Smith College SGA

Intergenerational Dialogue about Smith College’s Evolving Community

March 12, 2012, 7PM, Neilson Browsing Room

A recently published Letter to the Editor of the Sophian by an alum from the class of 1984 portrayed Smith College as declining in its historically rigorous educational standards because of the increasing presence of students of color, as well as low-income and working-class, international, and LGBTQ students. How do we understand this letter, the diverse responses and reactions, and the evolving Smith community? 

Through an intergenerational dialogue, we hope to engage students, alums, faculty, and staff in a conversation that grounds the present in an understanding of the past. The recent events emerge not as an anomaly but represent the ongoing struggle for social justice. Diversity is not social justice; social justice is an ongoing process of uprooting systems of oppression and decolonizing all facets of life and society. Like today, students in the past several decades have worked to create a new educational community through movements led by Concerned Students of All Color (1988) and Grassroots (2001). Come learn these histories and how, by valuing our lived experiences, we can re-imagine and redefine the Smith community. All are welcome to participate in this conversation. 

The event will include the following before we open it up for a dialogue:

Introduction by Carro Hua ’13 (Weaving Voices)

Screening of documentary footage from the College Archives on student organizing for social justice in the early 2000s.

Comments by Ginetta Candelario ‘90 and Associate Professor of Sociology and Latin American and Latina/o Studies, and Neda Maghbouleh ’04, Visiting Instructor of Sociology, and PhD Candidate, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Open discussion moderated by Jennifer Guglielmo, Associate Professor of History, American Studies and the Program for the Study of Women and Gender

Attendees will include:
Lisa Armstrong, SWG
Bianca Bryant ‘14, Black Students’ Alliance
Xiomara Castro AC ‘13J, Prism; SGA Diversity Board/Grassroots (2002)
Kendra Colburn, AC ‘08; SACA chair 2006-08
Lisa Daniels ‘12, Black Students’ Alliance chair
Velma Garcia ‘79, GOV/LALS
Paula Giddings, AAS/Meridians
Glorianne Gonzalez ‘12, Nosotras
Mac Hamilton ’13, SGA Diversity Committee
Michelle Joffroy, SPN/SWG/LALS
Daphne Lamothe, AAS/SWG/AMS
Alli Langley ‘13, SSJIC
Katherine Lebron ‘12, Nosotras
Noemi Linares-Ramirez ‘15, Nosotras/ISSA
Donique McIntosh, ResLife
Sophie Nathan ‘14 
Pamela Nolan Young, Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity
Dawn Peterson, HST
Elizabeth Pryor, HST/AMS
Kevin Quashie, AAS/SWG
L’Tanya Richmond, Office of Multicultural Affairs
Emily Rider-Longmaid ‘13 J, SSJIC/SASA/Weaving Voices
Donna Riley, EGR/SWG
Kristen Rosa ‘12, SSJIC
Nadya Sbaiti, HST
Nowmee Shehab, ‘15, Prism
Britainy Stephens ‘14, Black Students’ Alliance
Nancy Sternbach, SPN/LALS
Hannah Sultan ’12, Multi-Ethnic Interracial Smith College
Jennie Wachowski ‘13, SASA
Tina Wildhagen, SOC
Nanci Young, College Archives