Events
PROGRESS Teach-In Event: Uniting Community Members, Faculty, & Students Around Gun Violence Prevention Research
April 15th, 2025
The Prevent Gun Violence: Research, Empowerment, Strategies & Solutions (PROGRESS) initiative held a teach-in at the University of Maryland as a way to bring together students, staff, and community-based organizations. This event provided an open forum for concerned members of the UMD community to voice their concerns. The event also displayed student artwork symbolically depicting gun violence from the 2023 Sadat Art for Justice and Peace Competition.
Below were some topics discussed:
- What is the best way for students to get involved in the Gun Violence Prevention Movement and research?
- What is the biggest gap that students, faculty and community organizations face between gun violence research and the public?
- What are groups doing on and off campus?
- How is gun violence interconnected with various research disciplines (i.e. Education, Health, Family Science, Criminology, etc.)?
We would like to thank and uplift the organizations that took the time to speak at our event:
- Unlocked Project
- Young Chances Foundation
- Violence Reduction Center
- Black Health Research Lab
- UMD Students Demand Action
- Moms Demand Action
- Enough of Gun Violence
- Guns Down Friday
 UMD Students Demand Action |  Dr. Richardson (left) & Dr. Kessel’s (right) opening remarks at the Teach-In event |
 Dr. Richardson (middle) with PROGRESS volunteers and research assistants |  Black Health Research Lab |
 Artwork (provided courtesy of UMD's Sadat Chair): Neverending (2023) Mary Mena |  Violence Reduction Center |