Is this justice?

Posted on October 7, 2011 by Aaron

In April 2000, my dad was shot and killed. I’ve been through a lot of different phases related to this incident and I’ve obviously had a very different life because of it. The police caught the young men who shot my dad about a week after it happened and they went to prison. It was for a few years, the longest sentence was 30 years. As far as I know, the death penalty never entered into the conversation at the trial. In hindsight, I’m glad that it didn’t. At the time I was very conflicted and part of me believed that the death penalty was a means of serving justice and the another part of me believed that it was state sponsored murder.

Speaking in my own experiences and reflecting 11 years after my dad’s death, I don’t believe it would have made me feel any closure to know that the men involved were dead. I haven’t spoken to anyone else who has had a similar experience to mine to know what they would feel, but I’ll go out on a limb and say that I don’t think it provides many people with closure. I don’t think it provides society with closure. I believe that the death penalty is a relic of the old testament. At its core it is an eye for an eye policy. It is state sponsored murder.

I know there are varying beliefs related to the death penalty and its relevance. I’m simply presenting mine. In the wake of the uncertainty of Troy Davis’ execution I needed to make a decision. There are movements going on and activism is taking place. I want to be a part of that change because I don’t believe that murdering criminals does anything for our society.

American Civil Liberties Union

The Innocence Project

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Marching Forward

Posted on July 24, 2011 by Aaron

This post is long overdue, but better late than never.

Over the last few months, I accepted a position at George Mason University and graduated with my M. Ed. in Higher Education Administration from North Carolina State University. It’s been an eventful couple of months than included a move, starting a new job, going to a wedding, and actively enjoying life.

As for my new position, I went into the on campus interview very positive about my brief interactions with people at The Placement Exchange back in March and I was excited when that positivity continued while interviewing for the position. I liked meeting everyone and there was an energy about the department and institution that attracted me. I got a call from the search committee chair the day after the interview with a verbal offer and I decided to accept the position.

Now, in the middle of training, I can still say that I’m proud of my decision and I’m happy that I’m working at George Mason University.

The Saturday following my interview was graduation (as well as closing for my residence hall). My grandparents, mom, and brother came down to help me celebrate the accomplishment. It also made me reflect on how much I have grown as a professional and a person throughout graduate school thanks to great peers, an awesome supervisor, and excellent professors. I’ll always be grateful for my experience at North Carolina State University. Thank you to everyone who was a part of my experience, we will not lose touch!

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My moment of hesitation

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Aaron

As a heterosexual, able-bodied, white cis-gendered male, I have a lot of unearned privileges in society that were taught to me through everything I interacted with. Whether it was media, school, etc. One of the only areas in which I don’t carry privilege is in my spiritual identity. I identify as an atheist. (An identity that I’m still exploring and potentially adjusting)

The only time ever that I felt hesitation in declaring my identity was during an exercise at a training retreat that I was taking part in. We all stood in a circle and stepped into the middle of the circle if we identified as {insert your social identity here}. In attendance at the retreat was every one of my new colleagues and all of our supervisors. I had yet to have a full conversation with everyone and suddenly became nervous when asked to step into the circle if you identify as atheist.

Now, I had no reason to be nervous. I was in a room of open-minded people who appreciate diversity and multiple perspectives. And yet, I still feared for the slightest moment that I would be judged for my identity. That is based on the inherent Christian privilege of the United States that implies that anything not Christian is wrong.

Due to my other social identities, I hadn’t felt that sense of not-belonging before and it wasn’t until much later when I was reflecting on my identities that I realized what that moment meant. And if I can feel momentary hesitation and fear about identifying as an atheist what does that mean for someone who identifies as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, genderqueer? What does it mean for someone whose identity is visible? What about someone who is African American, Hispanic/Latino, Native American, Asian American/Pacific Islander? This line of questioning shook me to my core. It opened my eyes a little more to the socialized oppression and privilege prevalent in our society in ways that I previously had not experienced due to my visible privileged identities. It led me to want to become an activist and advocate. It shifted my perspective and professional identity. It made me strive to learn more about myself and our society. It made me engage in social justice advocacy and education.

For these reasons I am grateful for my moment of fear.

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Present v Future

Posted on May 2, 2011 by Aaron

Most of us teach and are taught that it is only the future that really matters.

-bell hooks – Teaching Community

bell hooks is right. We spend an immeasurable amount of time thinking about the future. In high school, it’s all about making it through and graduating and “freedom.” In college, it’s all about making it through to the real world and getting a job and making money. We often do not take the time to live in the moment and engage in what we’re doing now.

This is one of the things that I’m working on. I want to live more in the present when I can and be engaged with those around me when I know that things are changing. I think the concept is simple, but the implementation will be difficult. Don’t look at the time when you’re out with friends. Don’t think about all the things that you could be doing instead of sitting in class. Find joy and purpose in the things that you’re doing and learn.

bell hooks also talks about learning being treated a means to an end rather than a lifelong process. A little of that may have to do with the traditional pedagogy of study, homework, study, tests, study, repeat. Students have no choice but to view learning as a chore in that context, but shifting into being present could change that. I view learning as something that should continue long term no matter what degrees you may or may not have hanging on the walls (or sitting in an envelope on your bookshelf). It’s an important part of life that gets lost when we ignore the present in favor of the future.

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I’m not Caucasian

Posted on April 29, 2011 by Aaron

“…conventional American racial categories are rooted in colonialism, slavery, and an elaborate ideology developed to justify a system of racial inequality. Given racial categories’ sociohistorical rather than biological roots, the notion that “races” describe human biological variation has been officially rejected by the American Anthropological Assoication. As we critique outmoded systems of racial classification, we must also question the labels we use for “races.”

-Carol C. Mukhopadhyay

Mukhopadhyay went on to explain in her essay that the word caucasian was developed in the eighteenth century by as anatomist who claimed that the people from the Caucasus mountain range were the most beautiful people in the world and then he decided to label all fair skinned people caucasian. This is why I’m do not identify as caucasian.

There is a lot power and privilege tied up into that particular word. The word is a relic of a now outdated concept that passed off the social construction of race as biological difference. The fact that we still use caucasian as a valid term when we have moved away from the other outdated labels represents the white supremacy still inherently present in the United States. As a society, other groups have changed their labels to more accurately reflect the social construction of race, but white folks are still clinging to this faux-biological label and the idea of superiority that is historically tied to it.

I was in the process of joining NASPA in November of 2010 and their registration form for membership only offered Caucasian as racial category for white people. I sent in an email to their membership committee, a representative replied to my email and said that he’d discuss the concern at their next meeting. I have yet to hear back, but the point is, I’m choosing not to identify as Caucasian because it historically represents ideas that are no longer relevant or even scientifically viable.

EDIT: As I thought about this post after it was published, I realized that this has more meaning in the context of what has happened with President Obama and Donald Trump this week (which I commented on yesterday). I think given the very public new context, examining the language we use and the ways in which we use it to wield power over people is important. Some may claim that Caucasian is just a label that we use, but given its historical context, it is more than that. Constantly evaluating our language and the historical context that it brings to us is an important part of moving forward to a socially just society.

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Birthers Continue

Posted on April 28, 2011 by Aaron

President Obama recently released his long form birth certificate, which (unsurprisingly) matched the birth certificate that he released on his website during the 2008 campaign. The pressure had been mounting over the last several weeks with Donald Trump, Sarah Palin, and Newt Gingrich weighing in with additional pressure. @baratunde from Twitter posted a YouTube video describing his feelings which is beautifully spoken, poignant, and strikes at the heart of the argument. President Obama was coerced into proving that he belongs. He was coerced into proving that he is “one of us.” So our President released his long form certificate of living birth and justly exclaimed that we have better things to pay attention to.

Once that happened, Trump decided it was appropriate to announce to the press how proud he was of himself. The subtext of Trump’s exclamation is how a white man without any knowledge or experience in politics is able to pressure a man of color (the President of the United States of America) into proving his worth and belonging.

Shortly after President Obama’s announcement, Trump declared his pride. Then he asked for President Obama to release his high school records to prove that he belonged at Columbia and Harvard. Trump wants Obama to prove that he didn’t push aside deserving white people to get a racially charged leg up on his peers. Trump is making this argument in order to divide. Trump wants people to believe that President Obama doesn’t belong and hasn’t ever belonged. When no one has to question Trump’s belonging due to his appearance.

It is disheartening that Trump now wants President Obama to release his academic records. Our past President, George W. Bush, who had sub par academic performance and was able to attend Yale and Harvard due to old school affirmative action, known now as legacy. Former President Bush never had to prove his belonging in the Ivy League to the voting public. But now, Trump wants President Obama to prove that he belonged and that he wasn’t given a pass to join prestigious institutions because of his complexion.

I, like @baratunde, am disheartened and saddened that Trump was able to wield his privilege as he has. He was able to assert that he belongs and that the President of the United States of America, does not belong. This birtherism nonsense is another example of how we need to stand together and fight for the rights of those who are marginalized and pushed aside as less than in our society. We have to stand together because if we don’t we’ll be pushed back into the past.

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Acronyms and Accuracy

Posted on March 31, 2011 by Aaron

I’ve got a few pet peeves and this one developed last semester during a Gender Issues class. We were talking about (hyper)masculinity and its affects on students who are gay. We were talking about how that sense of masculinity was tied into the homophobia that we see on campus. The conversation diverged for a moment when someone used the GLBT acronym and we had a small conversation about how that particular acronym isn’t always the correct term to use. In this case we were talking specifically about homophobia of men which does not always apply people who identify as transgender.

LGBT and GLBT are both commonly used acronyms within higher education and student affairs. One of the things that I have noticed is that when people use the term GLBT, they are talking about people who identify as gay or lesbian. I recently saw a tweet asking about recent LGBT identity development, which doesn’t define much about what that person was looking for. Being Lesbian, Gay, and/or Bisexual is usually described as a sexual orientation (although there is research suggesting that might be a little different) whereas the term Transgender is an umbrella term that applies to many different gender expressions. The identity development of sexual orientation and gender expression are vastly different and I don’t think the two should be lumped in together.

The support for gay and lesbian students is very different than support for transgendered students. It’s even different for bisexual students (which in the Cass Identity Model, is a “stage” before synthesizing gay or lesbian identity into the whole person)

As student affairs educators, it’s obvious that we need to be aware of the language we use. I think we should expand this awareness to our acronyms. It’s important that we say what we mean. If we’re talking about sexual orientation we should do that. If we’re talking about gender expression and identity then we should do that. Being supportive of our students means being cognizant of the language we’re using and being accurate in using that language.

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RA Training

Posted on March 29, 2011 by Aaron

I expect a lot out of RA Training. I want my RAs to be ready to perform at a high level and that means they already know that basics. Getting to that point means that the RAs are engaged in their own training as much the professional/graduate staff is to provide them with opportunities to get the training that they need. These opportunities are easy to visualize for new staff members, but what about returners? One of the struggles that I have had as I plan staff trainings is what the returning RAs will get out of the training. I want it to be meaningful for them just as much as it is for a new RA.

One of the ways that I have tried to engage returning RAs in the past is through their own participation. We’ve asked returning RAs to help present training sessions in which they were strong. While this has been a good way to engage a small number of returners, the vast majority of them don’t have the same opportunities simply because we don’t have enough training sessions for everyone to present something.

One of the things that we’re trying to do for next fall is to include an entirely separate track for returners that will focus on what it means to be a returning RA. We’re still in the planning phase on that so it’s taking shape slowly, but I have high hopes.

We’re also hoping to go through and edit our pre-made sessions so that we can include multicultural competencies throughout the training. We also want to think about different learning styles that people have so we’re looking into looking through the session with Kolb’s Learning Style Inventory in mind.

Is there anything that you do for your staff training that helps engage returning staff members? What topics do you set aside as ‘more advanced’ and appropriate for your returning student staff? What do you do to engage student staff holistically through their training? Have you established standard competencies for your staff members?

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Readjusting to advising

Posted on January 26, 2011 by Aaron

I’m learning to advise again, but this is an entirely different experience than advising my hall council. I’m coming into an organization in the middle of the year so there is already a knowledge base that the students are operating on, which gives me the chance to catch up to their culture, policies, and rules rather than focusing on training them on what they need to do.

The biggest struggle that I’m having currently is knowing when to speak up. Trying to filter out the things I might say if I was a student in a group and add to the discussion as an adviser is probably the most difficult thing that I’m re-learning. The difference between voicing my own opinion and helping to put things into perspective is the struggle that I usually face. When my students are discussing how to approach an issue, rather than trying to answer it, it’s important to help them find their own answer.

For instance, my students were discussing how to approach the fact that they would not have quorum for their retreat in which they would be passing the budget for the semester and deciding on the programs for the semester. Earlier in the year, they had established that they would follow parliamentary procedure for any business that they would be passing and not having quorum on retreat but approving the budget conflicted with their established procedure. During that discussion, it wasn’t about what I thought they should do, but it was working to understand how they wanted to approach the situation and whether their solution was consistent with their established policy.

Advising a large student organization is an entirely different ball game from my advising experience with my hall councils in Metcalf. I’m really looking forward to working with my students.

Have you had any growing pains with a new advising group? What did you do to overcome those? What’s been the most important thing you’ve learned about advising students?

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Discourse

Posted on January 25, 2011 by Aaron

Violence is prevalent through the entire english language. We’ve got words and phrases that are embedded in our culture that can prevent us from seeing extreme examples of embedded violence in language as a problem. As Student Affairs Educators, we have a responsibility to help our students learn how to communicate within their organizations, to their peers, and to university officials. Understanding how violence influences our communication can be an excellent first step to understanding how civil conversations can devolve into monstrous arguments.

In addition to violent rhetoric, there have been examples of public figures using unacceptable language while addressing the public. The activists and educators who respond to those inappropriate uses of language are often confronted with a response that challenges their right to make a response. The challengers seem to present evidence that by responding to inappropriate language we are encroach on peoples’ right to free speech. This kind of response is astonishing to me because it seems contradictory at it’s very nature. It is also surprising because it seems to completely miss the point that when we mis-speak or say something damaging, we should be made aware of that so that we can learn how to better communicate. This should be a high priority for public figures just as much as it is for me.

I also want to point out the following:

  • Xenophobia and racism are not free speech, they’re patently ignorant and hateful.
  • Being outraged at someone’s violent rhetoric is not suppressing free speech, it’s explaining how someone has been irresponsible with their right.

We all have a right to believe what we do. However, that right ends when we start to encroach upon another person. Spreading a message of violence is not appropriate for our public figures, and I hope we, as Student Affairs Educators, are teaching our students the differences between what they have a right to say and the responsibility they have to participate in our society civilly. There is a difference.

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