Intercultural Students Association brings diversity in focus at DWC

 

(Nashua, NH) — When the Student Activities Board at Daniel Webster College (DWC) hosted Leon Williams as the keynote speaker for its “Soulful Celebration 2005” during Black History Month last February, the college was expecting an inspiring talk by the well-known speaker on racial issues, multiculturalism, and diversity.

 

His talk was inspiring, indeed, but it went beyond that, motivating a group of Daniel Webster College students to assemble and form the Daniel Webster Intercultural Students Association (ISA) the following month.

 

Robert Coleman, one of the founders of the ISA, explained the impact Williams made on the students that special day.  “Leon Williams spent the entire day here on our campus (in Nashua, N.H.) and even taught some classes before his public presentation that evening. He sparked a lot of interest and many of us were excited by what he had to say. Before he left Daniel Webster, Mr. Williams gave us the challenge of reaching out to our campus community and developing and implementing programs that address and celebrate diversity issues.”

 

A sophomore aviation flight operations and air traffic management major from Richmond, Va., Coleman took up that challenge and sent a campus-wide e-mail calling DWC students together for just that very purpose. Very shortly after, 30 students met at DWC’s Baddour Library and Resource Center and organized the Intercultural Student Association as an official campus student organization.

 

According to Humanities and Social Science Professor Donald Wellman and ISA faculty advisor, “Daniel Webster College always has included an emphasis on intercultural studies and discussions on diversity in the classroom and coursework. Now we are seeing it move into student life, led by the students themselves.”

 

The vision of the Intercultural Student Association is broad: to improve student life through the understanding of other cultures, insure that representatives of all cultures feel welcome in the DWC community, and broaden students’ understanding by celebrating diverse cultures.

 

Susan Elsass, Vice President of Student Affairs, noted that the college had held cultural events in the past, “but the effort didn’t have the same type of traction as when the students decided to do it themselves.”

 

And even though the ISA is a fledgling organization, the group jumped right into the ’05 –’06 academic year, kicking off September with The Dreams of Sparrows, a film sharing the vision of life in Baghdad following the war and before reconstruction. Filmed through the eyes of first-time Iraqi director Hayder Mousa Daffar and his team of contributing directors, the process irrevocably changes him and his crew.  

 

“We are organizing our (ISL) activities around monthly themes,” explained senior Chris Lysonski, “concentrating on a film and book series, as well as looking into co-sponsoring speakers, authors, bands, poetry readings — any way to bring diversity to campus in a way that is engaging, educational and fun.” Lysonski, an air traffic management major from Pittsfield, Mass., is another of the organization’s founders and handles its public relations.

 

In October, a month dedicated to the GLTBU (Gay Lesbian Transgender Bisexual Undecided) movement, the ISA sponsored the screening of The Laramie Project, a highly-acclaimed film about the aftermath for Laramie, Wyo., following the 1998 beating and murder of gay student Matthew Shepard in that town. Also shown was the international award-winning film Silverlake Life: the View from Here, considered to be an extraordinary video diary of living with AIDS.

 

During November’s Latin Heritage Month, the ISA sponsored the 2004 film Maria Full of Grace, the story of a pregnant Colombian teenager who becomes a drug mule to earn desperately needed money for her family. There was also a showing of In the Time of Butterflies, a 2001 film inspired by the true story of the three Mirabal sisters who were murdered in 1960 for their part in an underground plot to overthrow the government. Social science major Melanie Gioioso, of Pelham, N.H., led a review and discussion group on Julia Alvarez’s book by the same title. A Latin Heritage Party in the college dining hall, where all students were able to experience food, fun and festivities “Latino-style,” rounded out the month’s events.

 

The ISA is preparing the rest of the year’s activities: December focused on how different cultures celebrate the holiday season; February is Black History Month; and March is Women’s “Herstory” Month.

 

In addition to the film series, the book of the month, and working with the dining hall to offer a “food fest” for various cultures, the ISA will be sponsoring two speakers this year, moving to a speaker a month next year. Additionally, the group is working on ways to “Theme the Thread” — the college’s Common Thread, an informal student meeting place with food and fireplace — looking at ways to bring to the Common Thread the cultural music and food associated with each month’s theme.

 

Jason Pierre-Jules, a sophomore majoring in air traffic management from Randolph, MA, started an online ISA chat group and is editor of the organization’s monthly newsletter Cultural Affairs. Another ISA founder, Pierre-Jules says, “This is an organization with a bright future. All the members are contributing great ideas and we are having a significant impact at the school.”

 

Coleman, Lysonski and Pierre-Jules recognize the ISA is still in its early stages building a foundation, establishing contacts, and getting the word out. Yet all three agree that the ISA has great purpose, strong momentum, and is already making a difference, and with time, it will have an even bigger impact on campus life at DWC.

 

“Over time we plan on outreaching to all minority students on campus, both day and evening, as well as flight instructors, and then to the entire DWC community, including alumni,” Coleman said. As the organization grows, the ISA anticipates working with community leaders in Nashua and with other area colleges to co-sponsor events.

 

The ISA already is having an impact on the DWC community, confirmed Professor Wellman. “This student initiative is going to help the college move forward and is inspiring DWC to find more creative ways of addressing multicultural issues. We need to increase the numbers of women and under-represented minorities on our faculty to make it more representative of the nation. The students are pushing and looking for community involvement – not only at our own campus, but with other colleges and community groups as well.”

 

DWC President Dr. Robert Myers recently formed a campus taskforce on diversity with representatives from the student, faculty and staff to address these issues and opportunities. Says Myers: “Presidential leadership, visibility, and commitment to campus diversity are essential to institution-wide progress.  I plan to incorporate recommendations from the Task Force on Diversity into our comprehensive strategic plan for the College.”

 

Student Affairs VP Susan Elsass added, “The ISA is a needed voice at the table to keep us focused on diversity and multicultural issues and is a vehicle for the new diversity taskforce to partner with students on campus.”

 

Karen Jordan of DWC’s Information Technology Department agrees. Jordan, an advisor to ISA and a member of the recently-convened taskforce said, “You are who you recruit – the college needs to go to more minority-focused college fairs with minority representatives that make prospective students feel comfortable by showing likeness. One of the goals expressed within the ISA membership is to empower members to go into their communities as ambassadors for not only their own accomplishments, but for the college as well.  Many members have expressed enthusiastic interest in going back to their high schools during breaks and representing DWC. They are a great group of students and I’m here to help them with their process, support them when they need it, and help them grow as people.”