BB: Inclusiveness At Colgate

Today’s Brown Bag (2/28/12) was mainly focused on the issue of inclusivity on campus. The beginning of the Brown Bag was comprised of a panel discussion among several Colgate students who discussed their personal opinions about integration on campus. There were two football players who felt their athletic career was very diverse, whereas the others on the panel felt Colgate still needed some work in terms of integration. The second half of the Brown Bag was opened up to the audience about ideas of ways to make Colgate a more inclusive community. Here are some ideas people on the panel and in the audience felt would help integration on campus:

• Housing
• More Open Social Space on Broad Street  (Parties open to anyone)
• Make off campus housing an easier option for upperclassmen (eliminate Greek life monopoly on parties)
• Create themed houses surround a common interest (not just a racial difference)
• Not just preexisting friends finding an interest
• Make freshman rooming more diverse

• Social Events
• Have more events on the Quad/Whitnall that are inclusive
• Future Brown Bag?
• Donovan’s Pub is a good step in the right direction for casual drinking
• More integrated nightlife options
• Alana “mixers” with other groups on campus
• Students running events as students (not only established groups/clubs)

• Link Groups
• Make link groups diverse
• Force link groups to step out of comfort zone and attend different events
• Mentoring: Mixing Class years together

• OUS
• Get the truth about OUS out there 

• Classes
• WMST/ALST course requirements
• These classes are often the most diverse
• Open dialogue within the safety of the classroom
• Create a community within Majors/Minors

• Getting People to step out of comfort zones (Social, Academic Events, Housing)
• Break down stereotypes
• Recognizing marginalization among all people

• Changing the racial discourse on Campus
• Right now it is very binary (black/white)

• Student Groups’ Coexistence
• Not based on a particular identity
• Creating bridges between groups not solely based on interests

-Michelle Van Veen 

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Tomorrow's Brown Bag - February 28, 2012

Are you a multi-faceted individual with multiple layers to your identity? I bet you are! If so, it's only right that you come on over to the Center for Women's Studies tomorrow afternoon for our last February brown bag of the spring semester! Tomorrow's topic will include a panel organized by BaRack Little, of the class of 2012, and is aptly titled "Uniting Across Differences: Understanding and Respecting Intersectional Identities." Per usual, a delicious lunch will be served with our compliments at 11am. Join us!


-Renyelle Jimenez

A Personal Look into Women's Experiences Crossing the U.S.-Mexico Border

This week's Tuesday Brown Bag, entitled "Women's Stories From and Beyond the U.S.-Mexican Frontera", consisted of a panel of two students (Jessica Aquino '14 and Manuel Heredia-Santoyo '14) and our administrative assistant, Kimmie Garner.  The nearly 100 students, staff, and faculty attendants crowded into the Center were lucky enough to hear personal stories of Kimmie’s experiences working at a birth center in El Paso, Texas, and of Jess’ and Manuel’s moms crossing the border within the last 25 years. 

Kimmie started the discussion by telling of her experience at a midwifery school, training to be a doula, in El Paso, a city in Texas right along the Mexican border.  She talked about how many Mexican women crossed the border to attend the birth center for prenatal appointments, birth, and postnatal appointments.  This center gave the women a chance to have a safe, calming birthing area for less money than the expensive hospitals in Mexico.  She spoke a lot about how she felt privileged at this center as she could speak both English and Spanish and clearly had the positive privilege of being a white, American young woman.  This was hard for her because she was there to ultimately learn and help the Mexican mothers. 

Kimmie’s story sparked an informal interview of both Jessica and Manuel, both of whose mothers crossed the border into California in order to give their children the opportunity of growing up and being educated in the U.S.  Both Jess and Manuel are first generation college students and discussed how their mothers gave a great sacrifice to raise them in the U.S. to give them a better life.  After they told their stories, students and faculty asked many questions of the two panelists about how they deal with having two cultural identities and how they try to stay emotionally close to their mothers.

The Brown Bag was a very personal one and I am very appreciative, as I’m sure is most of the audience, of the panelist’s honesty and willingness to share their thoughts and feelings.  I learned a lot, and I thank all three panelists for their stories.  

-Breanna Pendleton '12

Tomorrow's brown bag is about: Transnational Women's Issues

Join us in the Center for Women's Studies, tomorrow, Tuesday, February 21 at 11:30am for our next Brown Bag: "Women's Stories From and Beyond the U.S. - Mexico Frontera!! Our three panelists are Jessica Aquino '14, Manuel Heredia-Santoyo '14, and Kimmie Garner, our WMST program assistant!  They will discuss Latina women's experiences crossing the United States - Mexico border.  This brown bag is co-sponsored with ALST and as always will have delicious, free lunch.  All our welcome for our panel and discussion time!!

-Breanna Pendleton

Domestic Violence > Any Other Crime Ever?

The 54th annual Grammy Awards were held 2 weeks ago and, per usual, the evening's wardrobes, awards and performances were front page news for several says after the event. This news coverage was helpful to me since I didn't get a chance to catch them while they were airing live. There was one story I read that struck a chord with me: Chris Brown threw a tantrum on twitter. He won a Grammy for Best R&B Album for F.A.M.E and was, understandably, excited. Many critics of Chris Brown were livid and responded with reference to his infamous domestic violence case with Rihanna from 3 years ago. Chris Brown (the way any professional adult would) took to twitter to voice his opinions. His tweets, before they were deleted, said the following: 


"strange how we pick and choose who to hate!Let me ask u this.Our society is full of rappers(which I listen to)who have sold drugs (poisoning)

But yet we glorify and imitate everything they do. Then right before the worlds eyes a man shows how he can make a Big mistake 

andLearnt from it, but still has to deal with day to day hatred! You guys who to hate!!! But guess what???

HATE ALL U WANT BECUZ I GOT A GRAMMY. Now! That’s the ultimate F**K OFF."

While obviously not the smartest of moves to make, he did raise a good point for discussion. We know that Chris Brown physically assaulted Rihanna. He faced his trial and was sentenced at the judge's discretion. There are many other celebrities who have been arrested and charged with crimes in the past who continued to have successful careers. Lil' Wayne and T.I. were both sentenced to prison and saw their careers continue to prosper. One could even argue that their careers did better while they were in jail. Why is it that we can forgive some things and not others? Why is it that no one ever talks about the time Lil' Wayne spent in jail when he wins an award? Why is T.I.'s criminal record never a cause for outrage when he makes an appearance? Why is it always "Chris Brown, the singer who was arrested for assaulting Rihanna in 2008," and never just Chris Brown? Is it secretly because Chris Brown's crime is gendered and drug charges are not?

For the record, there is nothing about Chris Brown's actions 3 years ago that I agree with or condone in any way. My feelings, however, have absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Rihanna is a woman and Chris Brown is a man. I don't think that men should abuse women, but I also don't think that women should abuse men either. Violence is violence and it is unacceptable. Period. While I may see things this way, there are many other people who see physical violence against women in a different light. These people see women as inherently weaker than men and as people who need to be protected in a different way, like in the way we protect children from abusive parents. Women are not children. Women are adults who are capable of being assaulted are also capable of assaulting others. We cannot pick and choose which crimes for which we're going to forgive people for especially if our views of these crimes are inherently sexist. Men who are assaulted need to be treated with the same care and respect as women who are assaulted and women who assault others need to be punished in the same way as men who assault others. 

Bottom line: If you're going to hate Chris Brown, hate him because he's proven himself to be impulsive and violent towards another PERSON. Don't hate him because he hit a girl.

-Renyelle