Yun Garrison, associate professor of psychology, was honored on March 8 with the Lee Young Leadership Award from the YWCA of Central Maine. The award, given for excellence in professional, community, civic, or artistic leadership, was awarded to Garrison in recognition for her community-engaged work, including the Ka Bogso initiative and her community art installation, Lewiston is Our Hope.

Ka Bogso, which Garrison co-leads with Fowsia Musse, executive director of Maine Community Integration, uses storytelling and visual arts toward healing from traumatic events that impact refugee women. The resulting work was shown on campus at Olin Arts Center in 2024 and in Lewiston at Munka Studio.

The Lewiston is Our Hope project is a community art installation involving 400 small wood circles on which community members created art that represents hope — individual and communal. Participants ranged from age 2 to 92.

Garrison, who joined Bates in 2020, was granted tenure this year, and received the Award for Outstanding Community Project from the Harward Center for Community Partnerships in 2025. Garrison’s work in and out of the classroom centers on psychological well-being and vocational outcomes among people of color and immigrant and refugee communities. 

Garrison and Musse continue to team up for public speaking engagements, including on March 26 at the Great Falls Forum at the Lewiston Public Library. Their presentation was titled “Be Healed (Ka Bogso): Posttraumatic Healing and Growth for Somali Refugee Women.” 

Faculty Featured

Yunkyoung Garrison

Assistant Professor of Psychology