...Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving Colossians 4:2

The Thanksgiving holiday always heightens my sense of gratitude. I prayerfully contemplate upon what I am most thankful for and dare myself to express it better, especially within my circle of influence. At Gonzaga, I connect with individuals on levels that may not be conducive in a lecture, lab or meeting. I am grateful that I can offer a box of tissue to a homesick freshman. I’m appreciative of the fact that I can encourage colleagues when they need it most. I am thankful for the practice of reflection with the UMEC team at our weekly staff meetings. In small ways, I’m living out the tradition of caring for the whole person and simultaneously trans-forming myself and others in the process. Dare yourself!

Tracy Ellis-Ward Director, UMEC

UNITY

502 e boone ave msc#2466, spokane, wa 99258 (509) 313-5836 unityhouse@gonzaga.edu

28 Crafting Unity: American Indian Beading

2 UMEC Movie Social: The Black Candle4 Deconstructing Kwanzaa

27 GU Iron Chef: Cultural Cooking Battle

12 “More Than a Month” Screening/Discussion

Upcoming Events

the

November

Director’s Corner

inside this issue...LEADS Social

Mocktail Movie Night: Sin PaísCultural Awareness Night: Interracial Dating

Understanding Identity within a Global ContextAlly Connection

Cultural Awareness Night: A Language of Hawai’i—PidginGU Iron Chef: Cultural Cooking Battle

Women of Achievement Benefit Luncheon“More Than a Month” Screening/Discussion

International Day of Tolerance (IDOT)

December

MULTICULTURALEDUCATIONCENTERVolume 3, Issue 2 November 27, 2012newsletter

Pictured below: GU students having a great time connecting at the LEADS mentoring program social on Thursday, September 27, 2012.

Photos courtesy of UMEC Staff

JaNuary

LEADS Social

February

Gonzaga university unity multicultural education center

Mocktail Movie Night:

By the end of the film, the room was overcome by a few hushed tears. Together we watched the Mejia family be strewn between two countries. The discussion that followed the viewing of “Sin País,” delved into the psychological strain caused by deportation. The Mocktail Movie Night created an intimate forum that allowed every participant to engage with the issue of immigration and the “American Dream” on a level beyond that of any high school immigration unit.

The movie “Sin País” followed the Mejia family on their fight with the immigration system. The Mejia’s were forced through the cracks of the system, leaving their family torn between two homes. The concept of home became the most striking aspect of the film. The discussion focused on the concept of home and where one finds it, touching on an area of immigration that everyone could relate to.

Coming from a Chicano family with ancestors crossed by the Mexican-American border, I’ve never felt “immigrant enough” to make a personal plea for my compassion towards immigrant families. After the discussion at Mocktail Night I found that everyone craves a real sense of home and in that, we are united. Alongside other Gonzaga community members, I watched the Mejia’s lose their home, and for the first time, I could say that I

STUDENT REFLECTION BY NINA MONTOYA, GU SOPHOMORE

Pictured top from left to right: GU students Mo Sambou, Spencer White, and Madu Cole were student panelist on the topic of Interracial Dating on October 11, 2012.

Pictured below: members of LaRaza/Latina Student club reviewing discussion questions and enjoying mocktails courtesy of G+/Student Wellness Resource Center.

Sin País (Without Country)understood their pain. This made the movie night so special; we were all brought to the bottom, and we left with a desire to fight alongside families like the Mejias to get to the top.

The Interracial Dating Panel was a great opportunity to engage in discussion surrounding interracial dating and the experiences people have had. While I listened to the other speakers it became clear

that experiences vary in many ways ranging from wholly positive to strikingly negative. It was great to share my story, because it involves a dynamic that some interracial relationships may never experience. That is, because of the fact that I am biracial, and each relationship I enter involves a delicate balancing and presentation of my person as holistic rather than two sided. An important aspect of interracial dating is the coming together of two persons from different races to date each other. This becomes much more complex when you have multiracial individuals dating, creating a new dynamic to be addressed by the interracial couple.

While addressing interracial dating as a whole, it was important to bring the focus in on Gonzaga’s campus. I think interracial dating is accepted on campus as a whole, but grossly misunderstood. It is time to start having conversations about dating interracially and broaden the knowledge base of Gonzaga in general. Without education interracial dating experiences could lead to unfair stereotypes, application of inappropriate beliefs, or cause unnecessary hurt founded in misunderstanding. Just as any two people in a relationship seek out the unique characteristics of the other, so too should race be included in this journey of understanding. Race should never determine why you date someone, but it should absolutely enrich and diversify the experience of that relationship. The Interracial Dating Panel is a perfect example of a way we can educate the persons within, and enrich the culture of, Gonzaga through courageous conversations.

Cultural Awareness Night:Interracial Dating

STUDENT REFLECTION BY SPENCER WHITE, GU SOPHOMORE

Understanding Identity within a Global Context:

Thank you to all the people who attended the event Understanding Identity Within a Global Context, presented by Gonzaga Visiting Professor Claudia Bucciferro, hosted by UMEC, and sponsored by the Chief Diversity Officer, Raymond Reyes, on October 18. We greatly appreciated the positive energy that you brought to Foley and the thoughtful discussion that followed the presentation. Core ideas discussed during the evening were on identity development in “situated” and traditional notions of identity are quickly changing due to globalization.

Cultural contact is more common, yet conflict abounds—people of different backgrounds are more likely to get in touch, but these encounters prove challenging. In order to move beyond old issues such as differences of gender, race, and class, we must begin by developing empathy and recognizing that “the other” is, more often than not, a cultural construction. These ideas are found in Dr. Bucciferro’s book “FOR-GET: Identity, Media, and Democracy in Chile”, published last summer. We were excited to celebrate the release of this work, and glad to see your enthusiasm for the raffle! Ten books were given away, and we all enjoyed some nice refreshments.

502 e boone ave msc#2466, spokane, wa 99258 (509) 313-5836 unityhouse@gonzaga.edu

A conversation with Gonzaga Visiting Professor Dr. Claudia Bucciferro, author of FOR-GET: Identity, Media, and Democracy in Chile

Ally

Hi! My name is Jae and I work in the Student Life Office. I’m one of two individuals at Gonzaga that functions in a support role specifically for students in crisis. That broad term “crisis” covers a lot of things, but it mostly means helping students that have encountered a difficult life event to overcome and move through that time. I connect students to the various resources that exist on campus and are appropriate to their needs. I also provide measures of accountability, and sometimes “life coaching” for students as they need it.

I’ve been very fortunate to be in this position as it enables me to help students that otherwise might be leaving Gonzaga because they don’t feel like they can make it or don’t have the support necessary. I’ve found that the Gonzaga community is a very supportive place to students who are struggling. This has helped to shape my perspective on Gonzaga and made me very appreciative of the time I’ve gotten to spend here.

I have the opportunity to work with a variety of students from different countries, cultural backgrounds, and from different socio-economic status. These differences that make them so valuable to the community can also make the community hard to connect with. Diversity is imbedded in my office because we work to help support students that think Gonzaga is too different for them by valuing those differences and showing them they have what it takes to be successful here.

Jae Webb,Case Manager,Division of Student Life

Connection

Cultural Awareness Night:

A Language of Hawai’i—PidginPictured below: GU students coming together to watch an informative and lively film on a language of Hawai’i Pidgin. After the film was shown, students engaged in discussion about the history of the language on November 2, 2012.

Gonzaga university unity multicultural education center

502 e boone ave msc#2466, spokane, wa 99258 (509) 313-5836 unityhouse@gonzaga.edu

YWCA

Women of

Achievement

Benefit

Luncheon

The 2012 YWCA of Spokane Women of Achievement Awards honored local women who have excelled in their field of expertise and whose achievements have had a powerful effect on our community. The 30th annual YWCA Women of Achievement Benefit Luncheon featured the inspirational story of keynote speaker Naomi Tutu, daughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu. She spoke on the challenges and opportunities of having grown up as “the daughter of…” which inspired her to become a catalyst for positive change.

Libby Thompson, UMEC/AmeriCorps LEADS Mentoring Coordinator had this to say about meeting Ms. Tutu at the luncheon:

“I thought it was amazing how she was so relatable . I love how she used humor in her presentation. She is a very inspirational”.

Pictured from left to right: UMEC/AmeriCorps/LEADS Coordinator, Libby Thompson; Global Activist, Naomi Tutu; GU Junior, Lauren Ferguson; GU Junior, Holly Okot-Okidi; and GU Sophormore, Deonna Smith. Gonzaga was well represented at the Women of Achievement Luncheon. Ms. Tutu, daughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, was honored and the guest speaker for the YWCA-sponsored luncheon on October 25, 2012.

Gonzaga university unity multicultural education center

Pictured on this page : Gonzaga University faculty, staff, and students, Spokane City officials, and representatives from the local Spokane community came together to stand for justice by linking arms and forming a line of solidarity on Friday, November 16, 2012 outside of the Crosby Student Center.

This year’s IDOT brought out record numbers - 300 were in attendance.

IDOT: International Day of Tolerance:Standing for Global Justice

“I feel this event brings awareness to campus about being tolerant, not just to cultures but genders and also just being able to cohabitate with each other around campus. People don’t realize that sometimes your next door neighbor in your dorm room could be different just in any different way. It doesn’t have to deal with ethnicity or gender but could deal with different thinking styles.”

-Guillermo Espinosa, GU Senior

“Having a tolerant world is just the path we’re all on. That’s the way society is going towards and anything is a growing and learning process, but it is good to see that it is the general direction we are all on”.

-Jill Herbst, Spokane Community Member