What We Do Now—Teach!

Rachel Beth Egenhoefer, Design Professor in the Art and Architecture department shares that on the morning of Election Day, she knew that the uncertainty and emotions surrounding the election results would feel like a wild roller coaster ride. During a time when there’s uncertainty in the world, she knows how to meet the moment.

Eight years, minus two days ago, in the moments after the 2016 election, I walked across campus with a colleague in shock, disbelief, and fear. “What do we do now?” I asked her…. “We teach,” she replied.

Later that day, I decided I needed to act on something I had always thought about doing – creating a Community-Engaged Learning course for design majors to use their skills in partnership with organizations in the Bay Area. I emailed my friends in the McCarthy Center and asked how to get a course on the books for the fall. It would take time, and it’s a long process, and maybe I should think farther out, I was told. “No,” I said, “it needs to happen now.” That weekend, I produced a syllabus, and the following fall, community-engaged design was taught for the first time. In naming the course I purposely gave it the course number 365 – because this is the work we need to do every day of the year.

Over the next 8 years, my students would go on to work with more than 20 different organizations in the Bay Area using the power of design for social good. Students gained real-world design experience working in the community on real-life projects, while our community partners received logos, branding, wayfinding, identity design, websites, social media, and so much more than amplified their messages of social good. Homelessness, public health, transportation advocacy, climate change, women’s rights, education, and health care are just some of the realms we worked in. All because I did what we do now… “I teach.”

Four years ago, minus a day, we woke up in uncertainty, not knowing the results of the 2020 election, all while sheltered in place, with wildfires burning and COVID spreading. This same class I had created had continued to work on real-world projects over Zoom from places near and far. But how could we work while the world waited? I messaged my students and informed them to join the class Zoom from their kitchens with cooking supplies. We all made pancakes (or some version of it) and ate a meal together while we shared what we were feeling. It was a different kind of teaching—not of formal concepts or skills, but of compassion and self-care.

Yesterday, this same class met again. This time, students presented the work they have been doing for the USF Food Pantry to the Dean of the Library and Faculty Advisor to the Food Pantry, both of whom were overwhelmed and moved by the student’s commitment and work. This semester was the first time the class worked with an on-campus partner, which meant it was the first time the students were also actively part of the same community – serving the pantry with design, while the pantry was also serving many of them with food security. The layers of teaching and learning go beyond composition and type, beyond promoting food justice, and speak to the heart of building community, compassion, and creating something greater than yourself for the greater good.

Tomorrow, that same class will meet again. What will we do?… The uncertainty of the world hangs in the balance. Will classes be canceled because of violence? Will the world be waiting in anxiety? Will we be celebrating in the streets? I do not know. The one thing I do know is that whatever happens, I will teach.

From the darkness of 2016 came light. From whatever happens tomorrow, we will continue to rise. We will teach what needs to be taught.

Please access our post-election resources:

See the calendar of post-election dialogue spaces across the university.
Prepare for post-election discussions using our USFVotes Election Toolkit which has guides, messaging points, and other resources.
Join the Cultural Centers for various post-election processing and programming for identity-specific constituents.
Refer to the CAPS Election Self-Care Kit or schedule a CAPS individual consultation.
Be aware of misinformation and spot fake news with resources from Gleeson Library.
Prepare to organize with the Department of Public Safety’s free expression and demonstration tips.
Concern EAP’s pre- and post-election support for faculty and staff with resource tips.
Attend a University Ministry Spiritual Care Check-In.
Join USFVotes for a community-wide post-election processing space on Thursday, Nov. 7, 11:45 a.m.–1 p.m. in Lone Mountain 100.