Eagle 2 Eagle Facebook Group

On March 28, 2020 Houston Community College Director of Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Ravi Brahmbhatt, created a Facebook group, called Eagle 2 Eagle.

The group was modeled after a social app of the same name, created during the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. The original app provided a mechanism for HCC students and faculty to provide peer-to-peer aid in a time of crisis. The Eagle 2 Eagle Facebook page does the same thing. HCC Faculty, Administration, and members of the Board of Trustees regularly post and comment. Topics include community support, financial aid, Summer registration, group fun, important information, tech help, requests, textbooks, guidance on the pass/fail procedure, advising, mental health, Fall registration, and many more.

The group is a private Facebook group, requiring an HCC email and moderator approval in order to keep out spam and trolls. As of today, April 29, 2020, the group has grown to 1,245 current members, with 1,216 total active members, between 500 and 750 active every day. The group continues to add dozens of new members each day. There are 17 moderators and 423 posts, garnering 2,778 comments and 3,543 reactions. Ravi has created 4 “educational units” with basic information to help students with the transition to online. Users are broadly distributed across age groups and geographical regions.

In addition, Ravi created a “mentoring” program within the page. There are currently 23 mentors, 11 of whom have been paired with a student seeking a mentor. 3 members are currently seeking mentors. The mentoring opportunity offers a deeper support system than the group.

The Eagle 2 Eagle Facebook group demonstrates the positive way social media can be used to provide support and assistance for students handling a difficult transition to online learning.

Location: Houston, TX, USA
More Information: https://www.facebook.com/groups/eagle2eagle/