Social Work

VIDEO: Students shine at CREATE conference

Student research and creative activity took center stage at Eastern Connecticut State University on April 24 during the annual CREATE conference, a campus-wide celebration of undergraduate...

Posted on May 04, 2026 by Michael Rouleau

From Stage to Simulation: Theatre students help train future social workers
Eastern pilots innovative training with students as ‘standardized patients’

An unusual partnership at Eastern Connecticut State University is bringing together theatre and social work students in a novel simulation experience that prepares both groups for their future...

Posted on April 08, 2026 by Michael Rouleau '11

New co-op program prepares students for emergency services careers
'Career Pathways Program' launches with ESPS Co-op

A new employability initiative at Eastern Connecticut State University will offer immersive learning experiences for students interested in a variety of career fields. Starting with a co-op program...

Posted on September 15, 2025 by Noel Teter '24

Social work majors promote their field through high school outreach

Thirty-two social work majors at Eastern Connecticut State University conducted a series of interactive presentations for local high school and community college students this fall semester. Titled...

Posted on December 12, 2024 by Noel Teter '24

10th annual Social Policy Summit focuses on youth mental health crisis

Junior and senior social work majors at Eastern Connecticut State University filled the Student Center Betty Tipton Room on Nov. 5 for the 10th annual Social Policy Summit. This year’s policy...

Posted on November 11, 2024 by Noel Teter '24

Sarah Nightingale receives Institutional Courage Research Grant
Research aims to “make college better for everyone”

Sarah Nightingale, assistant professor of social work, was awarded a research grant this July from the Center for Institutional Courage, which aims to combat institutional injustices in cases of...

Posted on August 12, 2024 by Noel Teter

Eastern inducts hundreds into honor societies in spring 2024

More than 20 academic programs and departments at Eastern Connecticut State University recognized student achievements this spring 2024 semester during honor society inductions and award ceremonies.

Posted on May 16, 2024

Social Action Day tackles opioid crisis

Addressing the nation’s opioid epidemic was the topic of this year’s Social Action Day on Oct. 31, during which students prioritized an awareness campaign about this decades-long...

Posted on November 08, 2023 by Michael Rouleau

Stanton to serve as co-principal investigator on new HIV/AIDS research
Elton John AIDS Foundation provides grant funding

Improving the HIV epidemic response in the South is the aim of a new grant-funded project that Eastern Connecticut State University faculty member Megan Stanton will work on as the co-principal...

Posted on August 30, 2023 by Lucinda Weiss

Internships lend real-world experience in spring 2023

Nearly 100 Eastern Connecticut State University students completed internships in the spring 2023 semester. Students explored a variety of opportunities on and off campus that related to their...

Posted on May 01, 2023 by Molly Boucher

Eastern hosts 3rd relationship violence awareness event in memory of Alyssiah Wiley

Eastern Connecticut State University hosted its 3rd annual Alyssiah Wiley End Relationship Violence Awareness Event on Oct. 4. The event was organized by Sociology Professor Brenda Westberry and...

Posted on October 06, 2022 by Noel Teter

Isabel Logan, Eastern social work professor and co-director of the SWLE Project, presents pre-recorded remarks by U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona.

U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona praises police social work project
Eastern hosts inaugural ‘Boots on the Ground’ celebration

Eastern Connecticut State University hosted the first capstone celebration for the Social Work and Law Enforcement (SWLE) Project on April 22 in the Shafer Hall Auditorium. Titled “Boots on...

Posted on April 29, 2022 by Michael Rouleau

Anderson Curtis speaks to attendees of ACLU event.

Period poverty to online dating safety
Social work students tackle issues with community organizations

Through service and outreach, Eastern social work students are immersing themselves in the community and gaining field experience. For a required course of the Social Work major -- "Generalist...

Posted on April 20, 2022 by Molly Boucher

CCE holds first Service Expo since 2019
Silcox urges students to take authentic path

The Center for Community Engagement (CCE) at Eastern Connecticut State University honored five members of the campus and local communities for their exemplary service during its Annual Service Expo...

Posted on April 20, 2022 by Dwight Bachman

Eastern co-founds North Star Collective to benefit faculty of color
Inaugural fellowship selects Professors Williams and Logan

Eastern Connecticut State University is one of 13 founding institutions of a new reparative justice effort by the New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE). The North Star Collective comprises...

Posted on January 26, 2022 by Michael Rouleau

Students present their project on Mass Incarceration.

Social Action Day focuses on mass incarceration
Annual event is led by junior social work students

Students from Eastern Connecticut State University’s Social Work Program held the seventh annual Social Action Day on Nov. 9 to bring awareness to the policies related to mass incarceration....

Posted on November 11, 2021 by Bobbi Brown and Molly Boucher

Eastern and Willimantic police spearhead statewide police-social work initiative
SWLE Project provides model for Connecticut and nation

What started as a pilot internship last year with two Eastern Connecticut State University students has evolved into a statewide collaboration that may well serve as a national model for the...

Posted on October 27, 2021 by Michael Rouleau

Eastern community remembers Alyssiah Wiley
Annual event raises relationship violence awareness

Eastern Connecticut State University hosted its third annual Alyssiah Wiley End Relationship Violence Awareness Event on Oct. 13. The event, which honors Wiley, an Eastern student who was murdered...

Posted on October 13, 2021 by Molly Boucher

The Police Social Work Experiment

In a time when law enforcement faces heightened scrutiny, the Social Work Program at Eastern Connecticut State University partnered with the Willimantic Police Department on a groundbreaking...

Posted on May 20, 2021 by Michael Rouleau

Pilot internship embeds social work students in Willimantic police department

Eastern Connecticut State University’s Social Work Program recently partnered with the Willimantic Police Department to embed social work students into the department’s police work. In...

Posted on May 20, 2021 by Michael Rouleau

3 Eastern faculty receive Board of Regents Faculty Awards

The Board of Regents (BOR) for Higher Education honored three faculty members from Eastern Connecticut State University in its annual Faculty Awards program for the 17 institutions in the...

Posted on May 05, 2021 by Dwight Bachman

Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz, associate professor of English education at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Columbia professor encourages 'The Archaeology of Self' to end racism

It is rare to see a college professor begin a lecture with a moment of silence, but that is how Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz, associate professor of English education at Teachers College, Columbia...

Posted on February 24, 2021 by Dwight Bachman

Stanton's dissemination and implementation science research among best in field

Megan Stanton, assistant professor of social work at Eastern Connecticut State University and an expert on the science of dissemination and implementation, says there is a notorious lag between the...

Posted on December 18, 2020 by Dwight Bachman

7 Students Present at COPLAC Conference in New Hampshire

Seven Eastern Connecticut State University students presented research projects at the Northeast regional conference for the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges (COPLAC) on Nov. 8-9 at Keene...

Posted on November 12, 2019

Eastern Students Raise Awareness of Human Trafficking for Social Action Day

Eastern Connecticut State University’s Social Work Club held its annual Social Action Day on Nov. 5 to focus on the issue of human trafficking.

Posted on November 10, 2019 by Vania Galicia

Alyssiah Wiley 'get to know Alyssiah' table

Alyssiah Wiley Basketball Tournament Aims to End Relationship Violence

Eastern Connecticut State University hosted a 3-on-3 basketball tournament on Oct. 9 to honor former student Alyssiah Wiley. The event featured an array of activities aimed at raising awareness of...

Posted on October 10, 2019 by Michael Rouleau

Eunice Matthews, professor of social work and coordinator of the Social Work Program at Eastern Connecticut State University

Stamford NAACP Honors Eastern Social Work Professor Eunice Matthews

On Sept. 27, at the NAACP’s Annual Freedom Fund Dinner, the Stamford NAACP presented Eunice Matthews, professor of social work and coordinator of the Social Work Program at Eastern...

Posted on October 01, 2019

Sociology Professor Nicolas Simon and student Tara Nguyen presented at the annual Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction Conference this past August.

Student-Professor Duo Presents at Symbolic Interaction Conference

Eastern Connecticut State University Sociology Professor Nicolas Simon and student Tara Nguyen ’21 presented and organized a session at the 2019 annual Society for the Study of Symbolic...

Posted on August 27, 2019 by Vania Galicia

Social work conference students pose for the camera

Students Present at State Association of Social Workers Meeting

Eastern Connecticut State University students in the Social Work program presented their research during the 34th annual conference of the National Association of Social Workers Connecticut...

Posted on May 21, 2019 by Dwight Bachman

Cesar Chavez award recipients pose for the camera.

Eastern Honors Three Leaders in Memory of Cesar Chavez

Sociology major Italo Bucca ’19 of Hartford, Indira Petoskey, assistant dean in the Office of Continuing Studies and Enhanced Learning; and Yanil Terón, executive director of the Center...

Posted on April 25, 2019 by Dwight Bachman

Connecticut Supreme Court Justices discuss Implicit Biases

Keynote speakers Connecticut Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard Robinson and Justice Maria Araujo Kahn were on hand April 2 as Eastern’s Social Work Program celebrated its 20th anniversary,...

Posted on April 09, 2019 by Dwight Bachman

Eastern’s Social Work Program is One of Nation’s Most Affordable

Eastern Connecticut State University’s bachelor’s degree in social work was recently named one of the nation’s 101 most affordable social work programs by humanservicesed.org.

Posted on January 31, 2019 by Ed osborn

Eastern’s Bergstrom-Lynch Runs in Honor of Domestic Violence Survivors

Cara Bergstrom-Lynch, sociology professor at Eastern Connecticut State University, participated in a road race on Dec. 2 to honor the late Alyssiah Wiley, an Eastern sophomore who was murdered by...

Posted on December 05, 2018 by Raven Dillon

Demonstrations of Native dancing by members of the Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribes rounded out the Native American Heritage Day of Events on Nov. 13.

Eastern Celebrates Native American Heritage Month

Eastern Connecticut State University held several events in commemoration of Native American Heritage Month in November. Events featured prominent figures and speakers from the local Native...

Posted on November 28, 2018 by Jolene Potter

Eastern Holds Third Civic Action Conference

Eastern students have a reputation of service to community that goes back decades. But at the Third Annual Civic Action Conference on Nov. 14, it was demonstrated how much students actually learn...

Posted on November 15, 2018 by Dwight Bachman

Social Action Day Focuses on Ex-Offender Reentry

The issues surrounding housing reentry for ex-offenders were center stage on Nov. 13 for Social Action Day. Organized by the Social Work Program, the event included student presentations, a panel...

Posted on November 15, 2018 by Jordan Corey

Eastern Supports Greater Hartford Urban League’s Equal Opportunity Day

Eastern was on hand on Nov. 2 when the Urban League of Greater Hartford (ULGH) celebrated its 54th Equal Opportunity Day with a gala at the Marriott Downtown Hartford. The ULGH’s mission is...

Posted on November 13, 2018

New Program Forges Pathway from Police Academy to Eastern

New this fall semester, graduates of the Connecticut Police Academy may now enroll at Eastern Connecticut State University with 12 credits applied toward a criminology degree or other major....

Posted on October 15, 2018 by Jordan Corey

Eastern Professor Featured in PBS Series ‘Native America’

An advance screening of the new PBS series “Native America” was shown at Eastern Connecticut State University on Sept. 26. While the four-part series will premiere on Oct. 23 on CPTV,...

Posted on October 03, 2018 by Michael Rouleau

Eastern Professor Featured in PBS Series ‘Native America’

An advance screening of the new PBS series “Native America” was shown at Eastern Connecticut State University on Sept. 26. While the four-part series will premiere on Oct. 23 on CPTV,...

Posted on October 03, 2018 by Michael Rouleau

Eastern’s Canterbury and Frye Author New Books

Sociology Professor Dennis Canterbury and History Professor David Frye recently authored “Neoextractivism and Capitalist Development” and “Walls: A History of Civilization in...

Posted on September 15, 2018 by Dwight Bachman

CPTV and Eastern to Host Advance Screening of ‘Native America’ Episode

Eastern Connecticut State University and Connecticut Public Television (CPTV) will host a free advance screening of an episode from the new PBS series “Native America” on Sept. 26 at 7...

Posted on August 29, 2018 by Michael Rouleau

Constance Motley Expert at Eastern

Gary Ford Jr., assistant professor of Africana Studies at Lehman College and author of the book, “Constance Baker Motley, One Woman’s Fight for Civil Rights and Equal Justice under...

Posted on January 24, 2018 by Dwight Bachman

Professor Asks, “Who is Puerto Rican?” at Eastern

Charles Venator-Santiago, a political science professor at the University of Connecticut, appeared at Eastern Connecticut State University on Sept. 20 to discuss the extension of U.S. citizenship...

Posted on September 26, 2017 by Jordan Corey

The Le Le Project, represented by FEMALES club members

Committed to Community: Eastern’s 2017 Service Expo

More than 20 projects were on display for Eastern Connecticut State University’s annual Service Expo and Awards on April 12. Held at St. Joseph Church in Willimantic, the annual ceremony was...

Posted on April 18, 2017 by Michael Rouleau

MLK award winners Kemesha Wilmot, Elijah Oliver and Taylor Hemphill ’17

Eastern Presents Martin Luther King Distinguished Service Awards

Taylor Hemphill '17, a social work major and student ambassador in the Women's Center at Eastern Connecticut State University; Kemesha Wilmot, associate director of the University's...

Posted on February 26, 2017 by Dwight Bachman