october 2014 edition monthly newsletter from the
TRANSCRIPT
Highlights of The Month
The Mosa i c
Xpressions: Self Image Gallery Project The Self Image Gallery Project by the Department of Multicultural Life’s Xpressions pro-
gram was intended to emphasize the importance of recognizing the beauty of all identities
and capturing the art of self expression in the community.
The images, photographs, and videos were submitted by people around campus, with the option of remaining
anonymous. We were hoping to allow students and the community to share their expressive art pieces in a vari-
ety of forms. We received several exceptional art mediums such as a self portrait collage and a self shot/self ex-
pression video. Since we got fewer submissions that intended, we also gave the community a different opportu-
nity to express how they see themselves and how they want others to see them.
As part of the display in the atrium space on the second floor of the Campus Center, we put up a blank canvas
where people can draw or write their responses to the prompts, “how do you see yourself?” And “how do you
want others to see you?” The display ran until the 31st of October.
Monthly Newsletter from the Department of Multicultural Life
October 2014 Edition
By Grace Zhu ‘16, Amy McMeeking ’16 , and Errol Phalo ‘17
Lealtad-Suzuki Center’s Program Assistant
LGBTQ History Month! This year, LGBTQ History Month was an event-filled month with several awesome programs from a number of different student organizations and departmental collaborations. Queer Union (QU) once again brought comedienne Janine Brito to campus during Family Fest weekend and hosted their annual Queer Cabaret. Macalester Pride t-shirts distributed by the Department of Multicultural Life (DML), in honor of National Coming Out Day, ran out in record time this year. Macalester Activists for Reproductive Justice had a great inaugural Reproductive Justice week, hosting a screening of “Young Lakota” and inviting hip-hop duo Colored Girls Hustle to campus.
By Demetrius Colvin Assistant Director, Lealtad-Suzuki Center
Xpressions’ Gallery
DML Corners! By the C-House Program Assistants
On Friday, October 3rd, the Cultural House hosted a reflective discussion on the recent events in Ferguson, MO, surrounding the killing of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, by white police officer Darren Wil-son.
The event opened with a silent walk through a gallery displaying historical context, videos, photographs, current news and commentar-ies. People were also given prompts and jour-nals to write their reflections. The gallery walk was followed by small group discussions, then a bigger discussion where people were encouraged to share their thoughts and think about how racial profiling and police brutal-ity are present in their communities as well.
Even though the event was mainly focused on Ferguson and by no means covered all there is about the criminalization of people of color, our main goal was to start the conversa-tion so we can all learn from each other and grow together, see things from a new or dif-ferent perspective, and take these conversa-tions and continue them in our own commu-nities in and outside of Macalester.
An(other) Story Circle is a space for peo-ple to tell their stories and for the com-munity to reflect and think about their own stories. This semester’s An(other) Story Circle focused on social justice after graduating Macalester. Three alums, Anna Min ‘09, Eily Marlow ‘97, and Danielle Nelson ’05, came back to talk about this issue. We had a meaningful conversation about how social justice after Macalester differs from being a student at Macales-ter, and about talking across difference before and after graduation. Some im-portant takeaways that came from the conversation included the importance of being in relationship to people who dis-agree with you and leaning into (instead of avoiding) discomfort.
Fresh Friday: Discussing Ferguson
An(other) Story: Social Justice After Mac
By Charlie Birge ‘15, Samia Habli ‘16, Kelsey Larson ‘16, and Dagmara Franczak ‘17
By Elise Ong ‘16, Emily Walls ‘16, and Sarah Richman ‘17
Fresh Friday Photo Gallery
DML Corners!
Gender & Sexuality (By Isabel Ruelas ‘15, Vivian Liu ‘17 and Errol Phalo ‘17) The amount of gender inequality experienced in different countries “is not uniform across cultures.” Countries where nouns are mascu-line or feminine display higher rates of gender inequality than countries with languages that do not assign gender to nouns, however ine-quality continues to persist in all countries. Malala Yousafzai, from Pakistan, became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace prize, at the age of 17 years old, for her educational ac-tivism. Kailash Satyarthi, a children’s rights activist from India, also received the award. Both of their activisms “in a common struggle for education and against extremism” have contributed to promoting universal schooling and protecting children’s human rights. Iceland's Foreign Minister, Gunnar Bragi, made a speech in front of the United Nations and said Iceland and Suriname are “convening a conference to talk about gender equality,” but only men are invited. He announced, “Iceland and Suriname will convene a "Barbershop" conference in January 2015 where men will discuss gender equality with other men, with a special focus on addressing violence against women.”
Economic Justice (By elisa lee ‘15 and Cameron Feola ‘17) Imara Jones of Colorlines discusses how the “costs” of the conflict in Iraq against the Is-lamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) will not be “shouldered equally by all Americans.” The second war in Iraq and the ongoing war in Af-ghanistan have cost the United States 4.4 tril-lion dollars, adding to our skyrocketing na-tional debt while diverting funds away from education and government programs. The hu-man lives affected by the wars are immense with nearly 7,000 United States soldiers and 200,000 Afghani, Iraqi, and Pakistani killed. These figures do not account for all those who continue to suffer, are wounded, and have been displaced by the wars. Due to ongoing coordination between the United States Postal Service (USPS) and Sta-ples stores that would limit or eliminate USPS offices and services and shift business to Sta-ples, eliminating thousands of government jobs and privatizing mail service, various un-ions (including multiple postal workers unions and the AFL-CIO) are calling for a boycott of Staples products. As many cities begin to concentrate on tour-ism and other businesses, at least 20 cities have been legislating restrictions on providing pub-lic food programs to the homeless.
LSC Issue Areas
By the Lealtad-Suzuki Center’s Program Assistants LSC Issue Areas research current events and policies, locally, nationally and internationally.
DML Corners!
Religion & Spirituality (By Grace Zhu ‘15 and Emma Stout ‘15)
One of America’s leading evangelical ethicists, David Gushee, plans to announce that he now af-firms same-sex relationships. His younger sister came out as a lesbian. She is a single mother and had been periodically hospitalized for depression. It made him realize that “traditionalist Christian teaching produces despair in just about every gay or lesbian person who must endure it.” Pope Francis has recently condemned the practice of extraordinary renditions, a counterterrorism strategy that involves moving suspects to secret for-eign prisons and often using torture to extract in-formation. The pope also called for the abolition of the death penalty, mistreating inmates, and failing to recognize the sanctity of human life. The Women of the Wall, a group that promotes gender equality and equal worship rights at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, has recently come out with an ad campaign on Jerusalem buses. Because of Orthodox values, women are not allowed to wear prayer shawls or read the Torah at the Wall. Women of the Wall’s latest ad campaign, which showed women and girls wearing prayer shawls and holding a Torah scroll at the Wall, has enraged many ultra-Orthodox men and led to the deface-ment of buses (including throwing stones and slash-ing tires).
Racial/Ethnic/National Identities (By Kyla Martin ‘15 and Amy McMeeking ‘16) In Berlin a Palestinian-Born candidate is running for mayor. If the candidate, Raed Saleh, wins the election he will be the first immigrant mayor in Berlin. Due to the fact that “ethnic minorities are poorly represented in leadership positions in Ger-many,” question has been raised whether or not Berlin is ready for a mayor with immigrant roots. To this Saleh responded, “I think that is asking the question the wrong way. It should be: Are we ready? Are you ready?” Saleh hopes to show that no matter where you are born you still have an equal opportunity to succeed, and his story is one that will show that, and gives hope to others. Effigy Mounds National Monument in Iowa con-tains millions of dollars’ worth of illegal construc-tion projects on sacred Native American burial grounds. How did this happen? The National Park Service didn’t do the required archaeological stud-ies. A former employee of the park finally filed a complaint that led to a criminal investigation. The boardwalks and other structures are still there, but the officials responsible for them are not, and the new superintendent hopes to involve a wider range of public and tribal groups in plans to rem-edy the damage.
LSC Issue Areas
By the Lealtad-Suzuki Center’s Program Assistants
The Lealtad-Suzuki Center’s Team
LSC Issue Areas research current events and policies, locally, nationally and internationally.
DML Corners!
ESP and the Financial Literacy Colloquium!
Last Monday ESP and Bonner met in Davis Court, Markim Hall, to talk about financial literacy with
Financial Aid’s Associate Director Sarah Le Duc. Topics we covered included subsidized and unsubsi-
dized loans, credit cards and credit score. Amidst this discussion, it struck me how mindful and proac-
tive this group of students, or rather we, Macalester students, are. The program itself was bro-
ken down into three parts: a sort of a “guest lecture” style with Sarah, small group discussions
and a final Q&A wrap up. One of the overall themes of this discussion was financial responsi-
bility: what are the benefits and risks of owning a credit card? Why do we need credit cards?
I felt an intense appreciation and admiration for all of the students and faculty gathered there in the space, exchanging
ideas, passing along anecdotes, and knowledge. Financial literacy is something that I think a lot of people are aware of,
sort of a looming concern that, especially at this age, may but put on the back burner. And so appreciation and admi-
ration aside, I was also overcome with a feeling of pride—To me this captured one of our four foundational values
which is providing a supportive framework from which students can better access and take advantage of future oppor-
tunities.
By Sophie Navarro ‘16 ESP Mentor
Pluralism & Unity Program Pilots New Structure This Year Created in 2001, the Pluralism & Unity (P&U) Program is a unique program that provides first-year students an opportunity to build strong and effective relationships within and across racial, ethnic, national and cultural backgrounds. The mission of P&U is to create a community of first-year students who are committed to exploring and understanding issues of race, culture, identity, multiculturalism, social justice, and intercultural dialogue. This year, P&U has a new structure, based on feedback from previous participants who wanted more opportunities throughout the semester to meet as a group. For the first time this semester, P&U is designed as a curricular and co-curricular program that meets 3-4 times a month. P&U participants are enrolled in a one-credit course this semester that deepens students’ understanding of how social identity works for them personally, provides perspective on effec-tively interacting across cultural differences, and encourages students to reflect on their position within community structures and institutions. In addition to the course, students also participate in co-curricular activities and commu-nity engagements that connect their in-class learning to “real world” interactions at Macalester and with the culturally and ethnically diverse neighborhoods and communities that make up the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St Paul. Kendrick Brown (Associate Dean of the Faculty) and Chris MacDonald-Dennis (Dean of Multicultural Life) teach the P&U course this semester. Marian Aden (Residential Life), Karla Benson Rutten (Multicultural Life), Brett Gray (Residential Life), and Suresh Mudragada (Campus Activities & Operations) are the staff facilitators for the co-curricular components of the program. We currently have 18 engaged first-years in the program, and the new struc-ture has been well received by students.
By Karla Benson Rutten
Director, Lealtad-Suzuki Center
Jaime Hasam ‘18,
Minju Kimand ‘18 and
Elida Zaldivar ‘18
2014-2015
P&U Students
What to Look For...
Tuesdays @ 6:00pm: “In the Kitchen With…”
(C-House, 37 Mac St.)
Tuesday, November 4 @ 7:00pm: Speak! Series
featuring Noura Erakat in Re-Thinking Is-
rael/Palestine.
(J.B.D. Lecture Hall, Campus Center)
Saturday, November 8 @ 8:00pm: C-House
Poetry Slam
(A.G.H. Ballroom, Kagin Commons)
Tuesday, November 18 @ 11:45am: “Soup &
Substance and Tapas Series: Complicating
Faith: A Panel Discussion with Macalester Stu-
dents.”
(Kagin Lower Level, Kagin Commons)
Christopher MacDonald-Dennis
Dean
Multicultural Life
Karla Benson Rutten
Director
Lealtad-Suzuki Center
Demetrius Colvin
Assistant Director
Lealtad-Suzuki Center
Afifa Benwahoud
Department Coordinator
Multicultural Life
Sedric McClure
Multicultural Counselor
Macalester Academic Excellence Center
DML Contact Information
For questions and suggestions, please contact us at x6243, Monday through Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm
or email Afifa Benwahoud at [email protected].
Web: www.macalester.edu/multiculturalism
