it’s more than 6 million, and we will likely be around 11 million by 2030.Population growth and urbanization have been Arizona’s biggest stories for the past 40 years, and more people — many more people — are expected. Arizona is not just getting bigger, however. It’s becoming more diverse. Did you know that we are sixth in the nation for the percentage of residents who speak a language other than English at home? English is spoken by 74 percent of people over five years old in Arizona. Languages other than English are spoken by almost 26 percent. Spanish is the most common, followed by Navajo, German and French. So we know that Arizona is growing and that Arizona is changing. This presents challenges and opportunities. What do you make of the statistics on this page? What do you think the role of the University might be in engaging these issues? What do you want your role to be as a student?More than 50 percent of K12 students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, astandard indicator of disadvantage. Fifteen percent of Arizonans 25 years and older have a college degree, which is about the same as the national average, but Arizona has benefited from the educational experiences migrants have ASU 101: The ASU Experience Page 2brought with them. There are disparities in health and healthcare among our minority populations.For example, when it comes to heart disease, the mortality rate for African-Americans is 299 out of every 100,000. The rate for whites is 197.9. When it comes to diabetes, the mortality rate for American Indians is 55.8 of every 100,000. For Hispanics, 39.1; and for whites, it is 16.5. More than 40 percent of inmates return to prison within three years. Some say it’s because Arizona needs to provide rehabilitation for convicts, including education, job training and substance abuse treatment.When we hear about the issues facing Arizona, where does ASU start and wheredoes the community end? What do you think about how the University and the community work together? What do you see as your place? What can you do asa student, as a citizen, as a community member? At ASU, we say something is socially embedded when all partners benefit, when there’s recognition that all partners bring something to the table, all partners haveinput in the work, a community need is met. It isn’t just an activity, but there’s an outcome focus to the work. Social embeddedness describes dynamic, mutually-beneficial partnerships between the University and the communities. What kind of examples can you think of social embeddedness?So why work with communities? You can help solve problems facing communities. You can support economic growth. You can enhance the well-being of Arizona communities. You can work closely with public and private institutions, like schools, cities, businesses, community organizations. You benefit by applying your knowledge, by learning and discovering new things, by making contacts and building a network, by contributing to the well-being of your communities.Communities benefit from students’ energy and ideas, from working with faculty experts on addressing challenges, solving problems, from applying the newest research to make positive changes in the community and from taking full advantage of the University’s resources.ASU offers many opportunities to engage with the community. You can also make your own opportunities. ASU 101: The ASU Experience Page 3[End of Audio]ASU 101: The ASU Experience Page
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