[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 133 (Thursday, November 18, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2064]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E2064]]
       TRIBUTE TO KANSAS PROFESSOR OF THE YEAR TAMARA AGHA-JAFFAR

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. DENNIS MOORE

                               of kansas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 18, 2004

  Mr. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to Dr. Tamara Agha-
Jaffar of Kansas City Community College, who today is receiving the 
Professor of the Year Award for Kansas from the Council for Advancement 
and Support of Education, CASE, and the Carnegie Foundation for the 
Advancement of Teaching.
  Since 1981, the U.S. Professors of the Year program has rewarded 
outstanding professors for their dedication to teaching, commitment to 
students and innovative instructional methods. It is the only national 
program to recognize college and university professors for their 
teaching skills. The program is sponsored by CASE and The Carnegie 
Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, which hosts the final round 
of judging and sponsors the cash award given to U.S. national winners. 
CASE works with Carnegie and 26 other higher education associations to 
direct and promote the program.
  The primary characteristic the judges consider is an extraordinary 
dedication to undergraduate teaching, which should be demonstrated by 
excellence in the following areas:
  Impact on and involvement with undergraduate students;
  Scholarly approach to teaching and learning;
  Contributions to under-graduate education in the institution, 
community, and profession; and
  Support from colleagues and current and former undergraduate 
students.
  Tamara Agha-Jaffar, Ph.D., has been a full time faculty member in the 
English Department of the Kansas City Kansas Community College since 
1987. A graduate of the Beirut College for Women and the American 
University of Beirut, with a Ph.D. in English literature from 
Washington State University, she previously was an instructor at the 
University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Johnson County, Kansas, 
Community College. During the most recent academic year she has taught 
courses in composition, world mythology, introduction to women's 
studies, world literature, and women in literature. She also has been 
active in organizations serving our community, including: the LULAC/USD 
500 Latino Task Force; the Joyce Williams Shelter and Safehome, both 
serving battered women; the Kaw Valley Children's Center; and the 
Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault.
  I am proud to represent Dr. Tamara Agha-Jaffar in Congress and I 
commend to my colleagues the personal statement which she submitted to 
CASE as a part of her nomination process for this award. I include it 
in the Record and I hope that all who read it will be as inspired by it 
as I was.

                Personal Statement of Tamara Agha-Jaffar

       It was some time in 1994. I was in my office with one of my 
     Composition 2 students. She had been very distraught during 
     class, so I did what I am prone to do: I invited her to my 
     office to talk. I listened as this young, intelligent, 
     articulate female sobbed quietly and blurted out her story. 
     Her boyfriend had woken her up at dawn that morning, placed a 
     loaded gun in her mouth, and threatened to pull the trigger. 
     He had terrorized her in this manner for several hours before 
     allowing her to leave. Then, to my utter amazement, this 
     young, intelligent woman proceeded to find ways of blaming 
     herself for this horrifying experience. My jaw dropped.
       I teach at Kansas City Kansas Community College, an urban 
     college located in an economically distressed community. Over 
     60% of our students are female. Many of our students have to 
     contend with previous or current drug abuse, single 
     parenthood, sexual abuse, gangs, violence, and economic 
     hardship. I have yet to experience a semester in which I 
     haven't had at least one student in some sort of social, 
     psychological, emotional, or economic crisis. But that 
     morning in 1994 was different. I experienced an epiphany of 
     sorts. I realized that as an educator, I have a moral, 
     social, and ethical obligation to do more than just offer 
     compassion and a Kleenex to my students as I hear their 
     heart-wrenching stories. I didn't know what I could do, but I 
     was determined to find out. Several months and a labyrinth of 
     procedures and committees later, Women's Studies at KCKCC was 
     born. I have been teaching the course since 1995. Students 
     who successfully complete it tell me it is a transformative 
     experience. They leave the class armed with knowledge, voice, 
     a greater sense of empowerment, and increased self-esteem. My 
     immersion in the subject matter of Women's Studies and 
     subsequent volunteer activities inform my life and influence 
     the pedagogy and content of all the classes I teach.
       I include service-learning as an optional assignment in my 
     Women's Studies class. Because I wanted to increase my 
     effectiveness as a teacher, in 1998, I embarked on my own 
     extensive volunteer training program. I learned to respond to 
     crisis situations at the Metropolitan Organization to Counter 
     Sexual Assault, at two local shelters for battered women, and 
     at the Kaw Valley Children's Center for abused and/or 
     neglected children. My volunteer work at the battered women's 
     shelter prompted me to seek and establish a two-year 
     scholarship for tuition and books for eligible shelter 
     residents. I taught survival skills classes at the shelter 
     and to homeless women at a local church. Students in all 
     my classes are demonstrably impacted when I share stories 
     that I have heard through my volunteer activities.
       Student testimonials and evaluations of Women's Studies 
     reinforced what I already knew to be true: the empowering 
     impact of its subject matter. My desire to make this material 
     available to others served as the catalyst for initiating a 
     new form of collaboration with an area high school. In 2002, 
     as a result of my efforts, KCKCC started offering two women's 
     studies classes for college credit at the high school 
     location. Although tuition is comparatively modest at the 
     college, I knew it would be an issue for these students, most 
     of whom would be the first generation in their families to 
     take a college class. So I successfully authored a grant to 
     cover the cost of their tuition and books. My goal in this 
     venture was fourfold: to expose high school students to 
     material that is empowering and immediately relevant to their 
     lives; to encourage them to continue with their education 
     after high school; to demonstrate that their community 
     college faculty care and are eager to work with them should 
     they decide to pursue their education; and to impress upon 
     them that they can succeed in an institution of higher 
     learning.
       As a faculty member at a community college, I am called 
     upon to perform many roles. Through them all, I try to 
     impress upon my students the benefits, importance, relevance, 
     and transformative power of a good education. I listen to 
     their voices; offer support, encouragement, and compassion; 
     provide course material that is empowering and relevant to 
     their lives; and continuously seek new ways to extend means, 
     access, and opportunity to those who have been historically 
     marginalized.
       A lot has happened since that day in 1994 when I first 
     heard that young woman's story. I have changed. The college 
     has changed. And my students have changed. Over the years, I 
     have seen an increase in the number of students in crisis. Or 
     maybe it is because they seem to flock to my classes and 
     office in increasing numbers. As always, I listen to their 
     stories. But now I do more than just offer compassion and a 
     Kleenex. I am better trained and better equipped to provide 
     the guidance, direction, resources, encouragement, and 
     support they need to move forward with their lives.
       As for that young woman who served as the catalyst for my 
     personal and professional odyssey--I convinced her to phone 
     her parents before she left my office that day and to tell 
     them what had transpired. She was smiling the next time she 
     came to class. Her father and older brother had helped her to 
     move back home, and, with their support, she was pressing 
     charges against her former boyfriend.

                          ____________________