On his first morning in London, University student Gregory Hillman was reading a book over coffee when a man walked into the café and stole two drinks off the counter. The owner told him to leave. He did. Nobody called the police. 

Hillman asked her if that happened often. Almost every day, she said. 

“There’s a different tolerance with the unhoused, I think, in London than in different cities in the U.S.,” Hillman said. 

Hillman, a student in the School of Social Work, was one of seven students who traveled to London this summer with Dean Lillian Wichinsky and Brandon Ford, assistant dean of operations. It was the School’s first global engagement program, built in partnership with the College of Business. Cultural and professional experiences like this are part of an effort to increase students’ global experiences and prepare them for a global workforce. The experiences were inspired by the Wolf Pack Rising Strategic Plan, which has a strategic goal of "Transform the World." 

Dean Lillian Wichinsky on student trip to London. 

“Global engagement in London gave our students an opportunity to experience the diversity of our world firsthand,” Wichinsky said. “Students gained a deeper understanding of the challenges countries face and the different ways those challenges are addressed. It opens their eyes to new ways of thinking.”

Over five days, the students observed how social services in England are organized and how that compares with practice in the United States. The group met with the Family Rights Group to discuss child welfare, attended a lecture at Goldsmiths, University of London, visited the Royal British Legion and attended a course at a Recovery and Wellbeing College in North Kensington before meeting social workers at Argo House.  

At the Family Rights Group, the students learned about an approach to child welfare that places greater emphasis on keeping children connected to their families before considering removal. They heard about a process that includes children in conversations about what they want and brings people they trust, such as teachers, neighbors, grandparents and friends, into the discussion. 

Mackenzie Martinez, a sophomore from Reno, said the approach felt different from what she has seen in the United States. 

“I don’t think that we sit down with kids and mediate a conversation with the people in their lives,” Martinez said. “In the U.S., it’s just so fast-paced. We’re just going down the list, and they’re more pausing, taking a moment to ask the children how they feel.” 

For Hillman, who was in the foster system himself before being adopted, and who later served in the Marine Corps, the comparison raised questions about what can be lost when a child is removed from a difficult situation. 

“In America, we have this immediate desire to remove a child from a potential negative environment,” he said. “And sometimes it happens so swiftly that not a lot of energy is given to the thought that we’re pulling them out of their entire system, whether that’s school, family, church.” 

In other areas, the students had expected England to be further ahead than it was.  

At the Royal British Legion, the United Kingdom’s largest veterans charity, the students learned what services are available to former service members there. 

“Social work happens everywhere, every day, regardless of time zone, continent, religion, race. It happens every single day, and there’s so much more to explore.” – Mackenzie Martinez

“It seems like that organization is doing more for the veterans in the U.K. than the actual government,” Hillman said. “They don’t get the benefits that we get.” 

Martinez had expected the British system to be further ahead. 

“I think we expected them to be worlds better than what we have here,” Martinez said. “And I think it was about the same, or maybe even worse in some cases.” 

At the Recovery and Wellbeing College, which offers free and low-cost courses on mental health, grief and self-care, the students attended a class and then met the social workers who teach and run the program. 

“That moment was so valuable because it shows us examples of people who have been in this career and love it and are just good people,” Martinez said. “My future is clear. I can see it, and they’ve done it.” 

The school had been working toward the trip since 2022, modeled after the College of Business’ program that sends students abroad every year. It offers social work students the same opportunity.  

“One thing I’m always told is that social work students can’t afford this, they can’t afford that,” Ford said. “Why can’t social work students have the same opportunities given to them?” 

The School of Social Work provided scholarship support for each student through a grant.  

Martinez arrived a week early with her mother. Neither of them had traveled outside the United States before, and her mother flew home before the program began. Martinez said she had not expected a program like this to be within reach. 

“I didn’t even think that something like this would be accessible to someone in Reno, Nevada, going to school and going to London with their school,” she said. 

The school is now developing an accredited undergraduate elective with Melody Huslage, Ph.D., assistant professor, School of Social Work, so students participating in the 2027 program can earn credit toward their degrees.

The School of Social Work plans to return to London next summer. 

For Martinez, the trip left her thinking about the profession beyond the boundaries of Reno or the United States. 

“Social work happens everywhere, every day, regardless of time zone, continent, religion, race,” she said. “It happens every single day, and there’s so much more to explore.”