Erin Gruwell is the uplifting educator who inspired the film, Freedom Writers, based on her experiences as a teacher in Long Beach, California and the book of her student’s journal entries entitled, The Freedom Writers Diary. Gruwell came to Chapman with the help and support from the Wilkinson College of Education, the Leadership Program, along with several other departments on campus. Student, Sara Hilecher, after learning about Erin Gruwell as a transformational leader in one of her leadership classes, was inspired to get Gruwell to come to Champan’s campus. Hilecher was in awe of how Gruwell was an ordinary person who made such a huge difference. After stalking down the foundation for about a year, and speaking with Gruwell’s assistants, Hilecher finally succeeded in bringing Gruwell to campus last Tuesday evening. The photo below shows Erin Gruwell (left), Lead & IES professor, Kim Padulo (middle), and student, Sara Hilecher (right).
Gruwell met with students currently enrolled in LEAD 320, and then gave a motivating and touching talk about her work to a room full of excited students and faculty. Gruwell revisited her experiences in Long Beach, taking the crowd back in time and recreating the scene of what was her first year as a teacher. Gruwell reflected on the fact that her students had so much hardship to face outside of the classroom, and how it made sense as to why they did not care about school. Chaos and pain were so much a part of their every day lives that they become numb. “My students cared about survival,” Gruwell told the crowd.
Gruwell explained the struggle she went through to figure out how to connect with her students and get on their level as a white middle class female. Gruwell took on the challenge with dignity and ingenuity. She did a walk the line activity to encourage the students to not only open up to her about their pain and harsh realities, but to open up to each other. Within the classroom, there were often people with different backgrounds and affiliations that really mattered. There was a lot of anger and animosity stemming from the Los Angeles Riots, which had a great impact on Long Beach. Gruwell explained how murder, death, and violence were a part of her students reality.
After the success of the walk the line activity, Gruwell bought all 150 of her students journals and encouraged them to write their stories. Gruwell reflected on this explaining that these students, who were deemed bad and dumb by all of the faculty and administration at her school, were incredible writers. “Picking up a pen changed their lives,” Gruwell explained. Gruwell emphasized how the power of writing is what enabled her students to take control over their stories. Journals were a safe place for her students to gain control over their lives that often seemed out of control.
Gruwell showed a few clips from the film “Freedom Writers”, as well as the trailer for the documentary about the Freedom Writers experience entitled, “Freedom Writers: Stories from an Undeclared War”. After explaining how rewarding it has been to still work with the original Freedom Writers every day via the Freedom Writers Foundation, Gruwell made her closing remarks. She emphasized that everyone can make a difference in education, and that stories are a powerful tool. Gruwell’s passion was radiating throughout the room, as she spoke emotionally and connected to members of the audience. She stressed to the audience, “ Own who you are and validate who you serve.” Gruwell’s message of perseverance and making a difference is incredibly powerful. Gruwell plans to come back to Chapman during the Spring 2016 semester along with some of the original Freedom Writers for another interactive conversation.