By Elisabeth Costanzo Stewart

Members of the campus community gathered in the Student Center Cafeteria on Monday, August 21, 2023 for the groundbreaking workshop, Communicating and Relating More Effectively Across Poverty Barriers. 

Thanks to the collaborative efforts of our Pathways initiative, SUNY Broome’s Professional Development Office, the SUNY Broome Foundation, and a generous philanthropic gift from Foundation retiree, Judy Siggins, the College was honored to welcome Dr. Donna Beegle, a leading scholar, educator, and advocate of poverty awareness. 

Through her deeply thought provoking keynote address and interactive workshop, over 70 members of SUNY Broome’s faculty and staff were encouraged to approach the upcoming academic year with a specific goal – to create conditions that allow for all students, regardless of socioeconomic status, to succeed. 

After a brief introduction from President Tony D. Hawkins and Dr. Stephanie Malmberg, Dr. Beegle proceeded to highlight the realities of those living within the warzone of poverty. Through theory-based storytelling via her personal experiences as a product of generational poverty, Dr. Beegle offered attendees practical strategies to support student success. 

Dr. Beegle and her five brothers were raised in rural Oregon, born to parents who had never completed high school and struggled to simply get by. She left school at 15 to get married. At 26, in pursuit of her GED through her local community college, she learned her second language, middle class English, from a faculty member who saw her potential. From there, the trajectory of her life changed. 

“Please remember that college is a foreign land. Students that live within the crisis of poverty may not know the language, may not know the norms, and may not trust you,” Dr. Beegle said. “It’s not that people don’t care. People are just uniformed. The segregation of poverty perpetuates it.”

Dr. Beegle suggested that the most effective way to educate students impacted by poverty is to meet them where they are, communicate accessibly, and serve as a navigator and mentor. 

To be a navigator and mentor you must:

  • Believe: As an educated individual, relentlessly believe that your students can also be educated. 
  • Recognize: See your students’ value, and remind them that they are not stupid. 
  • Suspend Judgment: Consider their lives in the context of the warzone of poverty.
  • Build Social Capital: Build your students’ address book with fellow mentors and connections. 

At the conclusion of the workshop, Dr. Stephanie Malmberg encouraged the audience to treat Dr. Beegle’s workshops as the start of a sustained, campus-wide dialogue. 

“What is most exciting about an event like this is that even if we are not in the classroom, every  opportunity that we have to engage with students is an opportunity to make an impact,” Dr. Stephanie Malmberg said.

To continue the conversation, SUNY Broome’s Office of Professional Development will be hosting “Poverty 101” workshops throughout the academic year and have selected Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond to be the official book for the campus’ book club. 

SUNY Broome currently has 4 Beegle Certified Poverty Coaches. 

  • Laura Hodel, Assistant Vice President for Human Resources and Student Finance
  • Dr. Stephanie M. Malmberg, Associate Dean for Distance Learning, Professional Development and Student Success
  • Abbey L. Perkins, Academic Advisor 
  • Brittney N. Richardson,Staff Associate for Enrollment Management 

If you are interested in completing the Beegle Poverty Coaching Institute, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Dr. Stephanie M. Malmberg at malmbergsm@sunybroome.edu.