On Thursday, August 27th, 2020 from 7:30 PM EDT to 9:00 PM EDT, Alumni Relations and Academic Affairs present: Spotlight on Rising Changemakers featuring three recent alumni who are living Horace Mann’s dreams that we win victories for humanity in conversation with VP for Academic Affairs and Associate Professor of History Dr. Kevin McGruder.
Spotlight on Excellence is a live video series presented by the Offices of Alumni Relations and Academic Affairs featuring prominent Antiochians in casual conversation with members of the campus community followed by a Q & A with participants. Previous guests have included Judge LaDoris Cordell ’71 and Julia Reichert ’70. Recordings of previously presented events can be found on the Spotlight for Excellence page..
The upcoming Spotlight on Excellence — Spotlight on Rising Changemakers — will feature Perri Freeman ’15, Amelia Gonzalez ’17 and Eric Rhodes ’16.
Register for the event on the Antioch College Alumni Association website.
About the Changemakers
Perri Freeman ‘15 started their community activism while studying History at Antioch College. After graduating in 2015, Freeman moved to Burlington, VT, and began working part-time as personal caregiver and a community organizer on issues such as the minimum wage, universal healthcare, environmental racism, and immigration rights. They were elected to the Burlington City Council as a Progressive Party candidate in March 2019. They ran on a platform focusing on the intersection of environmental justice and socioeconomic issues and unseated a 19-year incumbent to win the election. Since being elected to Burlington City Council, Freeman has worked to declare a climate emergency for the city of Burlington, passed a policy that restricts local law enforcement from collaborating with federal immigration enforcement agencies, created a task force to study reparations for American descendants of slavery, and pushed to make significant changes to the Burlington Police Department, including reducing the number of sworn officers by 30 percent. Freeman continues to organize around community justice issues on the local, state, and national level in a volunteer capacity and works full time at a long-term care facility in downtown Burlington.
Amelia Gonzalez ‘17 lives in Harlem, NY, working for Soka Gakkai International-USA (SGI-USA) as a social media specialist. Amelia grew up in the Bay Area and later moved to New York. After graduating from Antioch College, she worked as a healing justice intern for the American Friends Service Committee and Echoes of Incarceration, creating short films highlighting the power of young people whose parents had been incarcerated or were undocumented, similar to her personal experience. Currently working for SGI-USA, a community-based Buddhist practice for real life, Amelia’s work engages in various peace activities, including human rights education, the movement to abolish nuclear weapons, and efforts to promote sustainable development.
Eric Rhodes ‘16 is a fellow at Lamar University’s Center for History and Culture. After graduating from Antioch in 2016, Eric earned his MA in history at Miami University and taught at the University of Angers in France. His written work has been published in Belt Magazine, The Metropole, Tropics of Meta, and in numerous books. Eric lives and works in New York City.
