Nadiya Omar, 2nd year Administration student, gave an invited presentation on a panel sponsored by the United Nations NGO Committee on Ageing in November. The theme of the panel was “The Impact of Natural Disasters on Older Persons.” Nadiya focused on the impact of the floods in Pakistan on older persons. She is doing her field placement with the IASSW team at the United Nations.

University of Connecticut head football coach Randy Edsall announced his decision on Thursday to create a charitable event to benefit at-risk kids in the Hartford Public School system.

The event will be called The Randy Edsall Golf Classic presented by Farmington Bank and is being created in the memory of former UConn player Jasper Howard. Jasper was a terrific young man and a vital member of the UConn football team from 2007 to 2009. His life was tragically cut short in 2009 when he was fatally stabbed on campus.

In his memory, Edsall has created this event to raise dollars urgently needed by Early Start for Success – a collaborative project, targeting at-risk kids, organized by the UConn School of Social Work and the Hartford Public School System.

The program works to improve school attendance, reduce suspensions, increase academic engagement and achievement, and increase parental involvement in youngsters’ lives. Sponsor dollars from this event will go to the UConn Foundation, Inc. and be used by this critically important program.

“The fact that Coach Edsall has endorsed the program and designated it as one of the things he wants to commit to gives it a lot of visibility, and gives us a chance to generate more funding,” says Catherine Havens, an assistant professor and associate dean at the School of Social Work. “The funding generated will help the program move forward and, perhaps, allow us to add new components.”

The Randy Edsall Golf Classic presented by Farmington Bank will bring together some of the greatest names in sports and entertainment next July 18, 2011 for a day of competitive golf at the Golf Club of Avon. All playing positions will be sold as part of sponsorship packages.