May/2013
Issue: 5
EXPRESSIONS
Multicultural Affairs Newsletter
In This Issue
Cultural Conversations
"Developing Cultural Competence in a Multicultural
World"
Professor Devyani Chandran,
Social Work and Family Studies
Department, is aware of the strides
current St. Olaf students are
making in regard to social justice
and equality. During the Cultural
Conversation, Developing
Cultural Competence in a
Multicultural World, Professor
Chandran encouraged students to
widen their definition of culture
and learn to accept differences in
people.
Cultural Conversations:
Cultural Competence
Cultural Conversations:
Rethinking Gender
Asia Weeks:Celebrating Asian
Culture
Viva La Raza: Celebrando Lo
Que Somos
Umoja Conference
Spring Leadership Retreat
Upcoming Events
Professor Devyani Chandran and
students.
Professor Chandran brought the subject of cultural competence back to the
St. Olaf Campus during this event. She challenged participants to think
about how they feel about people on campus who are different from them.
For example, students are prone to creating subgroups in which they feel
most comfortable; thus, they develop stereotypes about each. Professor
Chandran asked the participants whether they, as a community would be
willing to move past these surface-level relations by sharing their
discomfort with their peers and learning to accept one another. They were
encouraged to become more knowledgeable about cultures and become
wiser in the context of cultural competence. As a closure, Professor
Chandran asked the students to create a creed that will facilitate their
search for cultural competence.
View Viva La Raza
Chapel Speaker
-Laura Aguas '15
View the Senior Celebration
Photos
Cultural
Conversations
"Rethinking Gender: Moving
Beyond Male and Female"
Assistant Professor of Social Work,
Susan Smalling facilitated the sixth
session in the Cultural Conversations Professor Susan Smalling and
students.
Series on March 13, 2013. Smalling
addressed the historical significance of
categories such as the role of the essentialist and social constructionists
during the first half of the conversation on "Rethinking Gender: Moving
Beyond Male and Female." She tied this to the differences between the
concepts of sex and gender and clarified the implications that each
category has. In addition, Professor Smalling explained the concepts of
people who don't necessarily fall into the gender binary system, such as
people who identify as transgender. Students then engaged in a small
interactive activity called the "Gender Gumby" which helped them think
about the gender binary within their own lives. The event ended with a
discussion among Professor Smalling and the students; they covered
questions such as "Should gender identification disorder be a diagnosis
disorder?" and "What might we do to address areas of gender
oppression?"
- Tenzin Kunsal '13
Celebrating
Culture
Asian
Every spring, St. Olaf multicultural
organizations sponsor and host a variety
of events highlighting Asian Culture.
This year, Asia Weeks was held from
Monday, April 8th to Friday, April 19th
and was hosted by Celebrate South
Asia!, Chinese Culture Club, Hmong
Culture Outreach, Korean Culture
Association,
Team
Tibet,
and
Vietnamese Organization: Inspiring
Cultural Engagement. Each of the
organizations hosted their own event
Students at the Asia Weeks
during the two-week period, while an
Opening.
additional three events were put on
through a collaborative effort along with other campus organizations.
Additional events included a Discrimination Talk (based on the video
called "Why I'd Hate to be Asian") where a student panel along with
faculty advisors helped facilitate discussion about racial stereotypes in
America. Through collaboration with GLOW (Gay, Lesbian, Or
Whatever), the only Hmong LGBT organization in the world, Shades of
Yellow, was brought in from the Twin Cities to talk about LGBT issues
from an Asian perspective. Finally, through collaboration with EAC
(Environment-Asia Connections) and the Asian Studies Department,
director Gary Marcuse came and showed his documentary "Waking the
Green Tiger" and further prompted discussion about environmental issues
View Photos from Robyn
McGee's Presentation
View Photos of Alumni and
Student Dinner
Links
Multicultural Affairs Alumni
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Relations
Harry C. Piper Center for
Vocation & Career
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in China.
We are excited for the coming years as St. Olaf's community continues to
diversify and spread awareness of other cultures. Special thanks to the
Asian Studies Department, the Asia House, DCC, EAC, GLOW, MCA and
SGA for support in funding and planning the events!
-Kevin Klynstra '13
Viva La Raza:
Celebrando Lo Que
Somos
Presente planned successful events for
this year's Viva La Raza. The April
22ndkickoff event raised awareness that
"American" may also be appropriate for
identifying those from Latin American Presente Members at Celebrando
Lo Que Somos event
countries. Presente members encouraged
students in the community to expand the
meaning "American" by passing out creatively designed buttons.
Celebrando Lo Que Somos, an educational and entertaining program was
held on Thursday, April 25th. The audience learned about the Latino
culture through a skit showing the meaning of a Quinceñera, followed by a
formal presentation by Spanish Professor, Krisitna Medina-Vilariño. There
were also performances by Scared Scriptless and Northfield High School's
theater group. Along with delicious food provided by El Triunfo, another
highlight of the night was a video created by Latino students in which they
shared their experience as Latinos in the United States. Presente
collaborated with the Spanish Department to plan a game night held in La
Casa Hispánica on April 29th. Students learned how to play Lotería,a
board game quite famous in some Spanish speaking countries. The twoweek Viva La Raza Celebration concluded with Kristell Caballero
Saucedo '13 speaking in chapel on April 30th.
Kristell talked about the hardships faced by Latin American children
crossing the US border, providing the audience opportunities to reflect on
how important it is to care for you neighbors, non-US residents.
- Victor Juarez '15
Karibu Members Participate in the Annual
Umoja Conference
On the 6th of April, Karibu represented
St. Olaf College at the Umoja
Conference atLutherCollege in Decorah,
Iowa. The conference is held annually
and brings together African, AfroCaribbean and African American
students in the Midwest to celebrate
respective cultures and values, as well as
promotes unity.
The theme for this year's conference was
"Common Roots, Different Paths." It was
a theme chosen to encapsulate the
general
topics
of
the
various Soukeyna Bocoum '16 and Nii Akita
'16 at the Umoja Conference.
conversations taking place during the
conference, such as "What does it mean
to be black?" and "White Consciousness: Neither Racist nor False
Liberal." The opening plenary was an exciting one delivered by Dr. Sheila
Radford-Hill, the executive director of the Luther Diversity Center. She
highlighted the fact that Africa-descended students should 'rock their
bodies and minds' and called for them to come out of their shells, as they
serve as ambassadors for their respective cultures.
The conference served as a platform for us to express our views through
formal dialogue, singing, dancing and poetry. The Umoja Conference and
Luther College's Beta Theta Omega hosted their annual talent show, which
saw participants from various colleges exhibiting their cultures through
singing and dancing. Members of Karibu contributed to the show through
a poetry recital, highlighting the values of the different parts of Africa
from which they originated.
It was an enlightening experience full of thought-provoking discussion, as
well as an opportunity for the members of Karibu to form strong bonds
with other African students studying in the Midwest.
-Nii Akita '16
Spring Multicultural Student Leadership
Retreat
For the first time, the Office of
Multicultural Affairs organized a
spring leadership retreat for
upcoming multicultural leaders. Its
intentions were to pass on
leadership skills and resources from
current multicultural leaders to next
year's leaders. Leaders were present
from all twelve multicultural Multicultural Senator GT Maskalo '14
organizations on campus. A total of
assists with registration.
34 students attended which included
current presidents/co-chairs and
upcoming presidents.
The agenda consisted of icebreakers to energize leaders early in the
morning and then with a reflection of the year from the Director of
Multicultural Affairs, Sindy Fleming. A panel of five current leaders
afterwards, allowed for more reflection of their organizations on campus
this past year. Future leaders were readily engaging themselves by asking
questions and sharing ideas. Informational presentations from SGA and
DCC were given, which included helpful information about organizational
resources and finances on campus. A "How to Create an Event"
presentation was given by DCC to guide future leaders step-by-step for
future events. To have even more fun, a review session was given after
with clickers allowing leaders to recall what they had learned all morning.
The last agenda for the retreat was to breakout into their organizations and
of course, lunch was provided. The breakout session allowed current
leaders to share and discuss their experiences with their future leaders.
Though the event itself seemed very structured, and the environment was
comfortable and engaging. Not only did it allow new leaders to learn about
resources and skills, but it brought together all twelve multicultural
organizations on campus into one setting, which is often rare. Getting
caught up in schedules and organizational duties have made it difficult to
come together as a multicultural community. For some, it was the first
time they were able to meet leaders of other organizations. The event itself
brought more than just skills and resources, but finding a common ground
and aspiration to help one another even more. With reflection on past
years, rising multicultural leaders are looking forward to be continuing on
legacies at St. Olaf with hopes to create an even stronger community.
- Nancy Van '14
Upcoming Events



Holi - May 11th at 1pm on the Plaza
Senior Graduation Reception - May 26 at 11:30 am in the
MCA Office
Commencement
St. Olaf College
Multicultural Affairs~Visit our website!
St. Olaf College, 1520 St. Olaf Avenue, Northfield, Minnesota 55057
Contact us at multicultural@stolaf.edu or 507-786-3060