We are requesting, as members of the Africana Studies Faculty Recruiting Committee, the allocation of a second line to the Africana Studies Department.
Rationale…
We think that full professors who are committed to both the discipline and student life are necessary for the department.
We feel that two lines are necessary to build a stronger department and demonstrate Hamilton’s commitment to diversity. It is important to have full Africana Studies professors in addition to the professors from other departments. This commitment on Hamilton’s part will encourage the growth of the department. Talented, energetic, and engaging professors will demand better enrollment in these courses.
As students on the committee we attest to the excellence of two existing candidates in terms of both the discipline of Africana Studies and commitment to student life.
We believe that the talent, intelligence, and charisma of these two targeted hires would attract students to the Africana Studies Department. Their full investment in the program would legitimize the major because it would show strong institutional support. Hamilton must proactively affirm this program by creating two lines.
Full Professors…
The Africana Studies department has amazing professors but their primary commitment is to their original field. The Program needs professors of the same standard but who can focus on the discipline of Africana Studies.
Committed to the Discipline…
Professor Carter, currently the Visiting Associate Professor in the Africana Studies Department demonstrates a commitment to the Africana Studies Department through his work on the African Diaspora in Europe and his training as an anthropologist.
Similarly, Angel Nieves would promote this program through his studies on urban development, structure, and knowledge of Latin American studies. Additionally, Professor Nieves’ work on digital, historical simulation would bring a fresh perspective on the new uses of technology in the Africana Studies field.
Committed to Student Life…
Professor Carter currently invests himself fully in the extra-curricular activities at Hamilton. He consistently makes himself available to students and helps us discover new ways of thinking about and interpreting the world. Not only is Professor Carter an advisor to his students, but he is also an excellent mentor.
During his interview, Angel Nieves shared with us the importance of student-professor cooperative research. He expressed interest in working with students on projects that he has already started and also on our own initiatives.
Conclusion:
Both Professor Carter and Professor Nieves would complement each other as lines in the Africana Studies Department. They both have different specialties that are vital to the development of the Africana Studies Department. By adding two full time Africana lines, we will not only be adding new scholarship but creating more diversity in the faculty. Hamilton College has been trying to find ways to attract more faculties of color and by adding two lines to the Africana Studies department, we could retain two faculty members who are excited to develop and create new initiatives within the department. Furthermore, the additional faculty of color will show administrative support to diversity.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Cultural Education Center Report February 2009
The Need for a Cultural Awareness Center
The incidents of intolerance at Hamilton have been well documented, and indicate the existence of underlying prejudice. The Social Justice Initiative created an incident report form in late October 2007 that was made available to the entire campus to submit anonymously. A selection of the 27 responses (out of 35 total) that described experiencing prejudice provide an anecdotal glimpse of what needs to be changed at Hamilton. (this is not clear—the 27/35)
Was fabbot written this way in the comment? If not, I’d putt the word there. “While sitting in Commons with my best friend, a white male student yelled across the dining hall 'hey colored person.' He then proceeded to justify his statement by saying that 'That's the kind of thing I can say here at Hamilton College and get away with.'” “Walking through a party in Milbank I have been called a faggot.” “During a class discussion, another student was using the term 'poor people' as synonymous with 'black people' and 'rich people' as a synonym for 'white people.'” “Another student began talking to me in Spanish and a white Bon Appetit staff member told him 'speak English, this is America.' My friend ignored him and the guy continued.” “In my [Government] class, I did not feel like I could express any of my opinions because I saw issues from a social and marginalized perspective. I was told that my perspective was inappropriate for the class…. Automatically because my perspective was not respected I did not want to participate.” “I have experienced an incident when two white males referred to an Asian person as a 'f***ing, smart ch**k.' To me this is one specific incident out of many where people will just use derogatory language.” These incident reports, while not a scientific sample, demonstrate that a number of students on campus do experience prejudice. More statistically robust evidence has recently become available through the online survey of Hamilton students conducted by the student group HamPoll in October 2007. While these data were not randomly sampled, the total of 447 responses gives this poll the power to examine the attitudes of a large subset of students (and may allow inferences, especially since the number of multicultural and international students and the spread of class years in the responses were similar to demographic values for Hamilton overall). The results in the HamPoll data show a distressing trend of intolerance on campus. Students who identified as Black, Latino, Asian, or "other races" reported more frequent encounters with prejudice than white students, as listed below. After running multinomial logistic regression models controlling for class year, gender, citizenship status, and a variety of attitudinal questions, many of these racial groups continued to show significant differences from white respondents.
Event Percentage of Students Indicating “Yes”
(* = Significant difference from white respondents in multinomial logistic regression after controlling for demographic and attitudinal factors)
White / Caucasian Black / African American Hispanic / Latino Asian / Pacific Islander Native American Other Race
“Excluded from a social event or activity you wanted to attend at Hamilton because of your race/ethnic origin” 5.10% 30.00% 25.00%* 5.88% 0.00% 23.53%
“Dropped or seriously considered dropping a class at Hamilton because your race or ethnicity was not respected” 2.83 15.00 5.00 2.94 33.33 17.65
“Been ignored IN CLASS after expressing your ideas or sharing your comments because of your race/ethnic origin” 3.97 35.00* 5.00 20.59 33.33 29.41
“Been ignored OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM after expressing your ideas or sharing your comments because of your race/ethnic origin” 12.18 40.00 45.00 35.29 33.33 29.41
Witnessed “a student embarrassing, patronizing or treating someone negatively because of his/her race/ethnic origin” (summation of two questions) 58.07
70.00 60.00 61.76 66.67 58.82
“Seriously considered leaving Hamilton because of racial or ethnic prejudice” 1.70 35.00 15.00 5.88* (less likely than other groups) 0.00 17.65
It is evident, even from this preliminary analysis of the data, that these significant experiences of prejudice are encountered at very different rates for students of different races.
It should also be noted that this survey contained no questions asking about discrimination due to sexual orientation, gender, national origin, disability, or socioeconomic status. It is likely that further surveys would yield evidence of even more widespread prejudice.
Responding to the Challenge
How could a cultural awareness center work to solve these problems? Firstly, such a program would implement the steps that the polled students viewed as most effective to address diversity issues. The most popular proposal among the options listed in the poll was “better peer education about diversity,” which was rated by 48.55% of students as “very effective” and called ineffective by only 15.44% (the least opposition of any plan). By providing a fixed location for diversity education outside of the context of speakers, multicultural events, or requirements to take diversity classes (all proposals favored less strongly by the student body), a cultural awareness center would meet many students' perceived needs for remedying prejudice.
Secondly, a common concern evinced by students in the personal comments section of the poll suggested that multicultural students segregated themselves from the rest of the campus. Other data in the poll casts some doubt on this notion; while Latino and Asian students were more likely than white students to consider activities reflecting their own cultural background as “very important” in an ordered logit model, all students with such a focus on their own cultural background were also significantly more likely to report that learning about other cultures was important to them. In any case, establishing a dedicated multicultural center could both reduce charges of self-segregation aimed at minority students and provide an opportunity for all students to learn about other cultures (which 86% of students indicated was at least “somewhat” important to them, with 39% considering it “very important.”)
Based on available survey data, Hamilton has compelling reasons to construct a multicultural center. To do so would serve students' needs and take positive steps towards reducing intolerance at the College.
Works Cited
HamPoll, 2007. “Racial/Ethnic Issues: Tell us ANONYMOUSLY!” Online survey. Contact hampoll@hamilton.edu for questions about data. All analyses conducted by Kye Lippold (klippold@hamilton.edu), who takes full responsibility for interpretations herein.
The incidents of intolerance at Hamilton have been well documented, and indicate the existence of underlying prejudice. The Social Justice Initiative created an incident report form in late October 2007 that was made available to the entire campus to submit anonymously. A selection of the 27 responses (out of 35 total) that described experiencing prejudice provide an anecdotal glimpse of what needs to be changed at Hamilton. (this is not clear—the 27/35)
Was fabbot written this way in the comment? If not, I’d putt the word there. “While sitting in Commons with my best friend, a white male student yelled across the dining hall 'hey colored person.' He then proceeded to justify his statement by saying that 'That's the kind of thing I can say here at Hamilton College and get away with.'” “Walking through a party in Milbank I have been called a faggot.” “During a class discussion, another student was using the term 'poor people' as synonymous with 'black people' and 'rich people' as a synonym for 'white people.'” “Another student began talking to me in Spanish and a white Bon Appetit staff member told him 'speak English, this is America.' My friend ignored him and the guy continued.” “In my [Government] class, I did not feel like I could express any of my opinions because I saw issues from a social and marginalized perspective. I was told that my perspective was inappropriate for the class…. Automatically because my perspective was not respected I did not want to participate.” “I have experienced an incident when two white males referred to an Asian person as a 'f***ing, smart ch**k.' To me this is one specific incident out of many where people will just use derogatory language.” These incident reports, while not a scientific sample, demonstrate that a number of students on campus do experience prejudice. More statistically robust evidence has recently become available through the online survey of Hamilton students conducted by the student group HamPoll in October 2007. While these data were not randomly sampled, the total of 447 responses gives this poll the power to examine the attitudes of a large subset of students (and may allow inferences, especially since the number of multicultural and international students and the spread of class years in the responses were similar to demographic values for Hamilton overall). The results in the HamPoll data show a distressing trend of intolerance on campus. Students who identified as Black, Latino, Asian, or "other races" reported more frequent encounters with prejudice than white students, as listed below. After running multinomial logistic regression models controlling for class year, gender, citizenship status, and a variety of attitudinal questions, many of these racial groups continued to show significant differences from white respondents.
Event Percentage of Students Indicating “Yes”
(* = Significant difference from white respondents in multinomial logistic regression after controlling for demographic and attitudinal factors)
White / Caucasian Black / African American Hispanic / Latino Asian / Pacific Islander Native American Other Race
“Excluded from a social event or activity you wanted to attend at Hamilton because of your race/ethnic origin” 5.10% 30.00% 25.00%* 5.88% 0.00% 23.53%
“Dropped or seriously considered dropping a class at Hamilton because your race or ethnicity was not respected” 2.83 15.00 5.00 2.94 33.33 17.65
“Been ignored IN CLASS after expressing your ideas or sharing your comments because of your race/ethnic origin” 3.97 35.00* 5.00 20.59 33.33 29.41
“Been ignored OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM after expressing your ideas or sharing your comments because of your race/ethnic origin” 12.18 40.00 45.00 35.29 33.33 29.41
Witnessed “a student embarrassing, patronizing or treating someone negatively because of his/her race/ethnic origin” (summation of two questions) 58.07
70.00 60.00 61.76 66.67 58.82
“Seriously considered leaving Hamilton because of racial or ethnic prejudice” 1.70 35.00 15.00 5.88* (less likely than other groups) 0.00 17.65
It is evident, even from this preliminary analysis of the data, that these significant experiences of prejudice are encountered at very different rates for students of different races.
It should also be noted that this survey contained no questions asking about discrimination due to sexual orientation, gender, national origin, disability, or socioeconomic status. It is likely that further surveys would yield evidence of even more widespread prejudice.
Responding to the Challenge
How could a cultural awareness center work to solve these problems? Firstly, such a program would implement the steps that the polled students viewed as most effective to address diversity issues. The most popular proposal among the options listed in the poll was “better peer education about diversity,” which was rated by 48.55% of students as “very effective” and called ineffective by only 15.44% (the least opposition of any plan). By providing a fixed location for diversity education outside of the context of speakers, multicultural events, or requirements to take diversity classes (all proposals favored less strongly by the student body), a cultural awareness center would meet many students' perceived needs for remedying prejudice.
Secondly, a common concern evinced by students in the personal comments section of the poll suggested that multicultural students segregated themselves from the rest of the campus. Other data in the poll casts some doubt on this notion; while Latino and Asian students were more likely than white students to consider activities reflecting their own cultural background as “very important” in an ordered logit model, all students with such a focus on their own cultural background were also significantly more likely to report that learning about other cultures was important to them. In any case, establishing a dedicated multicultural center could both reduce charges of self-segregation aimed at minority students and provide an opportunity for all students to learn about other cultures (which 86% of students indicated was at least “somewhat” important to them, with 39% considering it “very important.”)
Based on available survey data, Hamilton has compelling reasons to construct a multicultural center. To do so would serve students' needs and take positive steps towards reducing intolerance at the College.
Works Cited
HamPoll, 2007. “Racial/Ethnic Issues: Tell us ANONYMOUSLY!” Online survey. Contact hampoll@hamilton.edu for questions about data. All analyses conducted by Kye Lippold (klippold@hamilton.edu), who takes full responsibility for interpretations herein.
Cultural Education Center Proposal February 2008
The Social Justice Initiative
Contact sji@hamilton.edu
Cultural Education Center
A Cultural Education center must be established if Hamilton wants to become a truly inclusive empowering and diverse campus. This Center will accommodate all organizations representing traditionally marginalized groups. It needs to exist in addition to the Afro-Latin Cultural Center because that building houses only two groups and is too small.
Because Hamilton succeeds in providing a comfortable and ‘safe’ campus for the majority of the students, the campus effectively becomes ‘white’ space. Although all students are welcome everywhere on campus, there should be a space set aside specifically for historically marginalized students. This space becomes ‘safe’ because it allows a minority to feel in the majority. This center also offers an alternative to many other buildings at Hamilton that represent a perpetuation of ‘white’ success through their names and histories.
As this center will be open to all students, it will provide a necessary forum for white students to learn about and celebrate others. Additionally, many of the current issues of diversity ( see rationale part ) would be solved by a cultural center.
Proposal
The Social Justice Initiative proposes that Hamilton College demonstrate its commitment and respect for cultural and intellectual diversity by including plans for a Cultural Education Center in the strategic plan of 2008. The college should plan to erect a cultural center in the next ten years; it can show its commitment in the present by creating a pledging fund, hiring an architect to design a plan, and actively pursuing this goal.
The Social Justice Initiative believes that Hamilton College should lead our peer schools towards more inclusive and representative campuses by investing in a true Cultural Education Center.
What it would look like…
The Multicultural Center needs to be in a central location not only so that it is easily accessible from all parts of campus but also because it would demonstrate the central importance of diversity at Hamilton College.
Further, since this facility will be fully maintained by the college, it will emphasize Hamilton’s commitment to the experience of diverse and multicultural students.
Obviously, it must be easily accessible to every student.
First Floor—
• Foyer—comfortable space where students from various groups can intermingle, where students can sit and study, and a desk for the cultural center monitor to sit. The Foyer and the Library also provide exhibit space for students’ art and other artifacts that represent diversity and historical diversity at Hamilton.
• Library— modeled after the CJ Browsing Room, but a little bigger and better lit. This room provides space for the various groups to keep their historical documents and other resources related to multiculturalism on campus. This also offers suitable space meeting space for 15-20 people.
• Computer room— adjacent to the library or the foyer, large enough for six computers and a printer
• Lecture/ banquet room— multipurpose space the size of the science auditorium, can be converted for a lecture or for a large dinner
• Kitchen— place accessible to students, but that Bon Apetitt can also use to cater the banquet hall
Second Floor—
• Conference room— a conference room for about twenty people with walls and a door. Various groups can reserve this room for meetings and other events that require a safe, private space.
• Ten small rooms (eight ft by eight ft), one for each of the organizations. These can be used as storage spaces or as offices depending on the need of the specific organization.
• Open common room area with coaches, tables, TV. This space could be used for informal meetings and gathering or as a nice place to hang out.
• Office of the director of multicultural affairs.
Inherently different than a student union…
It is essential that this space be separate from a conventional Student Union because it serves the specific purpose of creating a forum for marginalized students to convene and communicate. This reserved space in the Cultural Center exists in addition to space in a Student Union. This demonstrates a tangible, structural commitment on the part of the college to multiculturalism and diversity on campus. Further, a separate center celebrates rather than assimilates or segregates difference. A traditional student union, even if granting meeting space to multicultural groups, is not adequate because this is still not a 'safe space' because it perpetuates the current majority/ minority dynamics. Perhaps other organizations dislike their current meeting spaces in Bristol, List, KJ, Beinecke, ELS, etc.,s but when they meet they feel comfortable and unthreatened. This is their privilege - it is not even a thought, which is why it is so important to keep in mind while planning. Many of Hamilton’s peer schools have very successful Multicultural centers and it is essential Hamilton follow this trend (such as Williams, which will be addressed in rationale).
Rationale…
Benefits of Proactively Supporting Diversity on Campus
Diversity benefits not only the multicultural population, but also the majority population of the campus. Being truly committed to diversity means to be committed to the original purpose of affirmative action for people of color which is to take proactive measures by accommodating and retaining students from multicultural groups. By instituting cultural center, colleges and universities will attract more students and faculty of color and also proactively retain the students of color that attend those institutions. Studies which are written and researched by Debra Humphreys, AAC&U, for the Ford Foundation Campus Diversity Initiative (1998) have shown how diversity benefits college campuses including:
• Many students seem to anticipate and desire greater levels of intergroup contact than they actually experience on campus. In fact, opportunities for interaction between and among student groups are desired by virtually all students. When they do occur, such interactions produce clear increases in understanding, decreases in prejudicial attitudes, and positively affect academic success. These interactions are likely to be more beneficial when they are institutionally supported, when the participants are equally valued, and when they involve projects with common goals and outcomes.
• One study found that African American alumni who had participated in theme houses reported more positive experiences than those living in predominantly white residential settings. Another study found that African American theme houses provided support and cultural enrichment to participating students.
• Another study found that cognitive development advances among students participating in a course on multiculturalism.
• Special campus services designed to support minority students, including racial and ethnic theme houses, student organizations, and academic departments positively contribute to minority student retention. (citation here? Unsure)
Many of Hamilton’s peer schools have structures in place such as Cultural Centers that make multicultural student’s college experiences more fulfilling. Schools such as Williams College have three facilities on their campus that serve multicultural students’ needs and cultural events for the whole campus. As one of the top liberal art school in the country, we strive to evolve into an even better educational institution by looking at our peer schools and seeing what makes them a competitive educational institution.
Benefits of Cultural Center to Hamilton College
A Cultural Education Center will work to solve Hamilton College’s problems:
• Firstly, such a program would implement the steps that the polled students viewed as most effective to address diversity issues. The most popular proposal among the options listed in the poll was “better peer education about diversity,” which was rated by 48.55% of students as “very effective” and called ineffective by only 15.44% (the least opposition of any plan). By providing a fixed location for diversity education outside of the context of speakers, multicultural events, or requirements to take diversity classes (all proposals favored less strongly by the student body), a cultural awareness center would meet many students' perceived needs for remedying prejudice.
• Secondly, a common concern evinced by students in the personal comments section of the poll suggested that multicultural students segregated themselves from the rest of the campus. Other data in the poll casts some doubt on this notion; while Latino and Asian students were more likely than white students to consider activities reflecting their own cultural background as “very important” in an ordered logit model, all students with such a focus on their own cultural background were also significantly more likely to report that learning about other cultures was important to them. These results make sense since white students almost always learn about their culture and by just attending an institution such as Hamilton are immersed in white culture.
• Thirdly, establishing a dedicated multicultural center could both reduce charges of self-segregation aimed at minority students and provide an opportunity for all students to learn about other cultures (which 86% of students indicated was at least “somewhat” important to them, with 39% considering it “very important.”)
Based on available survey data, Hamilton has compelling reasons to construct a multicultural center. To do so would serve students' needs and take positive steps towards reducing intolerance at the College.
Contact sji@hamilton.edu
Cultural Education Center
A Cultural Education center must be established if Hamilton wants to become a truly inclusive empowering and diverse campus. This Center will accommodate all organizations representing traditionally marginalized groups. It needs to exist in addition to the Afro-Latin Cultural Center because that building houses only two groups and is too small.
Because Hamilton succeeds in providing a comfortable and ‘safe’ campus for the majority of the students, the campus effectively becomes ‘white’ space. Although all students are welcome everywhere on campus, there should be a space set aside specifically for historically marginalized students. This space becomes ‘safe’ because it allows a minority to feel in the majority. This center also offers an alternative to many other buildings at Hamilton that represent a perpetuation of ‘white’ success through their names and histories.
As this center will be open to all students, it will provide a necessary forum for white students to learn about and celebrate others. Additionally, many of the current issues of diversity ( see rationale part ) would be solved by a cultural center.
Proposal
The Social Justice Initiative proposes that Hamilton College demonstrate its commitment and respect for cultural and intellectual diversity by including plans for a Cultural Education Center in the strategic plan of 2008. The college should plan to erect a cultural center in the next ten years; it can show its commitment in the present by creating a pledging fund, hiring an architect to design a plan, and actively pursuing this goal.
The Social Justice Initiative believes that Hamilton College should lead our peer schools towards more inclusive and representative campuses by investing in a true Cultural Education Center.
What it would look like…
The Multicultural Center needs to be in a central location not only so that it is easily accessible from all parts of campus but also because it would demonstrate the central importance of diversity at Hamilton College.
Further, since this facility will be fully maintained by the college, it will emphasize Hamilton’s commitment to the experience of diverse and multicultural students.
Obviously, it must be easily accessible to every student.
First Floor—
• Foyer—comfortable space where students from various groups can intermingle, where students can sit and study, and a desk for the cultural center monitor to sit. The Foyer and the Library also provide exhibit space for students’ art and other artifacts that represent diversity and historical diversity at Hamilton.
• Library— modeled after the CJ Browsing Room, but a little bigger and better lit. This room provides space for the various groups to keep their historical documents and other resources related to multiculturalism on campus. This also offers suitable space meeting space for 15-20 people.
• Computer room— adjacent to the library or the foyer, large enough for six computers and a printer
• Lecture/ banquet room— multipurpose space the size of the science auditorium, can be converted for a lecture or for a large dinner
• Kitchen— place accessible to students, but that Bon Apetitt can also use to cater the banquet hall
Second Floor—
• Conference room— a conference room for about twenty people with walls and a door. Various groups can reserve this room for meetings and other events that require a safe, private space.
• Ten small rooms (eight ft by eight ft), one for each of the organizations. These can be used as storage spaces or as offices depending on the need of the specific organization.
• Open common room area with coaches, tables, TV. This space could be used for informal meetings and gathering or as a nice place to hang out.
• Office of the director of multicultural affairs.
Inherently different than a student union…
It is essential that this space be separate from a conventional Student Union because it serves the specific purpose of creating a forum for marginalized students to convene and communicate. This reserved space in the Cultural Center exists in addition to space in a Student Union. This demonstrates a tangible, structural commitment on the part of the college to multiculturalism and diversity on campus. Further, a separate center celebrates rather than assimilates or segregates difference. A traditional student union, even if granting meeting space to multicultural groups, is not adequate because this is still not a 'safe space' because it perpetuates the current majority/ minority dynamics. Perhaps other organizations dislike their current meeting spaces in Bristol, List, KJ, Beinecke, ELS, etc.,s but when they meet they feel comfortable and unthreatened. This is their privilege - it is not even a thought, which is why it is so important to keep in mind while planning. Many of Hamilton’s peer schools have very successful Multicultural centers and it is essential Hamilton follow this trend (such as Williams, which will be addressed in rationale).
Rationale…
Benefits of Proactively Supporting Diversity on Campus
Diversity benefits not only the multicultural population, but also the majority population of the campus. Being truly committed to diversity means to be committed to the original purpose of affirmative action for people of color which is to take proactive measures by accommodating and retaining students from multicultural groups. By instituting cultural center, colleges and universities will attract more students and faculty of color and also proactively retain the students of color that attend those institutions. Studies which are written and researched by Debra Humphreys, AAC&U, for the Ford Foundation Campus Diversity Initiative (1998) have shown how diversity benefits college campuses including:
• Many students seem to anticipate and desire greater levels of intergroup contact than they actually experience on campus. In fact, opportunities for interaction between and among student groups are desired by virtually all students. When they do occur, such interactions produce clear increases in understanding, decreases in prejudicial attitudes, and positively affect academic success. These interactions are likely to be more beneficial when they are institutionally supported, when the participants are equally valued, and when they involve projects with common goals and outcomes.
• One study found that African American alumni who had participated in theme houses reported more positive experiences than those living in predominantly white residential settings. Another study found that African American theme houses provided support and cultural enrichment to participating students.
• Another study found that cognitive development advances among students participating in a course on multiculturalism.
• Special campus services designed to support minority students, including racial and ethnic theme houses, student organizations, and academic departments positively contribute to minority student retention. (citation here? Unsure)
Many of Hamilton’s peer schools have structures in place such as Cultural Centers that make multicultural student’s college experiences more fulfilling. Schools such as Williams College have three facilities on their campus that serve multicultural students’ needs and cultural events for the whole campus. As one of the top liberal art school in the country, we strive to evolve into an even better educational institution by looking at our peer schools and seeing what makes them a competitive educational institution.
Benefits of Cultural Center to Hamilton College
A Cultural Education Center will work to solve Hamilton College’s problems:
• Firstly, such a program would implement the steps that the polled students viewed as most effective to address diversity issues. The most popular proposal among the options listed in the poll was “better peer education about diversity,” which was rated by 48.55% of students as “very effective” and called ineffective by only 15.44% (the least opposition of any plan). By providing a fixed location for diversity education outside of the context of speakers, multicultural events, or requirements to take diversity classes (all proposals favored less strongly by the student body), a cultural awareness center would meet many students' perceived needs for remedying prejudice.
• Secondly, a common concern evinced by students in the personal comments section of the poll suggested that multicultural students segregated themselves from the rest of the campus. Other data in the poll casts some doubt on this notion; while Latino and Asian students were more likely than white students to consider activities reflecting their own cultural background as “very important” in an ordered logit model, all students with such a focus on their own cultural background were also significantly more likely to report that learning about other cultures was important to them. These results make sense since white students almost always learn about their culture and by just attending an institution such as Hamilton are immersed in white culture.
• Thirdly, establishing a dedicated multicultural center could both reduce charges of self-segregation aimed at minority students and provide an opportunity for all students to learn about other cultures (which 86% of students indicated was at least “somewhat” important to them, with 39% considering it “very important.”)
Based on available survey data, Hamilton has compelling reasons to construct a multicultural center. To do so would serve students' needs and take positive steps towards reducing intolerance at the College.
The Social Justice Initiative Statement November 6 2007
The Social Justice Initiative Statement
The Social Justice Initiative is a coalition of students dedicated to improving the experience, treatment, and interaction of marginalized groups and individuals on campus. The Initiative promotes interaction and awareness among all Hamilton College students. The ten organizations listed on the back of this page are represented in the Initiative. We need your help, administrators and professors, to implement change. Please join our mission in cultivating, enhancing, and enriching our shared campus community with improvements within its climate.
We charge the College to live up to its stated purpose and goals: “Above all, students should develop respect for intellectual and cultural diversity because such respect promotes free and open inquiry, independent thought and mutual understanding” (Course Catalogue 5). These words must be validated through their immediate application. Hamilton must strengthen its commitment to diversity in the following three areas: curriculum, institution, and structure. The Social Justice Initiative has formed committees to address these issues.
Curriculum: Contact: Corinne Bancroft
1. Hamilton’s curriculum should better reflect the diversity of its student body and of foreign cultures. As an institution that dedicates itself to the “intellectual and personal development of students,” Hamilton should reevaluate the distribution of courses to ensure that students have insight into anything outside of the western tradition (Course Catalogue 5). College 130, for example, is a step in the right direction. A Diversity Intensive Requirement (which would work like a writing intensive requirement) is necessary. This requirement would give students freedom to learn about diversity in whichever department they feel most comfortable. A large number of courses that would fulfill this requirement already exists.
2. A diversity/ deconstructing privilege component needs to be added to the agenda of the freshman orientation.
Institution: Contact: Kate Hails
1. The hiring and retaining of diverse faculty and staff is essential to students’ “respect for intellectual and cultural diversity.”
2. The definition of hate crimes and hate speech need clarification. Many students are unaware of these occurrences and the significance of these words and actions. Therefore, we need a Grievance Committee to address such incidents.
3. Both student leaders and professors should receive some level of diversity/ sensitivity training.
Structure: Contact: Stephanie Tafur
1. Legitimate Cultural Center— as outlined in a proposal given to Nancy Thompson, this space would physically demonstrate Hamilton’s commitment to diversity. Since the buildings and spaces at Hamilton reflect the men that funded them, they perpetuate the exclusive stereotype of rich white men. A cultural center will celebrate diversity and cultures that are currently underrepresented on campus. This space will offer students of all colors and backgrounds a forum to learn about and recognize unacknowledged histories and will be more inviting to students who do not necessarily fit the previously mentioned dominant Hamilton image.
2. The Afro-Latin Cultural Center: immediate renovation is necessary to satisfy the needs of current cultural organizations and students while the new space is being constructed.
For more information please contact the coordinating committee of the Social Justice Initiative:
Stephanie Tafur 2010
Robyn Gibson 2010
Corinne Bancroft 2010
Young Kwon 2010
Alex Benkhart 2010
Melissa Young 2009
Sakhile Matlhare 2010
Kate Hails 2010
Kye Lippold 2010
Black Student Union: contact: Byron Johnson
On behalf of the Black Student Union, we are in full support of the Social Justice Initiative Committee. Many of the goals outlined by SJI (e.g. renovating the ALCC to kept its historical significance alive and have adequate computers upstairs, a multicultural building, etc.) would specifically affect BSU and many organizations. I believe what we want, as a student body, is not a burden. It should not be a burden. There should not be any reasons as to why we pay all this money to go here and a building that is used beyond what the norm wants to believe, is not supported with adequate computers from Hamilton.
La Vanguardia: contact: Stephanie Tafur
The Brothers:
Rainbow Alliance: contact: Kristy Colombine
The members of the Hamilton College Rainbow Alliance support the efforts of the Social Justice Initiative, and appreciate the attention that they are bringing to the issues of diversity and acceptance on campus. Members of Rainbow regularly participate in SJI meetings and activities and support the organization's actions.
Womyn’s Center: contact: Grace Dobbyn
The Womyn's Center is one of Hamilton's oldest activist organizations, and its members support the actions and ideals of the Social Justice Initiative. SJI addresses concerns that are relevant and pertain to all members of the college community and we are glad that this organization is bringing attention to the issues of diversity and acceptance at Hamilton.
West Indian African Association:
Asian Cultural Society: contact: Ranga Kotani
Muslim Student Union: contact: Abdelwahab Abdelghany (aabdelgh@hamilton.edu)
As President of the Muslim Student Association, I support and agree with SJI’s goals. As a representative in SJI, I will work closely to make sure that SJI’s goals are ultimately carried out for the betterment of the Hamilton community as a whole.
International Students Association:
Multicultural Student Ambassador Program: contact: Abdelwahab Abdelghany
My name is Abdelwahab Abdelghany; I am the head of the Multicultural Student ambassador program. I am writing to make clear that the student ambassadors as well as the admission office agree, support, and believe that all of SJI’s goals should be carried out in order to make the Ambassador program stronger.
The Social Justice Initiative is a coalition of students dedicated to improving the experience, treatment, and interaction of marginalized groups and individuals on campus. The Initiative promotes interaction and awareness among all Hamilton College students. The ten organizations listed on the back of this page are represented in the Initiative. We need your help, administrators and professors, to implement change. Please join our mission in cultivating, enhancing, and enriching our shared campus community with improvements within its climate.
We charge the College to live up to its stated purpose and goals: “Above all, students should develop respect for intellectual and cultural diversity because such respect promotes free and open inquiry, independent thought and mutual understanding” (Course Catalogue 5). These words must be validated through their immediate application. Hamilton must strengthen its commitment to diversity in the following three areas: curriculum, institution, and structure. The Social Justice Initiative has formed committees to address these issues.
Curriculum: Contact: Corinne Bancroft
1. Hamilton’s curriculum should better reflect the diversity of its student body and of foreign cultures. As an institution that dedicates itself to the “intellectual and personal development of students,” Hamilton should reevaluate the distribution of courses to ensure that students have insight into anything outside of the western tradition (Course Catalogue 5). College 130, for example, is a step in the right direction. A Diversity Intensive Requirement (which would work like a writing intensive requirement) is necessary. This requirement would give students freedom to learn about diversity in whichever department they feel most comfortable. A large number of courses that would fulfill this requirement already exists.
2. A diversity/ deconstructing privilege component needs to be added to the agenda of the freshman orientation.
Institution: Contact: Kate Hails
1. The hiring and retaining of diverse faculty and staff is essential to students’ “respect for intellectual and cultural diversity.”
2. The definition of hate crimes and hate speech need clarification. Many students are unaware of these occurrences and the significance of these words and actions. Therefore, we need a Grievance Committee to address such incidents.
3. Both student leaders and professors should receive some level of diversity/ sensitivity training.
Structure: Contact: Stephanie Tafur
1. Legitimate Cultural Center— as outlined in a proposal given to Nancy Thompson, this space would physically demonstrate Hamilton’s commitment to diversity. Since the buildings and spaces at Hamilton reflect the men that funded them, they perpetuate the exclusive stereotype of rich white men. A cultural center will celebrate diversity and cultures that are currently underrepresented on campus. This space will offer students of all colors and backgrounds a forum to learn about and recognize unacknowledged histories and will be more inviting to students who do not necessarily fit the previously mentioned dominant Hamilton image.
2. The Afro-Latin Cultural Center: immediate renovation is necessary to satisfy the needs of current cultural organizations and students while the new space is being constructed.
For more information please contact the coordinating committee of the Social Justice Initiative:
Stephanie Tafur 2010
Robyn Gibson 2010
Corinne Bancroft 2010
Young Kwon 2010
Alex Benkhart 2010
Melissa Young 2009
Sakhile Matlhare 2010
Kate Hails 2010
Kye Lippold 2010
Black Student Union: contact: Byron Johnson
On behalf of the Black Student Union, we are in full support of the Social Justice Initiative Committee. Many of the goals outlined by SJI (e.g. renovating the ALCC to kept its historical significance alive and have adequate computers upstairs, a multicultural building, etc.) would specifically affect BSU and many organizations. I believe what we want, as a student body, is not a burden. It should not be a burden. There should not be any reasons as to why we pay all this money to go here and a building that is used beyond what the norm wants to believe, is not supported with adequate computers from Hamilton.
La Vanguardia: contact: Stephanie Tafur
The Brothers:
Rainbow Alliance: contact: Kristy Colombine
The members of the Hamilton College Rainbow Alliance support the efforts of the Social Justice Initiative, and appreciate the attention that they are bringing to the issues of diversity and acceptance on campus. Members of Rainbow regularly participate in SJI meetings and activities and support the organization's actions.
Womyn’s Center: contact: Grace Dobbyn
The Womyn's Center is one of Hamilton's oldest activist organizations, and its members support the actions and ideals of the Social Justice Initiative. SJI addresses concerns that are relevant and pertain to all members of the college community and we are glad that this organization is bringing attention to the issues of diversity and acceptance at Hamilton.
West Indian African Association:
Asian Cultural Society: contact: Ranga Kotani
Muslim Student Union: contact: Abdelwahab Abdelghany (aabdelgh@hamilton.edu)
As President of the Muslim Student Association, I support and agree with SJI’s goals. As a representative in SJI, I will work closely to make sure that SJI’s goals are ultimately carried out for the betterment of the Hamilton community as a whole.
International Students Association:
Multicultural Student Ambassador Program: contact: Abdelwahab Abdelghany
My name is Abdelwahab Abdelghany; I am the head of the Multicultural Student ambassador program. I am writing to make clear that the student ambassadors as well as the admission office agree, support, and believe that all of SJI’s goals should be carried out in order to make the Ambassador program stronger.
Bob Moses Multicultural Center October 2007
The Social Justice Initiative
Contact: Stephanie Tafur
Bob Moses Multicultural Center
The Multicultural Center would offer students who identify with groups that have been traditionally marginalized a safe space on Hamilton Campus.
These groups include, but are not limited to:
-Black Student Union -La Vanguardia
-Asian Cultural Society, -West Indian African Association
-Womyn’s Center -Rainbow Alliance
-Muslim Student Association -Middle Eastern Students Association
-International Students Association
A legitimate Multicultural Center should be the next significant campus improvement. Until then the ALCC needs to be immediately renovated to serve the needs of the students in the interim.
Rationale…
Naming this center after Bob Moses would honor and recognize the achievements of this under-acknowledged alumnus.
This space is essential to the experience of students who, because of their race, ethnicity, economic background, gender, sexual orientation, or any other criteria, are historically classified as Other. Because Hamilton succeeds in providing a comfortable and ‘safe’ campus for the majority of the students, this space effectively becomes ‘white’ space. Although all students are welcome all over campus, there should be a space set aside where marginalized students can go to be ‘safe’. This center also offers an alternative to many other buildings at Hamilton that represent a perpetuation of ‘white’ success through their names and histories. As this center would be open to all students, it provides a necessary forum for white students to learn about and celebrate others.
Inherently different than a student union…
It is essential that this space is separate from a conventional Student Union because it serves the specific purpose of creating a forum for marginalized students to convene and communicate. This reserved space in the Multicultural Center exists in addition to space in a Student Union. This demonstrates a tangible, structural commitment on the part of the college to multiculturalism and diversity on campus. Further, a separate center celebrates rather than assimilates or segregates difference. A traditional student union, even if granting meeting space to multicultural groups is not adequate because this is still not a 'safe space'. Perhaps other organizations dislike their current meeting spaces in Bristol, List, KJ, Beinecke, ELS, etc. but when they meet they feel comfortable and unthreatened. This is their privilege - it is not even a thought, which is why it is so important to keep in mind while planning. Many of Hamilton’s peer schools have very successful Multicultural centers and is essential Hamilton hasn’t followed this trend.
Where it would be…
The Multicultural Center needs to be in a central location not only so that it is easily accessible but also because it would demonstrate the central importance of diversity at Hamilton College.
• If the current Afro-Latin Cultural Center were expanded and renovated significantly, it has potential to satisfy the need for a Multicultural Center.
• The Emerson Literary Society and North/ South Court also offer great potential spaces.
Further this facility will be fully maintained by the college to emphasize their commitment to the experience of diverse and multicultural students. Obviously, it would be easily accessible to every student.
What it would look like…
The Multicultural Center will offer space to all multicultural organizations and organizations for people historically categorized as the other.
• Each organization will have its own office and meeting space. This allows members of the e-board to have a space to store materials, work together, and meet about organizational business. Individual meeting spaces for each organization allows members to take ownership of the space, personalizing it and therefore making it ‘safe’. As members design and decorate their meeting room they tie their history to the place of Hamilton. These spaces would be open when the organizations are not using them and function similarly to the departmental common rooms in the science center.
• A variety of conference rooms create adequate space for larger group meetings and speakers. This also allows rooms that organizations or groups of people without their own space (other organizations) to take advantage of the facilities of the Multicultural Center.
• A Common room provides places for students to study, gather, and mingle. This forum facilitates interaction and cooperation between different organizations.
• A computer lab comparable to others on campus gives individual students and organizations a immediate resource
• A library offers space not only for reference resources but also a place to document the history of the various organizations represented in the Multicultural Center
• An exhibit space encourages students to take ownership of the center through art and other forms of self-expression
• There should also be a large multipurpose space for large speakers, gatherings, and events
Contact: Stephanie Tafur
Bob Moses Multicultural Center
The Multicultural Center would offer students who identify with groups that have been traditionally marginalized a safe space on Hamilton Campus.
These groups include, but are not limited to:
-Black Student Union -La Vanguardia
-Asian Cultural Society, -West Indian African Association
-Womyn’s Center -Rainbow Alliance
-Muslim Student Association -Middle Eastern Students Association
-International Students Association
A legitimate Multicultural Center should be the next significant campus improvement. Until then the ALCC needs to be immediately renovated to serve the needs of the students in the interim.
Rationale…
Naming this center after Bob Moses would honor and recognize the achievements of this under-acknowledged alumnus.
This space is essential to the experience of students who, because of their race, ethnicity, economic background, gender, sexual orientation, or any other criteria, are historically classified as Other. Because Hamilton succeeds in providing a comfortable and ‘safe’ campus for the majority of the students, this space effectively becomes ‘white’ space. Although all students are welcome all over campus, there should be a space set aside where marginalized students can go to be ‘safe’. This center also offers an alternative to many other buildings at Hamilton that represent a perpetuation of ‘white’ success through their names and histories. As this center would be open to all students, it provides a necessary forum for white students to learn about and celebrate others.
Inherently different than a student union…
It is essential that this space is separate from a conventional Student Union because it serves the specific purpose of creating a forum for marginalized students to convene and communicate. This reserved space in the Multicultural Center exists in addition to space in a Student Union. This demonstrates a tangible, structural commitment on the part of the college to multiculturalism and diversity on campus. Further, a separate center celebrates rather than assimilates or segregates difference. A traditional student union, even if granting meeting space to multicultural groups is not adequate because this is still not a 'safe space'. Perhaps other organizations dislike their current meeting spaces in Bristol, List, KJ, Beinecke, ELS, etc. but when they meet they feel comfortable and unthreatened. This is their privilege - it is not even a thought, which is why it is so important to keep in mind while planning. Many of Hamilton’s peer schools have very successful Multicultural centers and is essential Hamilton hasn’t followed this trend.
Where it would be…
The Multicultural Center needs to be in a central location not only so that it is easily accessible but also because it would demonstrate the central importance of diversity at Hamilton College.
• If the current Afro-Latin Cultural Center were expanded and renovated significantly, it has potential to satisfy the need for a Multicultural Center.
• The Emerson Literary Society and North/ South Court also offer great potential spaces.
Further this facility will be fully maintained by the college to emphasize their commitment to the experience of diverse and multicultural students. Obviously, it would be easily accessible to every student.
What it would look like…
The Multicultural Center will offer space to all multicultural organizations and organizations for people historically categorized as the other.
• Each organization will have its own office and meeting space. This allows members of the e-board to have a space to store materials, work together, and meet about organizational business. Individual meeting spaces for each organization allows members to take ownership of the space, personalizing it and therefore making it ‘safe’. As members design and decorate their meeting room they tie their history to the place of Hamilton. These spaces would be open when the organizations are not using them and function similarly to the departmental common rooms in the science center.
• A variety of conference rooms create adequate space for larger group meetings and speakers. This also allows rooms that organizations or groups of people without their own space (other organizations) to take advantage of the facilities of the Multicultural Center.
• A Common room provides places for students to study, gather, and mingle. This forum facilitates interaction and cooperation between different organizations.
• A computer lab comparable to others on campus gives individual students and organizations a immediate resource
• A library offers space not only for reference resources but also a place to document the history of the various organizations represented in the Multicultural Center
• An exhibit space encourages students to take ownership of the center through art and other forms of self-expression
• There should also be a large multipurpose space for large speakers, gatherings, and events
Social Justice Initiative Charter May 15, 2007
Social Justice Initiative Charter
The Social Justice Initiative is a coalition of students dedicated to creating a positive change in the experience, treatment, and interaction of marginalized groups and to promote interaction and awareness among all students at Hamilton College.
International students and students of color feel isolated, ignored, and alienated due to hidden implicit social and structural racism. This racism and marginalization results, in part, from a ‘white’ curriculum that doesn’t reflect the increasing diversity of our campus (to say nothing of the diversity of the world), professors and an administration who are insensitive to diversity, and extra-curricular social events that structurally segregate and discriminate against students. Further, white students remain ignorant and unaware that there is a problem.
The Social Justice Initiative works (1) to unite the existing multi-cultural groups on campus, (2) to advocate curricular change that better reflects the diversity of the world, (3) to promote faculty administrative sensitivity toward diverse and marginalized students, (4) to make the social scene at Hamilton more reflective of the diverse population by raising awareness and activism among students.
Students from (list of organizations represented in the initiative) join together in the Social Justice Initiative because we believe that the negative experience of students of color and international students is not just their problem. This issue affects all Hamilton students and we cannot allow it to continue. The Social Justice Initiative serves as a venue in which members of various groups and individuals can discuss relevant issues, and a forum to organize and mobilize action to address those issues.
Students form committees within the Social Justice Initiative to more efficiently address and affect action on the pertinent issues. These committees meet and communicate as often as necessary. The Social Justice Initiative, as a forum, will meet weekly for the first month of school and every two weeks after that. These meetings provide a venue for students of various groups to introduce new issues and for committees to share progress and logistical needs with the rest of the group. (Meetings will probably be held on Thursdays at five or six). In general, decisions are made by a simple majority rule. Two thirds of the existing committee members must vote for the creation of a new committee. The facilitation of incoming issues committee helps organize new ideas and direct new members and their energy to the appropriate existing committees. The secretarial committee satisfies general organizational needs from the creation of a calendar, note taking, to directing communications.
Committees
(1) Multicultural Group
Promote better interaction among Multicultural groups
—Hold events that include various groups
—Networking + other groups non-culturally oriented groups as well
(2) Curricular
Demand a curriculum that is more reflective of the diversity of this campus and the world
—Demand a commitment to the Africana Studies Program
(3) Faculty training, Administrative issues
Diversity training and sensitivity among faculty
Demand better treatment by the administration
(4) Social Events, Awareness
Promote the acknowledgement of diversity
—End the segregation at Commons
—Make social events and student governing boards more reflective of diversity
—Make a multi-cultural center and a venue for people who don’t drink at Hamilton to actually do something
Raise awareness of the invisible racism on campus and promote activism to eliminate it
(5) Facilitate incoming issues
(6) Secretarial Committee
The Social Justice Initiative is a coalition of students dedicated to creating a positive change in the experience, treatment, and interaction of marginalized groups and to promote interaction and awareness among all students at Hamilton College.
International students and students of color feel isolated, ignored, and alienated due to hidden implicit social and structural racism. This racism and marginalization results, in part, from a ‘white’ curriculum that doesn’t reflect the increasing diversity of our campus (to say nothing of the diversity of the world), professors and an administration who are insensitive to diversity, and extra-curricular social events that structurally segregate and discriminate against students. Further, white students remain ignorant and unaware that there is a problem.
The Social Justice Initiative works (1) to unite the existing multi-cultural groups on campus, (2) to advocate curricular change that better reflects the diversity of the world, (3) to promote faculty administrative sensitivity toward diverse and marginalized students, (4) to make the social scene at Hamilton more reflective of the diverse population by raising awareness and activism among students.
Students from (list of organizations represented in the initiative) join together in the Social Justice Initiative because we believe that the negative experience of students of color and international students is not just their problem. This issue affects all Hamilton students and we cannot allow it to continue. The Social Justice Initiative serves as a venue in which members of various groups and individuals can discuss relevant issues, and a forum to organize and mobilize action to address those issues.
Students form committees within the Social Justice Initiative to more efficiently address and affect action on the pertinent issues. These committees meet and communicate as often as necessary. The Social Justice Initiative, as a forum, will meet weekly for the first month of school and every two weeks after that. These meetings provide a venue for students of various groups to introduce new issues and for committees to share progress and logistical needs with the rest of the group. (Meetings will probably be held on Thursdays at five or six). In general, decisions are made by a simple majority rule. Two thirds of the existing committee members must vote for the creation of a new committee. The facilitation of incoming issues committee helps organize new ideas and direct new members and their energy to the appropriate existing committees. The secretarial committee satisfies general organizational needs from the creation of a calendar, note taking, to directing communications.
Committees
(1) Multicultural Group
Promote better interaction among Multicultural groups
—Hold events that include various groups
—Networking + other groups non-culturally oriented groups as well
(2) Curricular
Demand a curriculum that is more reflective of the diversity of this campus and the world
—Demand a commitment to the Africana Studies Program
(3) Faculty training, Administrative issues
Diversity training and sensitivity among faculty
Demand better treatment by the administration
(4) Social Events, Awareness
Promote the acknowledgement of diversity
—End the segregation at Commons
—Make social events and student governing boards more reflective of diversity
—Make a multi-cultural center and a venue for people who don’t drink at Hamilton to actually do something
Raise awareness of the invisible racism on campus and promote activism to eliminate it
(5) Facilitate incoming issues
(6) Secretarial Committee
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