Justine Hastings was not expecting the phone call as she walked to her resident adviser training this semester. Syeisha Byrd, director of engagement programs at Hendricks Chapel, was on the other line with news that Hastings was one of Syracuse University’s 2020 Unsung Hero recipients.

The annual award is given to students, faculty, staff and members of the community that honor the values of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by making a positive difference in their community. Byrd received one of the 2019 Unsung Hero awards and is someone Hastings said she admires on campus.  

“I was just really honored to know that someone as influential and important as Syeisha was telling me herself that I had gotten this award,” Hastings said.

A junior at SU, Hastings is a secondary English education and English and textual studies major. She received the Unsung Hero award at the 35th annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration on Jan. 26 for her commitment to inspiring youth in her community through filmmaking, education and compassion, according to Syracuse University news.

Hastings grew up in Brooklyn with parents who immigrated from Jamaica. She recalled that they instilled values of hard work and education within her. Hastings realized, however, that many of her peers did not have the same support and opportunities she had.

Hastings said that in realizing this, she always tries to take advantage of all campus resources and to volunteer with a lot of organizations because some people do not have the chance to.

“She works with care and thoughtfulness with each person or group that she is involved with,” Kelly Chandler-Olcott said, professor in the School of Education and Hastings’ faculty advisor. “Her commitments are driven by a desire to give back and to learn more about meaningfully connecting with others as an aspiring educator.”

Hastings said she has been interested in pursuing education since middle school. Going to a predominantly white middle school, Hastings remembers when a student was making fun of Black people and when she approached her teacher about it, the teacher dismissed the issue as “just a joke.”

“I felt like if I had a teacher of color, or just a good teacher in general, they would have handled that situation extremely differently,” Hastings said. She said that her interest in education is inspired by how America lacks teachers of color, specifically Black female teachers.

“It’s so important to have that mentor figure growing up,” Hastings said. “I would want to be that mentor figure to someone else.”

As a volunteer academic coach for the Center for Learning and Student Success, Hastings also works at SU’s LGBT Resource Center. There, she facilitates Fusion, a biweekly discussion group for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, questioning and asexual people of color. 

Hastings said her favorite aspect of campus involvement is being a student research mentor at the Syracuse Office of Undergraduate Research & Creative Engagement. There, she helps undergraduate researchers with the process and content behind conducting research.

Justine Hastings received her Unsung Hero Award from Chancellor Kent Syverud at the 35th Annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration on Jan. 26. Lucy Messineo Witt | Staff Photographer

Kate Hanson, director of SOURCE, said she admires Hastings’ ability to communicate with students, faculty and community members.

“She is an excellent listener,” Hanson said. “She’s incredibly skilled and discussing difficult topics in an effective, compassionate way.”

Hastings recently earned a grant from SOURCE to create a documentary filmmaking program at the North Side Learning Center, a nonprofit organization that helps immigrant and refugees with literacy development. Hastings’ program offers a space for youth to learn different aspects of filmmaking.

At the NSLC, Hastings will also be conducting a case study on the high school students involved with her program.

She added that she is interested in observing English language learners as they collaborate, communicate and solve problems together to make a documentary film of their choice. Her goal is to show English teachers the influence of using different multimodal literacy practices, such as filmmaking, with students in the classroom. 

Hastings is still in the beginning planning process of her research, said Chandler-Olcott.

“She never loses sight of the big picture — what she’s learning and how it might contribute to solving vexing issues in our society, particularly as they relate to populations that have been marginalized in one way or another,” Chandler-Olcott said.

Hastings discovered her interest in filmmaking while working at a community television center after she graduated high school. Two summers ago, she was a filmmaking mentor at Writopia Lab, a nonprofit organization that holds creative writing workshops for children ages 6-18.

At Writopia Lab, she said she remembers working with a student who was creating a film about being Chinese American, portraying his isolation and phobia as he immigrated to the U.S. Working with the student, Hastings said his film helped him process his experiences growing up.

“That’s when I realized filmmaking was such a positive creative outlet that people can use to express important things about their identity, their lives and communities,” Hastings said.

Hastings is looking into applying to graduate school after graduation. She said she is interested in a higher education and student affairs administration program, with ideas of someday working as the director of a multicultural research center.

As Hastings works with a diverse range of students on campus, her volunteer work and educational work reflect the values and efforts of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Hastings said she admires that Dr. King did not just fight for Black people’s rights, but all people’s rights.

“He fought for the rights of all people, for people of all marginalized identities and that just kind of aligns with my mission,” Hastings said. “Inclusion is very important to me – it’s not just like this word I like to throw around. I genuinely believe all people should be valued – all people should feel included.”

 

Published on February 11, 2020 at 10:50 pm