Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Promoting diversity in the University community and beyond...
By Dr. B.
During the candidacy of then-senator
Barak Obama for the Democratic
nomination for the President of the
United States, I asked him, on at least
three different occasions, to tell me his
economic plan for alleviating poverty.
Two of the three times, he virtually
completely ignored my question; one
time, he indicated that his platform for
the economy would soon appear on
his website. When that time arrived,
perhaps needless to say, an answer to
my question did not appear. In a
sense, I guess, I had my answer. After
Obama’s third visit, his handlers approached me and asked me not to
pose the question anymore! Why?
The answer to this question can be
obtained from the CME’s upcoming
guest speaker, namely, Touré. He is a
contributing editor to Rolling Stone
magazine, a correspondent for
MSNBC, talks about musical culture on
Touré
two shows on FUSE, and resides in
New York City. In Who’s Afraid of Post
-Blackness? What it Means to Be
Black Now, Touré presses upon the
reader that black culture is not monolithic: there are varieties of cultural expressions and perceptions that make
“For example, he asserts that
if Obama spoke in any direct
way about racial justice, he
might have scared off the
white electorate, and we
would be saying President
McCain instead of
Obama, today.“
up African Americana and any belief to
the contrary verges on stereotyping. In
his opinion, holding on to distrust about
others ’ perc eptions is pass é –
embracing a bygone orientation, or
modus operandi, reminiscent of the
Civil Rights era.
For example, he asserts that if
Obama spoke in any direct way about
racial justice, he might have scared off
the white electorate, and we would be
saying President McCain instead of
Obama, today. He is not suggesting
that Blacks should forget their cultural
heritage, but, rather, diminish its role in
the mechanics of public discourse and
activity. In essence, there is no singular essence, if you will, that defines this
period’s blackness. Instead, like postmodernism generally, “post-blackness”
Dr. Blackwell
means that all bets are off and each
and every African American has the
license to create who he/she is and will
be.
Beyond the fact that Black people
are Americans, too, and can consciously and deliberately work to fashion who they want to be or appear to
be, Touré still recommends that Blacks
need to advocate for racial and social
justice a la Rev. Jesse Jackson. Furthermore, African Americans must realize that deferring to racial matters
repeatedly will advance neither much
needed reforms nor personal success
or wellness. Touré masterfully navigates the landscape of cultural identity
with self-effacement, humor, and keen
observation. He tells it like it is and
makes it plain while doing so. One
may not always agree with his analysis, but one cannot escape Touré’s
sincerity and sense of purpose.
It will be fascinating to hear him
speak on April 11, 2012, at 7:00 p.m.
at the CME. Don’t miss him!
Voices Newsletter
By Camelia Rubalcada
It was my great pleasure to interview Tabatha Cruz, Program Coordinator, of the CME. I have witnessed
Tabatha stretch her time to meet with
students, attend student organization
meetings, and program events for the
CME; she is constantly striving to be
the best advocate for students. Being that it is Woman’s History month,
she would be a great person to be
premiered in the March newsletter;
she is an empowering woman. There
have been times when Tabatha has
dropped other things on her agenda
to assist students that are stressed
about school work or personal problems at home. Tabatha truly is a role
model that many students can look
up to.
Not many students frequent the
CME and by including her in our
March newsletter, students on campus could be able to relate and know
more about Tabatha. She is not only
the CME’s Program Coordinator but
she is also a woman who has made
tough decisions and accomplished so
much. Tabatha came to UNI from
San Antonio, TX with no family
around and yet she still did the impossible; she survived the brutal winters. Tabatha not only completed her
BA at UNI, she went on to Illinois
State University to pursue a MA in
Student Affairs. After completing her
MA, Tabatha returned to UNI where
she has successfully coordinated lecture events, such as Michael Eric
Dyson, Michelle Alexander, and
Marian Wright Edelman.
I had so much fun interviewing Tabatha. She was very honest and
open-minded to all the questions. I
actually learned a little bit more about
Tabatha than what I knew about her
from working with her. Tabatha encompasses strength, loyalty, and integrity all the elements that make her
a strong, independent Woman. I enjoyed learning about her accomplishments, interests, and perspectives
Page 2
about her own life. I hope you all enjoy it too. I want to take this opportunity to thank Tabatha for his time and
honesty. Thank You!
1. What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Sitting on the beach with a beverage,
and nothing, but the sounds of the
waves of the ocean.
2. Who are the women you admire
the most? Why?
My mother, even though I do not
have the fondest memories of her
growing up. My mother is a very
strong woman and I think she had
very high expectations of life. She
was chasing an American dream and
I would say in some way she
achieved that goal. Another person I
have a love/hate relationship for is
my older sister; she takes after my
mom. She has a strong character, a
big heart and I think it goes unnoticed. She is the rock of the family
since she deals with taking care of
my mom and works two jobs.
3. What irritates you the most?
People who are not team players,
who are cocky, and who take all the
credit for themselves. I take after my
father, and I really dislike people who
take advantage of others; people who
use people to get ahead in life.
4. What is your greatest regret?
I would like to say I live in the moment and I do not have any regrets.
It all comes down to making choices
and sometime we don’t make the
right decisions but we learn from
them. For that I am grateful.
5. What do you consider your
greatest accomplishment?
I would say coming to UNI as an undergraduate was probably the biggest
thing I did, thus far in my life. I
moved half way across the country to
come here. UNI helped me grow,
develop, and made me the person I
am today. If I had not come to UNI
and had the experiences I had, I do
not think I would have made the decision to progress academically and
pursue a graduate program. I knew
that if I could move across the country to go to college, I knew I could go
anywhere in the world that my heart
desired. Coming to UNI taught me
not to be afraid and to do more with
life.
6. What empowers you the most
about being a woman?
What empowers me most about being a woman is that I am a resilient
being. In particular, I’m empowered
about being a Latina woman with a
Master’s degree. Only about 3% of
the Latinos in college move on to a
post-graduate degree. That’s a big
step for someone who is a first generation college graduate.
7. Is there a moment in your life
when you look back and say “Wow
that was embarrassing?”
Yes, I was at work until very late one
night—give or take about 10:30 p.m. I
left the office, and I was so frustrated
and stressed about a situation I had
with a student. I walked out to the
Lang Hall parking lot and I didn’t see
my car. I started to panic because I
thought my car was towed. I called a
couple of people to find out what was
the non-emergency phone number
for UNI police department. I walked
back to the office and called UNI police, informed them I could not find
my car. I provided them with a description of my car and they said they
would send an officer over. So, two
officers showed up at the office and
told me they had driven past the
parking lot and that my vehicle was
still in the same spot where I had left
it. I was so excited that they had
found it but I was embarrassed because it was in the same spot. I was
thankful for the help and they were
very understanding. They offered to
drive me to my car, but I told them it
was okay and that I would do the
walk of shame. They still insisted
and I thought it was awesome. I rode
in the cop car for not doing anything
illegal. I got to my car and realized I
CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
Page 3
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2...
could not see it because there was a
big maroon van parked in front of it.
8. What is the wildest thing you did
in college?
I was such a goody two shoes in college. The worst thing I probably ever
did was when I was a Resident Assistant and came back to the residence
hall way past curfew because I was
at a party.
9. What is your favorite meal?
Anything Italian!
10. What were you like as a child?
At the age of 4 and 5 I was very shy
but from then on out I was very talkative, very stubborn, a sore loser, and
aggressive.
11. Do you have a bucket list? If
so, what is on it?
I have backpacking through Europe—
I don’t know if I will ever do that. I
would love to go to a Star Wars con-
By Gloria Sumpter
March has been designated
Women’s History Month. In honor of
the women who have gone before us,
those in our present ranks, and those
yet to make their appearances, I am
going to talk about friendship. Not so
much the kind we have between
other women, but the type of friendship we have with ourselves. The
topic came to me when I was watching segments of various events and
talk shows of our recently deceased,
songbird, Whitney Houston. Diane
Sawyer (2002), questioned Whitney
about her relationship with Bobby
Brown and the charges of substance
abuse. Whitney replied “I am my best
friend and my worst enemy.” I was
very impressed with her answer because she could have answered in
numerous ways.
Those words
should be the bumper sticker, refrigerator magnet, and tattoo every female possesses. Women are their
own best friend and worst enemy
when it comes to beauty, body, and
vention. I know that sounds so nerdy
but I would definitely dress up as
Princess Leia. I have small items on
the bucket list, such as hiking at Yellowstone National Park. I have lots of
stuff on there.
12. What is your favorite cuss
word?
Pinche-My favorite Mexican slang
word. I just like the way it sounds. I
also like saying the word S**T. I’m
comfortable saying that word in front
of my family. I’m not used to saying
other cuss words; I guess I am too
much of a prude.
13. If you could have dinner with
anyone, who would it be? Why?
I really would like to have dinner with
Michelle Obama: I love her! She has
great fashion sense, very personable,
and a strong role model for women
today.
14. What excites you the most
about Woman’s History Month?
I guess I have never thought too
much about Woman’s History Month.
When I wake up in the morning being
female is not the first thing I think
about. I like Woman’s History Month
because we get to explore the topics
of gender issues more closely and
celebrate the achievements of
women in this country. Even in the
50’s women didn’t have the same
access and luxuries that they do today. I start thinking about my mom,
who grew up at that time. When she
was 25 she was getting married and
having babies. I’m 25 and have a
master’s degree and living the life.
15. What is the most daring and
adventurous thing you did during
Spring Break?
I’m not good at this stuff. I need help
being a bad girl. When I first got to
UNI, I went to my friend’s house for
spring break in Des Moines. All I did
was shop.
brain.
Women are forever trying to gain
perfection with their looks and appearances. Some women are naturally beautiful. However, some
women use makeup to enhance certain features and have a vast number
of surgical procedures to live up to
society’s standard of beauty. Women
tend to put their lives on the line by:
using tanning lotions and bleaching
creams, having tummy tucks, supporting weight watchers, having
breast enhancers and breast deductions, fasting, and having mind control. It makes me wonder what are
women competing for, how are they
justifying these dangerous procedures, and why are they torturing
themselves mentally and spiritually?
Women our bodies call for an awareness of how our bodies function.
What does it takes for our bodies to
operate at 100%?
First, become aware we are our
own worst enemy when we are overloading our bodies with junk because
you are frustrated, depressed, isolated, or bored. Healthy living should
be a lifestyle, not a hit or miss. Along
with loving your body comes the re-
sponsibility of respecting it. In my
opinion, polluting one’s body with alcohol and sexual diseases does not
amount to respect. Do not get me
wrong, I am not trying to preach what
is right or wrong, but we cannot fight
for equality with unhealthy bodies. As
women, we must get regular checkups, protect ourselves, and be our
sister’s keepers.
Finally, all women need to stop
making excuses for being bright,
gifted, and talented. To honor women
who have made so many sacrifices
for us, let us seek higher education
with a fervent purpose to help other
women succeed. Have the courage
to approach other women on campus, join their organizations, and collaborate with them in small groups
and share experiences. Women, now
is the time to acquaint yourself with
diversity by embracing the differences and celebrating the commonalities. In honor of Whitney Houston,
women, let us be addicted to things
that will lead us to be stronger and
effective role models, healthier, and
proactive citizens. We can be part of
the solution on campus and in our
community.
Voices Newsletter
Page 4
Interview with Alpha Delta Pi’s Hallie Cook
By Mukulika Vashistha
March is Women’s History Month
and I thought it would be a good idea
to talk to someone from a women’s
organization. Hallie Cook, member of
Alpha Delta Pi (ADPi) of Greek Life,
talked about ADPi and also Greek
Life in general.
ADPi is the first secret society
founded for women on May 15, 1851
by Eugenia Tucker Fitzgerald. Originally, only men were allowed to participate in secret societies. Eugenia
Tucker Fitzgerald thought women—
like men, also deserve to be housed
in their own secret society; she
founded ADPi. Sororities and Fraternities have their names in Greek Letters which do have some meaning
associated with it, but it is a secret to
the individual chapter. Even Hallie
does not have clarity on the relation
of Greek names and their meanings
because the original name of ADPi
was “Adelphean Society”.
ADPi has an open motto of “We live
for each other”, a strong sisterhood
who live for each other and living for
others. Another goal which they strive
for is “Bettering themselves as
Women.” For example, ADPi holds
the highest ideals of Christian womanhood, which manifest in scholarship, leadership, sisterhood, and loyalty. ADPi was founded as a Christian organization, but to join ADPi you
do not necessarily have to be a
Christian. These values are not just
for ADPi, but it is common for all sororities and fraternities; they were all
founded as value-based organizations. The main purpose of sororities
and fraternities is to use your bothers’
and sisters’ strength to make each
other a better person. Every chapter
has a creed, which lays expectations
for its members. Most chapters have
similarities within their creed, holding
high moral standards, being academically focused, being a good brother or
sister, and being a good person.
There are two different ways
women can go about joining a sorority: formal Recruitment in the Fall semester and informal Recruitment.
Formal recruitment is a long process:
students fill out a sheet about themselves, indicate what school they attended, and which activities they
were involved in. In addition, students
get the chance to visit all the chapters
on campus during recruitment. It’s a
group process of mutual selection;
students find the chapter which fits
best. The application form is given to
Greek Life Advisor (Jessie Stinson at
SIAC) and then to Rho Gammas
(recruitment guides from each chapter) who during summer and recruitment period disassociate from their
chapter so they can be impartial and
help girls to find the chapter which fits
them best. Fundamentally, the form is
used to match girls within the chapter
based on their personalities. The
hardest part of formal recruitment is
meeting just few girls and based on
that they have to make their choice.
Current members’ final decisions are
based off of their instincts and with
whom they had talked. Informal recruitment is much relaxed. In informal
recruitment, if the student knows
somebody in the chapter or they just
happen to hear about the chapter,
they apply for that individual chapter
and go to a couple of events organized by them. Once a mutual selection is made the chapter proceeds to
present a Bid, which is a formal invitation to the student that allows her to
join the sisterhood.
There are four sororities on UNI
campus: Alpha Delta Pi, Alpha Phi,
Alpha Xi Delta, and Gamma Phi Beta.
Each Sorority has a limit of 60 members and each chapter is either at 60
or close to 60 members.
Each semester, chapters have a
philanthropy activity that they complete and are associated with.
ADPi’s, philanthropy association is
the Ronald McDonald House. They
also organize on-campus activities,
such as “Pie an ADPi” – in fall and
“Spaghetti Dinner” – in spring. Members in groups of 12-20, people visit
the Ronald McDonald house once a
semester on specific Saturdays,
which is located in Iowa City. In addition, members contribute individually
to philanthropic activities, such as
Relay for Life and Dance Marathon.
Currently, they are trying to establish
an all-Greek Philanthropy and this
proposal is being reviewed by the
National Panhellenic Conference at
UNI.
Presently, Greek Life is trying to
expand its diversity. “Personalitywise, every chapter is very diverse;
however as far as other diversity
goes we are still trying,” said Hallie.
Many people are pushing to get historically Black fraternities and sororities. They are really trying to get
those organization on-campus to involve more students.
Hallie said, “Having every member
in an organization as women is very
empowering because it means that
every leadership position is held by a
woman. They can build each other
up, they can really relate to each
other, and they know what the other
member is experiencing.” Being in a
sorority has given Hallie so many
leadership opportunities that only females can hold. “Being in Panhellenic
Council and being at a position in
ADPi has given me a lot of wonderful
leadership opportunities,” said Hallie.
Sororities and fraternities are somewhat stigmatized with negative
stereotypes. People believe members
drink all the time. People do not realize that sororities are value-based
and the reason why many students
join them is to better themselves as
women. It is very unfortunate that
women in the past have behaved
poorly. To educate individuals about
this matter, ADPi conducted a workshop in January, which focused on
the negative stereotypes of Greek
Life; ADPi makes sure that its members uphold high standards both academically and personally. One of the
main goals of Greek women at UNI is
to end the negative stereotypes associated with Greek Life.
I want to thank Hallie for sharing
facts and her opinion about life in Sororities.
Voices Newsletter
Page 5
The CME would like to thank all who participated in the February Newsletter competition! The statement asked was,
“Explain the similarities and differences between sexism and womanism.” The article following, by Ms. ChaValier
Sharps, is the winner.
By ChaValier Sharps
In short, sexism is the discriminatory thoughts, behaviors, and/or practices of one sex projected onto another sex, usually rooted in stereotypes. Often a “hot-button” issue,
many feel that only men can be sexist, as power and male privilege are
oftentimes entangled with sexism,
given the historical and cultural times
of societies past that continue to
manifest today. With that said, many
womanists and feminists feel women
cannot be sexist, as women as a sex
and a gender are not privy to this
“Womanism evolved from the
idea that the white women
involved in the Feminist
movement oftentimes ignored
the plight of women of color
and/or those of low
socioeconomic status (also
typically women of color).“
power, which is now more so institutionalized than blatant. This argument
also parallels that of racism, as many
ethnically disenfranchised people feel
that they cannot be racist due to the
interconnectivity of power.
The existence of power is where
the major distinction lies—although
women can be just as prejudiced as
men regarding a number of factors
(class, gender, ethnicity, and yes,
even a disdain for men). The latter
does not carry as much weight as
does the man’s disdain for women,
as men have the system of power on
their side: whether they choose to
acknowledge this system or not
(again, much like racism). This system of power includes a history and
set of traditions that have perpetuated for a host of reasons, one being
the non-admission of its existence in
the first place. It also exists because
some do not wish to give up the implicit and explicit privilege that comes
with this power, and others who acknowledge its existence and agree it
is problematic, prejudice, and nonegalitarian simply do not bother to
fight it.
Womanism evolved from the idea
that the white women involved in the
Feminist movement oftentimes ignored the plight of women of color
and/or those of low socioeconomic
status (also typically women of color).
Womanism is fighting for similar yet
different forms of equality with men—
Feminist values often had traits related to those of a particular class
(middle and/or upper class) and education. Thus, Womanism at its core is
similar to if not a branch of Feminism,
Ms. ChaValier Sharps
but with the concerns of the nonwhite woman taken into account with
different end-goals in mind.
As far as similarities go, women in
both cases are marginalized due to
their sex, gender, and lack of institutional power; however, Womanism is
more specific in that it involves more
intricacies and interconnectivities. For
example, a white woman can be a
victim of sexism yet still have some
form of power due to her ethnicity,
whereas a Latina woman can be a
victim of sexism and the other forms
of institutional power. Both are marginalized because of their sex, but to
different degrees, which in turn has
different manifestations and repercussions.
Page 6
Competition:
Trivia:
When did the U.S.
What was the original name
slave trade end?
of the a cultural center?
First one to answer correctly
First one to answer correctly
wins a snickers bar!
wins a snickers bar!
April Competition: Have you ever been in a situation where
people around you possess different religious beliefs and practices than your own? 600 words or less. Due Feb. 27.
*Keep an eye out for more trivia and competitions to come!
Center for Multicultural Education
109 Maucker Union
Cedar Falls, Iowa 50613-0165
Phone: 319-273-2250
Email: cme@uni.edu
Website: www.uni.edu/cme
Our Mission
We foster success in racial and ethnic minority students,
contribute to the cultural competence of all students, and
promote an appreciation of diversity in the University Community.
Editor-in-chief: Dr. Michael D. Blackwell
Co-editor: Kailee Becker
Co-editor: Camelia Rubalcada
Contributors:
Dr. Michael D. Blackwell
We are also on Facebook!
www.facebook.com/CenterforMulticulturalEducation
Camelia Rubalcada
Mukulika Vashistha
Gloria Sumpter
ChaValier Sharps