IC INTERNS MEETING
MINUTES
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2003
4:15 PM
(all interns and Rafael were present)
We began talking about Wednesday's All IC meeting to discuss the vandalism that occurred at the IC over the previous weekend when a large part of the sign (specifically the section with SQU's logo) was ripped out of the stone wall.
The meeting was scheduled for Wednesday at 8:45 PM in the IC big room. Interns were told to get there by 8:20ish. This meeting is for the IC community, which includes affiliated groups such as COLORS, QSA, ADVICE, MULTI, and DESHI.
We saw the piece of the sign that was torn from the wall (nails still protruding from the back).
There was a general feeling from many students that Maurice's emails following the incident was too vague and didn't identify the details of the incident so that the college community didn't know what had really happened apart from a case of vandalism.
There was some sentiment that perhaps we would like to see or demand that the administration make a formal statement of what had happened to inform students, this being an important baseline to establish in order to have a dialogue.
Rafael encouraged us to send something ourselves to the administration.
Questions to raise at this meeting include how to move forward as a community. First, there is a space needed to inform us of the situation. Then there is the question of how we respond as a community. Finally there was the question of what the timeline could be regarding the replacement of the sign (whether in whole or in parts). We are considering unveiling the new sign (whether it is temporarily a cloth sign for now) during Coming Out Week in October which would be a really powerful statement from the IC about our strength. We need to think about updating the sign in general (ENLACE and logo). Perhaps we can unveil the new finished wooden sign at another large IC event in the near future.
We began discussing the need for a certain protocol for how to respond to these types of events. This includes ways that the college responds in addition to steps we take as a community.
We want to make it clear that this was a violation of our space and that we will not accept such acts of violence. So we will respond while affirming our own space.
Rafael will get an agenda out to us before Wednesday's meeting.
There is a concern that in the past few weeks and in the past in general SQU signs have been taken down soon after they were posted. We talked about why this could be happening and perhaps ways that these incidents are either connected or surface issues within the Swarthmore community.
We will send out emails to IC and affiliated communities and to board members to post on their list-serves advertising the meeting.
It needs to be made clear that this meeting is distinct from the administration's response and that this will be an all IC meeting and not a public forum. This is a space for the IC to deal with our own community's response.
The IC mailing list is up. It includes the 5 of us, where we are all able to moderate the mailing list at this point. Thoughts include our ability to incorporate the lists of all individual IC groups along with MULTI, DESHI, QSA, and other affiliated groups along with allies to the IC. We are going to be hammering out the details soon.
UPDATES
Powen:
- Coming Out Week: October 19 th – 25th
- -Kenny Sahneck. “Coming Out Smiling.” In science center. Reception or dinner before the event. He has the whole day free.
- -possibility of black lesbian rapper jen ro (sp?) to perform on Friday (there are people looking into the possibility now)
- -PARTY on Saturday October 25 th . SAC funded.
- -Will workout details for luncheon
- -COLORS to show a movie during the week
- -Paces interested in hosting an event from M-W (themed)
- -Queer mixer planned for Saturday afternoon (tri-co) to go bowling and then return to swat for the party
- -Trembling Before G-D (handled by Ruach)
- -putting together a tentative calendar for the week
- QPC (Queer Peer Counselors) – have gotten some response, though not sure if freshmen should be involved just yet (put a reminder in next group emails)
- Possibility of event with career services – Being Out in the Work World (type of thing)
Michelle:
- Emailed Derrick about webpage design and will followup this week. We should get a sense of how willing he is to do it.
- Korean Peace Day – all websites broken for reference. Give heads up to Asian Studies dept about possible event or some sort of Q&A session. Talked to Christine Shin and the possibility of a Korean Dance troupe to come.
- Will email Omar about Asian Arts Initiative connections, specifically with Deskarte Namin (progressive Filipino band) perhaps for APA heritage month
- Ann Choi is coming to SAO meeting this week (observing) and has given ideas for activities to being discussion of Asian Identity.
- November 14 th set as date for Asian and Asian Pacific American Faculty/Staff Luncheon. Issues with date include Beyond the Box conference going on the same weekend.
- Beyond the Box – confusion about who has gotten registration forms and who did not fill them out/collect them. There was a concern about how many people could attend and the way that the Dean's office would fund the conference. If more students from the IC community want to go, Rafael will fund them. However, think about reality of people dropping out at the last minute. There was a lot of frustration with the lack of good communication between groups. There didn't seem to be a central source or person to handle the conference campus-wide. Note that Swarthmore may be hosting the conference next year.
- APA Women's Leadership Workshop (bi-co) – October 24 th (Friday). We need to get a list of names (8 DESHI and 8 SAO women who wish to attend with a waiting list of 2 per group)
- Alumni connection – Korean American alum from class of 1984 is interested in becoming a mentor for the IC. He's a lawyer at FTC.
Alejandra:
- Enlace is going to move Latino Heritage Month to this October since there are more events being planned. Will be able to post a calendar soon.
- Party this Saturday Oct. 4 th – SAC funded at Paces. Theme is Live at Jimmy's
- This week's meeting is a housewarming and games in the ENLACE room.
- October 28 th (Monday) – Dr. Jose Solis, “Demystifying US Colonialism in Puerto Rico .” 7PM in the IC.
- Brown Bag Series begins this week. Noon – 1:30 PM in the IC.
- Thinking about “Smokin' Lovely” and reestablishing Soul Shack.
- Email Lourdes about events with Dominicancs.
Jyothi:
- DESHI has scheduled DIYA week for the week of November 10 th – 16 th . They are meeting this week to discuss details and planning events.
- Gandhi Day of Service with Philly Cares Day is this weekend on Saturday. If interested, come to info session meeting this Friday at 5PM in parrish parlors.
Rafael (director's updates):
- Brown Bag Series will be defined, local area and on campus speakers
- Working on questionnaire to be ready by October 6 th (all IC group board meeting)
- Masseuse workshop happening next week
- Jerry Wood lecture
- Reworking of IC awards in progress
- Website: will schedule a meeting with Derrick (along with Jyothi and Powen)
- SAO should think about setting a date to meet and talk about APA Heritage Month scheduling (meet in late October)
- Sager committee– will get together soon
- Faculty/Staff of Color Luncheon to take place after October Break
- Eugene received full funding for Filipino conference
- Make sure everyone has given Terri an updated list of their board members
- Followup on the IC list-serve
INTERNS WORK SCHEDULES:
Michelle:
M: 2-4 PM
TH: 11AM – 1PM
T: 8-10PM (with SAO meeting)
Powen:
W: 1:30-3:30 PM
W: 9-11 (with SQU meeting)
TH: 5:45-6:45 (board meeting)
F: 10-11:30AM
Alejandra:
T: 10AM-12PM
T: during ENLACE meeting
TH: 3-5PM
F: 1-3PM
Jyothi:
M: 11AM-12PM
T: 3:15-5:15
W: 10AM-12PM
TH: 3-5PM