UConn’s Commitment to the Principles of Civic Action
We empower our students, faculty, staff and community partners to co-create mutually respectful partnerships in pursuit of a just, equitable, and sustainable future for communities beyond the campus― nearby and around the world.
We prepare our students for lives of engaged citizenship, with the motivation and capacity to deliberate, act, and lead in pursuit of the public good.
We embrace our responsibilities as place based institutions, contributing to the health and strength of our communities― economically, socially, environmentally, educationally, and politically.
We harness the capacity of our institutions― through research, teaching, partnerships, and institutional practice― to challenge the prevailing social and economic inequalities that threaten our democratic future.
We foster an environment that consistently affirms the centrality of the public purposes of higher education by setting high expectations for members of the campus community to contribute to their achievement.
PEP History
Cheryl Czuba, formerly a UConn Extension Educator, developed and led the program for several years before retiring. Then Cathleen T. Love, Ph.D., UConn Professor of Extension oversaw the program. When Cathy retired in June 2020, Faye Griffiths-Smith, Associate Extension Educator in Family Economics and Resource Management, became the program administrator. The UConn PEP program has graduated over 3,110 participants in 25 years.
The UConn Extension People Empowering People Program celebrated our 25TH ANNIVERSARY in 2021!
What PEP is all about from Cherry Czuba and Dr. Cathleen Love
The Women Behind PEP – Cherry Czuba (left) & Cathleen Love (right)
