Forum in Sanders Urges Eradication of Poverty

Speaking at the “Bridging the Gap” forum last Saturday night, David Rosenberg likened the relationship between poverty and sub-standard education to the circular debate over which came first—the chicken or the egg?

“It doesn’t matter,” said Rosenberg, vice president of Insights and Digital Media for Teach For America, “because at the end of the day, this argument doesn’t do anything to help the kids in this situation.”

Rosenberg was one of nine speakers at the forum, which was organized by Students Taking On Poverty in recognition of the United Nations International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

One by one, the speakers took the stage at Sanders Theatre, sharing how they have taken action against poverty through their interests and careers in education, politics, and gender issues.

“By hearing these speakers, we want people to realize they can integrate whatever they are passionate about with fighting poverty,” said Erica K. Senat ’12, a co-president of STOP.

Senat and Alexandra L. Almore ’12, STOP’s other co-president, began planning for the event last summer. Almore said she was inspired after attending “Harvard Thinks Big”—a student-organized discussion that featured 10 Harvard professors talking for 10 minutes on topics of their choice—last February.

“It was very difficult choosing the panelists,” Almore said. “We wanted to have a wide spectrum of speakers.”

Professor William Julius Wilson, STOP faculty adviser, said in the welcoming remarks that eradicating poverty “ought to be one of the most urgent and important goals of the 21st century.”

The panelists echoed that sentiment.

“Eradication of poverty is our ethical responsibility,” said former Haitian Prime Minister Michèle D. Pierre-Louis. “Get involved. Be bold.”

Pierre-Louis described how, despite their own dire living conditions, individuals in Haiti have coordinated community efforts to fight poverty. She said Haitian volunteers have invested in agriculture and environment, created jobs and parks, and funded child education.

Rosenberg focused his talk on the achievement gap in American education, which he said causes a continuous cycle of sustained poverty, lack of capacity, and poor performance. In order to decrease and ultimately eliminate the gap, Rosenberg stressed the need to create sustainable changes through immediate impact in the classroom and deeper understanding of issues around poverty.

“We see evidence every day that, given the right opportunities, all kids can succeed,” Rosenberg said.

A reception following the event in the Queen’s Head Pub gave the audience a chance to interact with the speakers and share their ideas on how to tackle poverty.

Stephanie R. Charles ’14, who grew up in Haiti, said she enjoyed hearing other people’s perspectives on poverty. Charles currently serves as a student liaison for Pierre-Louis, who is a resident fellow this semester at the Institute of Politics.

“We want people to leave the event with an ‘aha!’ moment,” Senat said.

The other speakers at the event included Timothy Nelson, lecturer of sociology and social policy at the Kennedy School; Dennis W. Archer, the first African American president of the American Bar Association and former mayor of Detroit; Donna Barry, director of policy and advocacy for Partners In Health; Joshua Bennett, spoken word artist; Chiwen Bao ’01, a Social Studies lecturer who teaches on Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality; Hugo Van Vuuren, 2010 TED Fellow and founding fellow of The Lab at Harvard; and Ronald F. Ferguson, an economist and lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.