Vincent Rogers of Storrs, Connecticut, a longtime educator and faculty emeritus at the Neag School of Education, died Thursday, Dec. 3, at age 93. He died at home, surrounded by his loving family.

Today, we join the world in marking International Human Rights Day. Throughout this year, communities near and far have faced some of the most significant human rights challenges since the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.

Since the beginning of COVID-19, millions of students nationwide have been forced into online learning. Many of those experiences have been negative because of schools’ lack of preparation, because of some faculty not considering student needs, and because of financial stresses. Online learning is especially affecting students majoring in sciences, education, and the fine arts; international students and students living in different time zones; students from low-income families and students with disabilities.

The Neag School 2019-20 By the Numbers Report gives a high-level overview of the School’s highlights, points of pride, and accomplishments over the course of the 2019-20 academic year.

Congratulations to our Neag School alumni, faculty, staff, and students on their continued accomplishments inside and outside the classroom. If you have an accolade to share, we want to hear from you! Please send any news items and story ideas to neag-communications@uconn.edu.

The pandemic is bringing an atypical holiday season this year, presenting change in the things we do, the way we do them, and who we do them with. We may miss out on getting together in person with family and friends, traveling to cherished places, or taking part in our traditional celebrations. Forced upon us, these unfamiliar changes can evoke feelings of loss and frustration.

A group of researchers from the University of Connecticut’s Neag School of Education and UConn School of Medicine have received a $1 million grant from the Office of Special Education Programs to develop training for master’s students to address this problem. Professors Lisa Sanetti, Sandra Chafouleas, and Mary Beth Bruder have developed Interdisciplinary Preparation in Integrated and Intensive Practices (I3-PREP). The project is a multidisciplinary effort supported by UConn’s Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy (InCHIP), the Neag School of Education, the UConn School of Medicine.

Julie M. Wood ’71 (ED), ’72 MA, grateful for the safe haven that UConn gave her during the turbulent 1970s, recently decided to leave a planned gift to UConn to support research in an area close to her heart: children’s literacy. She has set up an endowment that will generate funding every year for a faculty member in the Neag School of Education to conduct research in effective practices to support children’s literacy development.

Each of the Neag School’s 2020 Alumni Award honorees represent the best and brightest in their field. It is our privilege to celebrate all that they have accomplished through their careers and their service to the community.

On the way home from a hip-hop education conference last year, Justis Lopez ’14 (ED), ’15 (MA) and his colleague Ryan Parker were unpacking what they had learned and what they were feeling that day. They started to freestyle rap and found themselves filled with joy, repeating the verse ‘I’m feeling so happy.’ Their freestyling turned into a song called “HAPPYVISM” that is now part of a greater initiative they have named Project Happyvism.