{"id":245591,"date":"2026-05-15T07:10:46","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T11:10:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=245591"},"modified":"2026-05-14T12:26:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T16:26:00","slug":"honoring-and-continuing-a-legacy-of-community-engagement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2026\/05\/honoring-and-continuing-a-legacy-of-community-engagement\/","title":{"rendered":"Honoring and Continuing a Legacy of Community Engagement"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leonard I. Krimerman, a distinguished philosophy professor emeritus at UConn, passed away<\/a> on December 31, 2025. His legacy\u00a0lives on\u00a0through the\u00a0Krimerman\u00a0Community Service Grants,\u00a0established\u00a0to advance students\u2019 civic engagement.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On April 30, the inaugural cohort of grant recipients were recognized and celebrated. \u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The following four students were awarded a grant of up to $500 to support projects that address pressing social issues:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bryce Turner <\/span><\/b>\u201926 (CLAS)\u00a0examined\u00a0the impact of Windham Hospital\u2019s closure of its Labor & Delivery unit<\/a> on maternal healthcare access and community trust in Willimantic.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Charli Hughes <\/span><\/b>\u201928\u00a0(ENGR & CLAS)\u00a0worked with Covenant Soup Kitchen to address transportation insecurity among unhoused and housing-insecure residents of the greater Willimantic area.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nayatie Gabriel <\/span><\/b>\u201928\u00a0addressed\u00a0environmental racism by\u00a0establishing\u00a0and maintaining green spaces.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sam Arevalo-Hoefer <\/span><\/b>\u201926 (CLAS)\u00a0examined\u00a0how changing statewide and federal policies shape the lives of Latin American immigrants in Connecticut.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Beginning in 1969, Krimerman, alongside students from his course on social and political philosophy, established an alternative learning initiative known as the\u00a0<\/span>Inner College<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What began as a one-year experiment later received support from a National Endowment for the Humanities grant, sustaining the program through 1973 before it evolved into the Center for Educational Innovation and contributed to the creation of an individualized major option. The Inner College placed primary responsibility for learning in students\u2019 hands, with faculty serving as advisors on projects aligned with students\u2019 interests. Participants engaged in independent studies, field experiences, and integrative workshops, which formed the core of the program\u2019s educational approach.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A
In this archival photo, UConn Inner College co-founder Len Krimerman reads a plaque dedicated to him during a reunion of the Inner College at the UConn Alumni Center on Aug. 6, 2022. The plaque reads: “Thank you for your more than 60 years of demonstrated devotion to social justice, your vision and dedication that led to the Inner College and your inspiration and guidance in helping us and countless others carve out our own learning and life paths.” (Sydney Herdle\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Alumni of the Inner College, including John Nero ’70 (CLAS) and John Long ’72 (CLAS), later came together to honor Krimerman\u2019s legacy by establishing the grant program.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Long said that countless Inner College alumni carried their commitment to community engagement into careers in public service. This shared dedication inspired them to create a funding opportunity that both honors Krimerman and empowers current students to design and implement projects that make a meaningful difference.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c[Professor Krimerman] believed deeply in community-engaged learning, and students taking an active role in their education,\u201d Long said. \u201cHe wanted students to get out there in the community and learn by doing, to create positive social change.\u201d <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Reflecting on the significance of the April 30 celebration, Long added,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u201cI think it\u00a0helps ensure that Len\u00a0won’t\u00a0be forgotten, and\u00a0he’s\u00a0able to make a change even when he is no longer with us.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Christopher Ciarcia, associate director of the Office of Outreach and Engagement, supports faculty, staff, and students in their community engagement efforts. During the event, he introduced each grant awardee as they presented their work and shared findings with attendees.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ciarcia also emphasized the importance of sustaining and expanding the program.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re at a moment right now where we do need to get more donations.\u00a0We’re\u00a0hoping that people will see the\u00a0great work\u00a0that these students did through this grant, and that\u00a0we’re\u00a0able to increase the number of students who are recipients of the grant next year as well.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He highlighted the mutual benefits of the program, adding, \u201cIt’s\u00a0a win-win.\u00a0It’s\u00a0a win for our students and a win for the community partners who work with them to make a direct impact by addressing community-identified needs and desires.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Donations to support the Krimerman Community Service Grants can be made through the <\/span>UConn Foundation<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the grant recipients, Bryce Turner, focused on women’s healthcare access and the impact on local residents amid reduced services.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMaternity care is essential healthcare. There\u2019s no situation in which this is not going to be a pressing issue,\u201d said Turner<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The grant enabled Turner to recruit research assistants and deepen his analysis,\u00a0identifying\u00a0key themes across seven interviews conducted with community activists and medical professionals.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He\u00a0noted that\u00a0one of his goals with his research is to raise awareness for the maternity care crisis.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI’m hopeful that my project and the other projects that have been highlighted by this grant program will kick off that body of knowledge and help future scholars be able to conduct effective research,\u201d Turner said. \u201cI’m hopeful that by that, future cohorts will be able to look back on our work and build on what we did to continue Dr. Krimerman\u2019s legacy.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The\u00a0Krimerman\u00a0Community Engagement Grants were\u00a0established\u00a0by UConn alumni from the Inner College, in partnership with the Office of Outreach and Engagement, to carry forward Professor Krimerman\u2019s deep dedication to experiential learning and civic involvement.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Philosophy Professor Emeritus Leonard I. Krimerman championed ideals of social and economic justice, the importance of human dignity, and the prioritization of community wellbeing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":237,"featured_media":245602,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[147,2429,1866,2226,1715,2472,2712,2235,2225,2458,2195],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2706],"class_list":["post-245591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-awards-scholarships","category-engr","category-clas","category-community-impact","category-gifts-donors","category-student-success","category-today-homepage","category-uconn-storrs","category-undergraduates","category-windham-county"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-12 22:16:14","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/237"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245591"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245591\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":246171,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245591\/revisions\/246171"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/245602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245591"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=245591"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=245591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}