Jiménez, Detweiler Honored With Outreach Accolade
Art faculty receive award named for Jiménez’s father
By Ally O’Connor ‘20
At the 2018 SCU Convocation, two professors in the Department of Art and Art History, Pancho Jiménez and Kelley Detweiler, received the Professor Francisco Jiménez “Reaching Out” Award. The pair was recognized for their work in the creation and growth of an innovative high school outreach program they call the Community Initiatives for the Visual Arts (CIVA) Young Scholars Program.
Jiménez and Detweiler have collaborated for several years to bring high schoolers to campus for several weeks of instruction during the summer quarter, an effort underwritten by the Community Initiatives in the Visuals or "CIVA" Grant from the Hearst Foundation. High schoolers from San Jose’s Downtown College Preparatory and Cristo Rey High School participate in the program. The students get the opportunity to take collegiate-level art and writing courses at SCU, completely free of charge. According to Jiménez, the program serves to “demystify college and offer the high school students an experience whereby the idea of college becomes comfortable and familiar.”
The award, named to honor Jiménez’s father, Professor Emeritus Francisco Jimènez (Modern Languages and Literatures), comes as a “special surprise,” noted the ceramics sculpture professor.
Detweiler concurs, observing that he is “grateful that the University chose to highlight this special program.” Moreover, he claims that “even when I stop teaching, I really do hope the program can continue. Every summer when we walk away, we know that something good has happened.”
In her announcement of the award, College of Arts and Sciences Dean Debbie Tahmassebi noted that Jiménez and Detweiler developed the ambitious, five-week curriculum that brought to campus primarily LatinX students whose families have historically not continued to college. “In 2017, they added more students and expanded the curriculum for the program,” noted Tahmassebi. “They also recruited additional faculty to join the program, which allowed them to writing courses and printmaking to the curriculum.”
The summer program culminates each year with an exhibition of the students’ work. During lunchtime seminars, participants benefit from interactions with current SCU students and representatives from SCU’s Undergraduate Admission and Financial Aid offices, who explain SCU’s application and acceptance processes.
Detweiler is especially proud that the program helps students “acquire a certain degree of self-confidence, and improve skills of patience through the artistic process.”
Jiménez notes that although “it is an honor to be recognized, more than anything, I am grateful that this award recognizes the program and the values of the University.”
About the Francisco Jiménez Reaching Out Award
The Francisco Jiménez Reaching Out Award is awarded in recognition of faculty and staff who, through their actions and contributions to our local and/or global community, strive to serve society’s most disadvantaged and underserved members.