Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Health & Society
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Health & Society

University Trustee Christine Larsen Funds Local Immigrant, Refugee Study

Friday, June 7, 2019, By Dana Cooke
Share
campus and communityfacultyMaxwell School of Citizenship and Public AffairsPhilanthropyresearchStudents
four people standing

From left are Vincent Dopulos, Christine Larsen, and their daughters Phoebe and Katherine

Beginning this summer, the Maxwell School’s Community Geography Program will conduct a comprehensive assessment of community needs and assets among immigrants and refugees in the Syracuse area. That study is being funded by a gift of more than $110,000 from Syracuse University Trustee Christine Larsen, her husband Vincent Dopulos and their daughters Katherine and Phoebe.

The pilot study is designed to directly engage immigrant communities and the organizations that work on their behalves, to investigate questions of housing, health, education, recreation and workforce participation. After basic, existing data are assembled this summer, student interns will work through the fall to meet remaining data needs. The students will then create a report to be presented next spring to the refugee and immigrant communities and to organizations that support them. The students’ work will be guided by Jonnell Robinson, associate professor of geography and director of the Community Geography Program, with Jamie Winders, professor of geography, also participating.

Winders says that one of the great benefits of the project is the research opportunities it affords students. “This kind of ‘bottom-up approach’ to engaged scholarship gives our students incredible opportunities to take the skills and perspectives they learn in our classroom into the wider world,” she says. “In this way, they support the missions of the local organizations working with and serving Syracuse’s ‘New Americans.’”

The project also serves Community Geography’s larger purpose: making research capabilities at the Maxwell School available in service of the local community. “Many of the organizations working with immigrant and refugee communities in Syracuse just don’t have the bandwidth or resources to do a deep dive into what they see as the most pressing issues and questions related to these communities,” Winders says.

Larsen says that the gift, given by Dopulos, herself and their children, resulted from family discussions around shared values. The Larsen/Dopulos family has long supported Syracuse-area refugees through Hopeprint, a nonprofit based on the North Side of Syracuse, providing support services to the 12,000-15,000 refugees now estimated to be settled in the city and its environs. The organization is focused on the immediate post-resettlement time period, connecting new refugees with community resources that exist to support them.

“Our hearts are with these new Americans,” Larsen says. “We approached Maxwell to help us create a program that promotes positive connections between the University and this local population.”

Larsen recently retired as chief operations officer of First Data, a position she’d held since June 2013. She led the company’s global operations, overseeing 13,000 employees. She was previously executive vice president at JPMorgan Chase & Co. and a managing director at Citigroup. She is a 1984 graduate of Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies (iSchool), with a master’s degree in library and information science. She is a member of the University’s Board of Trustees and chair of its Academic Affairs Committee, and serves on the iSchool’s Board of Advisors. Her daughter, Katherine, is a current graduate student at the iSchool.

  • Author

Dana Cooke

  • Recent
  • ‘ADA Live!’ Focuses on Protection and Advocacy Systems for People with Disabilities
    Sunday, February 28, 2021, By News Staff
  • Hilda A. Frimpong Becomes the First Black Student to Lead Syracuse Law Review
    Saturday, February 27, 2021, By Robert Conrad
  • Important Update for Flexible Spending Accounts
    Friday, February 26, 2021, By News Staff
  • Message From Dean of Students Marianne Thomson
    Friday, February 26, 2021, By News Staff
  • CAS in Intercollegiate Athletic Advising and Support Addresses Unique Needs of College Student-Athletes
    Thursday, February 25, 2021, By Jennifer Russo

More In Health & Society

CAS in Intercollegiate Athletic Advising and Support Addresses Unique Needs of College Student-Athletes

The Department of Higher Education in the School of Education is expanding their curriculum offerings to prepare current and future higher education professionals (e.g., advisors, administrators and coaches) to learn how to support and advocate for the success of intercollegiate…

Boost Your Immune System With These Expert Tips (and Recipes!)

A healthy immune system is important throughout the year, but even more so during cold and flu season and while we remain at-risk of contracting COVID-19. In honor of National Nutrition Month, celebrated in March, we tapped into campus experts…

Application Deadline Approaching: Five Reasons to Be a Barnes Center at The Arch Peer Educator

The deadline to apply to be a Barnes Center at The Arch Peer Educator for the 2021-22 academic year is Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021, and all students are encouraged to submit an application. Students who are interested in applying for…

CRS Professor’s New Book Focuses on the Rhetoric of Antisemitism

Amos Kiewe, a professor in the College of Visual and Performing Arts’ Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies (CRS), has authored the new book, “The Rhetoric of Antisemitism: From the Origins of Christianity and Islam to the Present” (Lexington Books). It…

Spring 2021: Barnes Center at The Arch Services and Hours; Virtual Recreation Jan. 30–Feb. 4   

As the Spring 2021 semester begins, the Barnes Center at The Arch announces hours, services and more surrounding holistic health and well-being. Visit the Stay Safe: Barnes Center at The Arch webpage for information surrounding how to access services, resources…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2021 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.