Breaking the Bubble
A Community Conversation Series
Breaking the Bubble is a community conversation series co-sponsored by the University's Office for Residential Life and Housing Services and the Center for Community Engagement. Breaking the Bubble seeks to burst the implicit “bubble” that quite literally envelops the University, separating the students from their surrounding host community and its challenges. The series highlights timely issues of interest to both the University's community and the general 91Ô´´ community - particularly focusing on 91Ô´´'s southwest neighborhoods, adjacent to the University's River Campus. These events are free and open to anyone who is interested in making an impact, bringing change, and giving back to the community that hosts the Rochester.
Upcoming Events
Past Events
2025-2026 Series
Story Seeds: Growing Home at the Farmers Market
Combining personal memoir, scholarship, and more than 200 stories, interviews, and photographs, Story Seeds: Growing Home at the Farmers Market takes the reader on a journey under and between the rows of canopy tents in the parking lot of the 32nd Street Farmers Market in Baltimore, Maryland.
TRUMP 2.0: Immigration and the Ripple Effects on Communities
As the Trump administration continues to target marginalized communities, it is more important to understand what is happening at the federal level, what we can do at the state and local level and how to come together to support our communities, neighbors and friends.
#FundTheYouth: Increasing Grant Accessibility for Youth-Led Mental Health Initiatives
Aliza Lopez, Sophmore,majoring in Health, Behavior and Society and Statistics with a Minor in Legal Studies
2024-2025 Series
Finding Common Ground in Polarizing Times
Erin Thompson, Executive Director of the MK Gandhi Institute
2023-2024 Series
Cycling as Transportation in 91Ô´´
Jesse Peers, Cycling Manager, Reconnect 91Ô´´
Tracey Austin, Alternative Transportation Coordinator, 91Ô´´
Building Community Through 91Ô´´'s Westside Farmer's Market
Jackie Farrell, Manager (retired), Westside Farmers Market
Jessica DiSalvo, Manager (active)Westside Farmers Market
Indigenous Conversations
Ronalyn (Ronnie) Pollack, Executive Director of the Native American Cultural Center
School Data Matters
Dr. Shanai Lee, Founder and Executive Director of READY
2022-2023 Series
A Recipe for Food Security
Panelist Leslie Knox, Director, Taproot
Panelist Asimi Coleman, WFM, Taproot
Panelist Laura Ballou, UR Food Pantry
What Makes 91Ô´´ the Most Neighborly City? How can I Become Engaged
Dana Miller, Deputy Commissioner of Neigborhood and Business Development, City of 91Ô´´
Charles Reaves, Administrator Southwest Neighborhood Service Center, City of 91Ô´´
Bridging Neighborhood through Creative Community Engagement
Suzanne Maier, Founder, Sirius Change LLC
Shawn Dunwoody, Creative Public Engagement Director
2021-2022 Series
Building Community Control: How City Roots Community Land Trust is Combating Gentrification with Community Owned Land
Graham Hughes, City Roots Community Land Trust
Fostering Accessible Play Through Community Engagement
Calvin Eaton, 540WMain, Inc.
Suzan Hoffman ’22 (E5)
CampusROC & Helping Students Fall in Love with Greater 91Ô´´
Click here for the CampusROC presentation
Barb Egenhofer, Director of Talent Strategy, ROC2025
Julia Pagano, Talent Strategy Coordinator, CampusROC
2020-2021 Series
Lentory Johnson, local activist
Ashley Gantt, Free the People Roc
Zola Brown, President of the 19th Ward Community Association
Dorian Hall, President of the PLEX Neighborhood Association
Moniek Silas-Lee, Principal at Dr. Charles T. Lunsford School No. 19
Jean Pedersen, Associate Professor of History and of Humanities, Eastman School of Music, 91Ô´´
Annie Rosenow ‘22, Chair, Voter Outreach Subcommittee, Committee for Political Engagement, 91Ô´´ Center for Community Leadership
Barbara Grosh, Director of Voter Services, League of Women Voters of the Rochester Metropolitan Area
2019-2020 Series
Maria Furgiuele, Executive Director, the Community Design Center 91Ô´´
Bridging Silos: Collaborating for Environmental Health and Justice in Urban Communities
Katrina Korfmacher, PhD, associate professor of environmental medicine, 91Ô´´
Introduction to Addressing Structural Racism and Building Community
Loriane Ngarambe, RMAPI community engagement specialist
Community Engagement through the Lens of Barbershops and Salons
Wille Lightfoot, 91Ô´´ City Council vice president and owner, New Creations Unisex Shop
Wade Davis, owner, Wade & Me Barbershop
Andre Morrison, owner, Andre's Barbershop
Dr. Desjamebra Robinson, NYS cosmetologist
Working Towards Climate Justice in 91Ô´´
Abby McHugh-Grifa, executive director of 91Ô´´ People's Climate Coalition
Calvin Eaton, Founding executive director of 540 WMain Inc.
Hridesh Singh, leadership member of 91Ô´´ Youth Climate Leaders
2018-2019 Series
Yoga 4 a Good Hood
Imani Olear, founder, and pastor, Reformation Lutheran Church
How to Run for Office
Gary Pudup, former political candidate and campaign manager
Refugees Helping Refugees
Sadiya Omar, Pio Moller, and Pam Adams, Refugees Helping Refugees, Inc.
91Ô´´’s Music Scene
Jeff Spevak, local arts writer and 91Ô´´ Democrat and Chronicle pop/rock critic
2017-2018 Series
Toward Urban Education Success: East EPO
Lorna Washington, assistant superintendent, East EPO
Re-Energizing the Legacy of Frederick Douglass
Carvin Eison, 91Ô´´ Community TV and SUNY Brockport, and Bleu Cease, executive director, 91Ô´´ Contemporary Art Center
Strengthen the Rochester Community through National Service
Panel of National Service Members including Matthew Trombley and Jeiri Flores
91Ô´´ Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative
Dr. Leonard Brock, executive director
2016-2017 Series
Incarceration Nation: The US and Mass Incarceration
Joshua Dubler, 91Ô´´ assistant professor of religion, founder and director of the Rochester Prison Education Project
Join the Conversation: Health, Hunger, and Food Banks
Mitch Gruber, chief program officer at Foodlink
Re-Humanizing 91Ô´´: The Past, Present, and Future of 91Ô´´’s Transportation System
Mike Governale, Reconnect 91Ô´´, and Erik Frisch, transportation specialist, City of 91Ô´´
A Conversation with Mayor Lovely Warren: Believe in 91Ô´´
City of 91Ô´´ Mayor Lovely Warren