ICEC Proposal Feb 27 2008

The Social Justice Initiative
Contact: sji@hamilton.edu

Definitions

For ease of communication of ideas certain terms have been selected and defined and will be used throughout the proposal. They are:

Inter-Cultural
- All peoples have culture based on their socio-economic location which is informed by race, religion, class, gender, sex, sexuality, and physical location. These identity groups, represented in large part by the organizations titled "multi-cultural" at Hamilton College, inform students’ perceptions of themselves and others. These identity groups can be viewed individually, but inter-culturalism focuses on how they work in conjunction with one another.

Safe space
- A safe space is one in which individuals are welcome to speak freely, and without fear of expressing an unpopular point of view. In a safe space ideas are challenged but not the individuals who express them.

Non-dominant*
- We define a non-dominant individual as one who is not part of the majority and/or power holding population in either the Hamilton community and/or society at large. Non-dominant status is afforded to individuals who occupy minority socio-economic locations in, but not limited to, one or more of the identity groups listed in our definition of inter-cultural.

Dominant*
- We define dominant individuals as those whose socio-economic location places them within the majority or powerful population in, but not limited to, any of the identity categories listed in our definition of inter-cultural

*The nature of our definitions of non-dominant and dominant are specifically constructed such that individuals my have aspects of their identity that are both dominant and non-dominant.


Concerns

The proposal of an Inter-Cultural Education Center has been discussed at length within the Hamilton community. These conversations have raised a number of questions as to the necessity and efficacy of such a center. These questions are addressed below.

How or why would a building make a difference?

Hamilton claims to be committed to issues of diversity, but the physical spaces currently afforded to the organizations that would use the Inter-cultural Education Center reflect the marginalization and disregard for these groups on campus. The Womyn’s Center has an attic space that is scheduled to be torn down, the Afro-Latin Cultural Center is poorly maintained, and the Rainbow Alliance has an office and no appropriate meeting space. An Inter-cultural Education Center would be a powerful physical manifestation of the college’s professed commitment and a symbol to legitimate the presence of these non-dominant individuals at Hamilton.
An Inter-cultural Education Center will provide a “safe space” for non-dominant individuals where they can express their views and opinions with confidence because in a safe space ideas are challenged, not the individuals who express them. A safe space is not necessarily a comfortable space, and this is intended because both dominant and non-dominant individuals learn the most when they are placed outside of their comfort zones.
The proposed Inter-cultural Education Center is fundamentally different from a student union because of this issue of safe space. A safe space can be created anywhere, but once the individuals participating in that safe space leave, it ceases to be a safe space until it is reconvened. An Inter-cultural Education Center would be a permanent safe space. A student union, due to the fact that it maintains the inherent inequalities between dominant and non-dominant groups at Hamilton and in society, cannot fulfill this role. An Inter-cultural Education Center seeks to disrupt this power differential and therefore cannot be housed within a student union.
A building without a change in perception of the important issues of privilege and oppression is insufficient. However, we believe that the creation of an Inter-cultural Education Center is the most positive step forward in creating a more welcoming and affirming campus atmosphere.

Why do dominant cultures not need to be included?

The proposed Inter-cultural Education Center is intended to promote intercultural dialogue by including all Hamilton students, while prioritizing non-dominant individuals at Hamilton College. While consciously not privileging dominant individuals because their experiences are predominant in the Hamilton community, an Inter-cultural Education Center will engage all individuals in dialogue, collaboration, and coalition building leading to education and consciousness about systems of privilege and oppression. An Inter-cultural Education Center will also function to create collaboration and coalition between the groups sharing its spaces through the use of a common meeting area and library. The primary goal of an Inter-cultural Education Center is to privilege the experiences of non-dominant individuals and provide them with a physical space on campus. In addition it is important to recognize that it should not be the role of non-dominant individuals to educate dominant individuals about non-dominant cultures. Furthermore it perpetuates inequalities to expect non-dominant individuals to take on this role.

Why is this not self-segregation?

The proposed Inter-cultural Education Center would be centrally located in order to facilitate its use by and accessibility for the majority of Hamilton students. The concept of self-segregation when applied to the proposed Inter-cultural Education Center is problematic because this is a campus where a variety of different interests and organizations are allotted individualized spaces without claims that they are self-segregating. The Hamilton Outdoors Club and the Hamilton Outdoor Leadership Center provide the perfect example of this. HOC and the Adirondack Adventure program attract a large number of students to Hamilton and are therefore allotted a separate space on campus. The college has acknowledged that attracting and retaining students and faculty from non-dominant backgrounds is important; following this logic the creation of an Inter-cultural Education Center would fulfill this desire.