CLASSACT NEWS

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Presented by ClassACT HR73 & JusticeAid

Featuring the National Immigration Project

As the response to immigration becomes more volatile, many citizens and community members want to get involved. This free training, facilitated by the National Immigration Project, will discuss the ever-evolving immigration landscape and provide practical and effective response tactics for those who encounter ICE actions.

What are your rights? Which tactics are appropriate and effective when confronted with an immigration enforcement action? What should you do if ICE attempts to detain you?

Bearing witness, testifying against improper action, speaking up, attending a rally or vigil, or even donating—is resistance. The training will help teach you about your rights, realities and different ways you can help. 

Panelists from the National Immigration Project Executive Director Sirine Shebaya, Director of Advocacy Caitlin Bellis, and Rapid Response Coordinating Attorney Gracie Willis will teach you about your rights, realities and different ways you can help.

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Environmental Protection in America: Reviewing the Past and Looking Ahead to the Future of Nature

With “Trump Allies Near ‘Total Victory’ in Wiping Out US Climate Regulation” (New York Times, 2/10/26), has disruption, division and non-stop controversy in our country and the world reduced the focus on climate change and the environment? Not for the members of ClassACT’s working group. Please save the date and register for a crucial discussion and calls to action by experts in environmental history, law and policies.

As part of the broader ClassACT HR73 "Democracy@250" plans for the year 2026, the Environment & Climate Change Working Group will host a Conversation intended to 1) trace the history of the Anthropocene and environmental protection in the US 2) provide perspectives on the declining federal involvement in environmental issues and climate change 3) address developments in local, state, and global commitments in this arena, and 4) articulate actions that need to be taken for the protection of our environments as democracy continues to erode in the United States. The panel will feature Dr. Jason Clay ‘73, Executive Director & Senior Vice President at the World Wildlife Fund, Environmental Historian Dr. John McNeill from Georgetown University, American Historian of Science Dr. Naomi Oreskes from Harvard University, and Environmental law and Energy Policy Professor Dr. Sharon Tisher’ 73 from the University of Maine. Dr. W. John Kress ‘73, Botanist and Smithsonian Director of the Consortium for Understanding and Sustaining a Biodiverse Planet, will moderate.

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Monday, February 23, 12:00 - 1:00pm ET on ZOOM

Beginning in 1978 Jim Engell AB '73 taught literature and then also environmental issues at Harvard. He retired in 2024 as Gurney Research Professor of English and Comparative Literature. For 20 years he taught a course on rhetoric, too. Its online HarvardX version, "Rhetoric: The Art of Persuasive Writing and Public Speaking,” has enrolled more than 900,000 learners. In that course he includes writing op-eds and speeches and has published op-eds in major and local newspapers. He believes that education in writing and speaking should include a sense of civic engagement.

Jim will present pointers on writing and submitting an op-ed and a letter to the editor. These pointers are not specific to a particular issue, they are applicable to almost all issues. You’re able to submit an op-ed or letter to the editor of many newspapers and publications, not your local ones only. There will be ample room for questions.

On Monday, January 26th, ClassACT HR73 hosted our first Culture Counts Forum, The Arts and Humanities in Our Time. Panelists included world-renowned multimedia artist Laurie Anderson; award-winning playwright and educator Mfoniso Udofia; socially engaged comedian Hari Kondabolu; and visual artist/environmental activist Alexis Rockman. The forum was moderated by renowned jazz guitarist and bassist Jerome Harris ’73. If you missed it, check out the video and topical resources gathered from panelists and attendees below!

CLICK FOR RESOURCES FROM THE FORUM

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Highlights Include:

-Voices of Democracy: Our Classmates and Friends, Fred Bartenstein '73

-ClassACTion Alert: Act Now to Support Local Non-Profit Journalism

-Save the Date // 1/26 Culture Counts: The Arts and Humanities in Our Time Forum

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Culture Counts: The Arts and Humanities in Our Time

Monday, 1/26 7:00 - 8:30pm ET on ZOOM

As museums and libraries scramble for funding, and binge-watching supplants reading, ClassACT HR73 has stepped into the void to launch its newest focus group on culture. The classmates who have joined this committee have begun to consider challenges like our society’s emerging anti-humanistic strains, as well as the algorithmization of our personal cultural choices, a trend that threatens to separate us all from each other.

To begin the conversation about what the humanities and arts mean in a time when tech lords and influencers seem to talk over us all, the committee will present the online forum “Culture Counts: The Arts and Humanities in Our Time.”

Culture Counts is honored to include the world-renowned multi-media artist Laurie Anderson as a panelist. Anderson’s musical compositions and performances, her stage presentations, and her drawings, videos and sculptures have expanded the frontiers of the arts. In 2021 she gave the Charles Eliot Norton Lectures at Harvard, and in 2024 she received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

The forum’s panel also includes the award-winning playwright, storyteller and educator Mfoniso Udofia, whose plays have been produced by San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theater and the Huntington Theater in Boston, and whose screenwriting credits include Pachinko and Lessons in Chemistry. Joining her will be the socially-engaged comedian Hari Kondabolu, who has written for Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell and has appeared regularly as a panelist on NPR’s “Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!” Visual artist and environmental activist Alexis Rockman, whose paintings and drawings depicting the effects of climate change have been exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, completes this extraordinary panel.

Moderating the forum and heading the new Culture Counts working group is renowned jazz guitarist/bass guitarist Jerome Harris ’73. Jerome has published scholarly essays, toured on six continents, recorded with klezmer clarinet virtuoso David Krakauer, and worked with three NEA Jazz Masters including the legendary tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins. 

-By Jacquelyn Swearingen '73 and Jerome Harris '73

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WEDNESDAY, 2/4, 7:00 - 8:00PM ET, ON ZOOM.

Meet Our Bridges is ClassACT HR73’s way to introduce our classmates and extended community to our Bridge Partners by letting them create awareness of their mission as well as solicit volunteer help and/or donations.

On February fourth, join us for a behind-the-scenes preview of the United Nations Association of Greater Boston and their 2025 Annual Report, featuring an inside look at how UNAGB empowers more than 5,000 students each year through Model UN and global education programs. During this session, UNAGB will walk participants through each of its core bodies of work, including youth leadership development, curriculum-based global learning programs, and community partnerships, while sharing new impact insights, student outcomes, and stories from across Greater Boston. The webinar will also highlight UNAGB’s vision for continued program growth and broader regional reach leading up to 2030, as the organization deepens its commitment to cultivating the next generation of globally minded leaders and civic changemakers.

Founded to advance understanding of the United Nations and its mission at the local level, UNAGB engages students and community members in learning experiences that build skills in diplomacy, negotiation, public speaking, and collaborative problem-solving, all grounded in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Participants will gain a firsthand look at how Model UN programming fosters empathy, cross-cultural awareness, and civic responsibility, and how UNAGB is expanding access to these transformative educational opportunities across diverse school and community settings.

Voices of Democracy: Our Efforts, Our Stories

On the eve of the 250th anniversary of the birth of our country, ClassACT HR73 has chosen an overall focus for the year’s activities: Democracy @250. In addition to planned democracy-themed events and activities, we are featuring a new section of our monthly newsletter, “Voices of Democracy.” We want to hear from you, whether Democrat, Republican or Independent, about your efforts to promote democratic values, ideas and actions during these challenging times. Many of our classmates and friends are working locally in their neighborhoods, communities, and volunteer organizations. Others are working on a state or national scale. Some write, some march, some speak, some create. All contribute. Each month we will tell the stories of one or two of these efforts through video and other visual arts along with written articles. So please share with us how you are channeling your energies and actions to promote democracy and the continuing formation of a “more perfect union.” Please click below to fill out an informational form and we will be in touch with you.

Sign up here

*Please note: The views and opinions expressed by classmates in our Voices of Democracy Series are those of the individual, and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of ClassACT HR73. This month we feature two classmates, Peter Olney and Ryan O’Connell. Read Ryan’s description of his newsletter on Substack.

The Wall Street Democrat by Ryan O’Connell '73

Read Ryan's recent article on Venezuela

Read Ryan's article on Ukraine

I launched my Wall Street Democrat newsletter in 2015 to fill a gap that I saw in the media. I offer an alternative “take” on key political events and trends, as a counterpoint to voices on the left and the right that often dominate press coverage. I provide a moderate Democratic perspective, often criticizing politicians from both parties. I spent my career on Wall Street, as a lawyer and then an analyst, so I frequently comment on economic and market trends as well as politics. You can subscribe to my articles free of charge on Substack (wallstreetdemocrat.substack.com).

Peter Olney '73 Click on the image below to hear Peter’s thoughts on the current political climate and his long involvement with the labor movement in this country. Video created by Rick Brotman '73.

Missed our 12/9 Meet Our Bridges webinar introducing KidsCareEverywhere? You can watch the recording (edited by Rick Brotman '73) here, and view Ron Dieckmann '73 and Margie Hogan's slides from the webinar here. 

December 2025 ClassACTions Newsletter

Highlights Include:

-Voices of Democracy: Our Classmates and Friends, with Ryan O'Connell '73 and Peter Olney '73

-Environment & Climate Change Working Group Updates

-Save the Date: 1/26 Culture Counts: The Arts and Humanities in Our Time Forum

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