RAPP @ WorldFest International Festival

I wasn't consistent about taking out my camera at yesterday's International Festival, so I only have a few snapshots of the many, many RAPPers I saw at the event. The weather was perfect and UC International put together an event that was exciting, well-attended, and went off smoothly despite the many, many organizations participating and the many, many performances. Great work, UC International!

The initial set-up for the RAPP booth, before the wind made us put the display board down in front of the table.

Our neighbors at the event were the UC Model UN team - featuring Rachel of RAPP XXV!

Ivy, Rachel, and Simón stopped for a picture in front of the booth. Many thanks to Simón for volunteering several hours at the table!

If you look closely, you can see Anthony of RAPP XXV and the Japanese American Student Society on stage about to perform!

Red & Black Photo Contest

From our friends at the Student Alumni Council:
Greetings fellow Bearcats!
With spring quarter well underway, members of the Student Alumni Council (SAC) are hard at work on the next edition of The Red & Black Book. Originally published in 2007, The Red & Black Book is a spirit and traditions guide for incoming freshmen to become better acclimated with campus and more familiar with the university. Distributed at convocation and other Welcome-Week events, this book makes it into the hands of a good portion of the student body and UC community, and with the largest expected freshmen class-this number is ever growing!
This year’s edition of The Red & Black Book is promised to be one of the best and SAC would like your help! We are implementing a photo contest that will allow your student organization to submit their best photos from events your organizations held this year. Whether it’s a photo from an event on-campus, service/philanthropy program, or a composite/group photo-we are looking for fun and exciting pictures of students exemplifying Bearcat spirit and pride!
Please submit all photos on behalf of your organization to uc.redandblack@gmail.com
**Photos must be sent as an attached document in .JPG format and cannot have been taken off the internet** All submissions must be sent in by May 26, 2010 to be considered for use in the book.
Winners will have their student organization’s photo(s) published in The Red & Black Book in a section of the book correlating to the organization's area of involvement on campus. If selected, your organization will be notified over summer quarter prior to distribution of the book.
For questions or concerns, please contact our photo editor, Deon Cromwell at deoncromwell@gmail.com
Is your picture is Red & Black worthy? If so, enter the contest.
-The Red & Black team: Student Alumni Council

WorldFest International Fest

RAPP will have a table at tomorrow's WorldFest International Festival. This event is coordinated by UC International and features food, music, and performances from all over the world.
The festival will run from 11am to 3pm on McMicken Commons on Thursday, April 29th.
RAPP will be giving out information about our program and applications for RAPP XXVI. And, of course, Oreo cookies.
Pic - Jojo braved the rainy, rainy weather of last year's International Festival to help at the RAPP table.

Be the Match! National Bone Marrow Registry & AACRC

From UC News:
The University of Cincinnati African American Cultural and Research Center (AACRC) is partnering with the “Be the Match” Program, which seeks to bring awareness to bone marrow donation. (Be The Match Registry is the new name for the National Marrow Donor Program® Registry.) Bone marrow transplant is a life-saving treatment for people with leukemia, lymphoma and many other diseases.

The African American Cultural and Research Center is in Sander Hall on UC's Uptown Campus. The Bone Marrow Registry Drive is being held in Tangeman University Center.On April 27 in UC’s Tangeman University Center, Dannie Moore from “Be the Match” will be encouraging people, specifically people of color, to become members of the bone marrow registry. Moore will talk about bone marrow donation and give some insight on what it is like to receive a donation.

“The April 27 bone marrow registry drive is an effort to help everyone, but most specifically a 4-year old girl named Isabella who is of African-American and Hispanic descent and has leukemia,” says Jasmine Buxton, AACRC program manager.

Buxton notes that African Americans are affected at disproportionate rates by diseases that require bone marrow transplants, yet they have a little over 500,000 African Americans in the registry (compared to more than 7 million Caucasians).

In order to be in the registry, it takes only a simple cotton swab of the mouth. People who would like to participate must be generally in good health and between the ages of 18 and 60.

Because of a government grant that was extended, there is no cost to African Americans or Hispanics. Buxton says that the suggested cost for non-African American and Hispanic people to be registered will be $25 or “any type of contribution.” It takes $100 per person to process the entire “kit.”

“I just recently signed up to be on the registry after meeting with Dannie, which prompted us to put on this program,” Buxton says. “It is our hope that we not only add people to the registry, but that we also bring awareness to some diseases that require a bone marrow transplant and what the process is like should one be called to be an actual donor.”

What: AACRC Bone Marrow Registry Drive
When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., April 27
Where: Tangeman University Center (TUC) 400A
Learn More About Bone Marrow DonationBe the Match Program:
Formerly the National Bone Marrow Program® RegistryMatchMaker: Dedicated to recruitment of mixed-race bone marrow donors

Snapshots from Spring Retreat

Some snapshots from the joint RAPP XXV Spring Retreat! The weekend was a productive one full of new friends and thought-provoking conversation. We enjoyed the view from Calhoun Hall's 13th floor and got stuffed on meals from Coffee Emporium, Bagel Brothers, and Habañero.

The snack table pre-retreat -- while the food did make it through the night, it did so just barely. Hungry, hungry RAPPers! :)

Great smiles from XXVers Angelica, Danielle, Ivy, Chelsea, and Jazz!

On Saturday night the group watched excerpts from the Sundance Channel series TransGeneration.

Like some of the people in TransGeneration, we wrote coming out letters. Jay took a break from writing to say hi!

Jotalé and Jessica work on their letters.

I promised Jay I'd post this picture of us looking tough.

Craig and Ricardo kick off the overnight free socializing time with some hearty laughs. What are they laughing at?

I believe it was this comedy routine by RAPPORT member Jojo and RAPP XXVer Jotalé.

Morning discussion on sexuality. This group included (clockwise from left) Chelsea, Ivy, Courtney F, Bethel, and Tiffany.

Another morning-time discussion group: Angelica, Trisha, Bridnee, Jazz, and Simón.
Tired RAPPers just woken from a lunchtime nap. From left, Alyssa, Lauren, Lane, & Tiffany.

Many, many, countless thanks to all the RAPP XXV members who made this retreat what it was. Thanks also to our RAPPORT volunteers Kinsey & Jojo for their help throughout the retreat. Much gratitude is owed to our photographer Mia for creative and beautiful group photo taking. Our Peer Leaders - Tad, Krystal, DeVorah, and Kimmins - were also indispensible in making this retreat run smoothly. Finally, thanks to our amazing facilitators Sarvani and Tara for putting together a great retreat outline that helped our groups come together in meaningful ways.

RAPP XXV Spring Retreat Tomorrow!

Tomorrow through Sunday will be exciting and exhausting times here in RAPPland! This weekend we have our third and final retreat for RAPP XXV - the joint spring retreat!
Both the Tuesday and the Wednesday groups will come together for explorations of issues related to gender and sexual orientation. They'll also gnosh on delicious food from local restaurants and lose a lot of sleep to hang out and get acquainted instead.
The staff of Calhoun Hall have been gracious enough to grant us the 13th floor for the retreat. Along with our regular hard-working team of Peer Leaders and facilitators we'll have two extra RAPPORT members helping out for the weekend (Jojo of RAPP XXIV and Kinsey of RAPP XXIII (who was also a Peer Leader for RAPP XXIV)).
Above is one of my favorite pictures from last year's spring retreat, taken by photographer extraordinaire Mia (who's also my RAPPmate, woot woot RAPP XXII!). Mia will be taking our group photos again this year. Given how outstanding they were last year I'm excited to see this year's results - I know she'll put her creative juices to work again for a unique and stunning set of photos!

WorldFest 2010!

WorldFest, UC's annual celebration of world cultures, kicks off today at Raymond Walters College and Main Campus!

WorldFest is a Just Community initiative coordinated by Diversity Education and sponsored by

WorldFest features almost three dozen events between today and Sunday, May 2nd. The full schedule is available HERE.

This year's keynote speaker is Jonathan Greenblat, an experienced corporate executive and social entrepreneur, a member of the faculty at UCLA, founder of Ethos Water, and an acknowledged thought leader on ethical branding. Jonathan is the founder and President of Our Good Works, the nonprofit organization that oversees All for Good, the open source website designed to enable more Americans to serve and volunteer in their local communities. He will be speaking on Tuesday, April 27 at noon in the MainStreet Cinema.

Biology in the Classroom - Should Athiests be Allowed to Teach?

From the UC News article:
UC's Graduate School will bring Michael Ruse, a noted Darwin scholar, to campus to lecture on contemporary ethical issues in science and research. The presentation will address issues pertinent to today's teachers, scientists and researchers.
The event is free and open to the public and will be held at 4 p.m., Tuesday, April 27, 2010, in Room 300, Braunstein Hall.

CDC International Career Forum

As part of WorldFest 2010, the Career Development Center is hosting their annual International Career Forum. This year's theme is "The Career Buffet: Unique Opportunities in Food Industries”
The forum is Wednesday, April 28th, from 10am to 2pm in TUC Great Hall. You can RSVP to the event by email to montiej@ucmail.uc.edu.

From the CDC:
Sponsored by the UC Career Development Center (CDC), the ICF is part of the week-long Worldfest, a UC Just Community initiative. Its purpose is to raise students’ awareness of the increasing impact of globalization on their job search and entry into the workforce. The ICF includes discussions about global job & market trends, diversity and cross-cultural competency.
Now, because of the high unemployment rate nationally (10.6%) and internationally (5.2-9.7%), the ICF’s program mission is be:
· To inspire and enhance students’ self-efficacy to compete for jobs in a global economy;
· To encourage students to expand their job search and consider a wider array of career opportunities.
· To achieve these goals, our focus will be on the multi-billion dollar Food and Supply Chain Industries, where the a large number of students would not think to look for future employment. We will promote this program to students in business, engineering, sciences, industrial design and several other majors.

F to (e)Mbody Performance May 3rd

Monday, May 3rd, from 7PM to 9PM in the Catskeller (1st floor of TUC).

The text below is from the Facebook event page for the upcoming F to (e)Mbody performance.

F to (e)Mbody is a performance event that features multi-media spoken-word and hip-hop by the duo of Harvey Katz (aka the Athens Boys Choir) and Rocco Kayiatos (aka Katastrophe).
F to (e)Mbody website: http://www.ftoembody.com
About the performers (in their own words):Harvey Katz (aka Athens Boys Choir) performs gender-deviant, multi-media, spoken word/homo-hop. The name is a bit deceiving, but you can't blame a Jewish Transsexual living in the Deep South for having a sense of humor about it. His lyrics are heart-on-the-sleeve and his beats are undeniably gay-in-the-pants.
Athens Boys Choir's website - http://www.athensboyschoir.com/
Katastrophe (aka Rocco Kayiatos) is a San Francisco based rapper and producer. He uses his poetic grasp of language to weave dense tales of lives lived outside the mainstreams of education, gender, and culture. His hip-hop explodes with passion, crafting both dark anthems of anxiety and righteous rage, and sexy, flirtatious, booty-shaking bangers.
Katastrophe's website - http://www.katastropherap.com/
Athens Boys Choir and Katastrophe have both received honors from the Out Music Awards and have had music videos featured on LOGO’s Top Ten Click List. They have hit the stage with such notable artists as The Gossip, Ani Difranco, Saul Williams, Alix Olson, Le Tigre, The Indigo Girls, John Cameron Mitchell, Poets from HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, and More.

RAPP Table @ Student Activities Fair

Today marked the annual spring Student Activities Fair organized by the Student Activities Board. It also marked the start of "tabling season," where RAPP folk have informational tables at a variety of events through early fall quarter.
Along with promoting RAPP, we promoted WorldFest 2010. Diversity Education gave us boxes of t-shirts and schedules we gave out to people who played our trivia "game" (as with most things RAPP, everyone was a winner).

Bridget (XXV), Lauren (XXV), Jojo (XXIV), and Jourdi (XXV) kicked off the fair at the RAPP table!

Jourdi & Lauren (both XXV) became our "mobile" WorldFest promotion team.

Danielle (XXV) spent several hours quizing people, giving away t-shirts, and promoting RAPP!

Brittany C (XXIII) stopped by to say hi and pick up WorldFest info!

Anthony (XXV) staffed the table next door for JAS, but stopped by to give his best wishes to us!

Adam (XXV, furthest right) brought some friends over to play trivia and win WorldFest t-shirts!

Rachel being quized by Jourdi & Danielle (all XXV) - she won her shirt with flying colors!

Trivia quizzers extraordinaire! Jourdi & Danielle!

April 20 = Pay Equity Day

Today is "Pay Equity Day" - the day at which a woman's earning matches a male counterpart's for the previous year (i.e. she has to work an extra 3.5+ months to earn the same amount as an equally qualified male).

The UC Feminists student group held a Pay Equity Bake Sale today to recognize the day. They sold snacks and "=pay" buttons as well as distributed literature on the pay gap.

According to the AAUW (formerly known as the American Association of University Women), Ohio's wage gap for women 25 or older with a university degree ranks 19th in the nation - with these women earning 73cents on the dollar to their male counterparts. Ohio's wage gap for all working women aged 16 or older ranks 34th in the nation - with women earning 74cents on the dollar. You can look up information on all US states in the AAUW's interactive wage gap map.

Looking at the pay gap is a good way to see the intersection of sexism and racism. While White women earn less than White men, in general women of color - particularly Black and Latina women - fare much worse compared to men of other races and their own race.

NPR did a report yesterday on the pay gap, the history of legislation around the pay gap, and the impact of race on it (from which I've stolen this graphic):

Dinner & A Movie: Speak

From Kimmins, RAPP Peer Leader extraordinaire, Wellness Center Peer Educator, and Reclaim Peer Advocate (among other things:

Wednesday April 21, 2010

"Dinner and A Movie"

6:00 pm

Swift 808

We will be showing the movie "Speak" which features Twilight's Kristen Stewart. "Speak" is based on the award winning novel by Halse Anderson and is a drama told through the eyes of a high school freshman who stops talking completely after being raped by an upperclassman. "Speak" is a powerful and moving film that provides viewers an opportunity to see abuse from a different perspective. The event is free and open to everyone- please come early and hungry!

Brown Bag Activism Series: Roxanne Qualls Speaks April 28

Every final Wednesday of each month at 12:00-1:00pm the UC Women's Center will host a conversation led by a local activist or two. Come learn and share about ways to be activists that break with stereotypes and convention of feminist organizing within different issues.

Wednesday, April 28th Roxanne Qualls talks about getting her start in activism and politics in Cincinnati

So bring some food (beverages and desert will be provided) and come talk with other feminists from around campus!

If you have questions or suggestions for other activists to invite please contact Kimberly.fulbright@uc.edu. You can find more information on the Facebook event.

Linda Bates Parker, Tad Miller Recognized

During yesterday's 2nd annual UC Diversity Conference, RAPP founder Linda Bates Parker and RAPP XXIV member & RAPP XXV Peer Leader Tad Miller were recognized with the Marian Spencer Diversity Ambassador Award.

From the conference program:
In recognition of the longstanding contributions by UC alumna and activist, Marian Spencer, the UC Diversity Council sponsores the Marian Spencer Diversity Ambassador Award to showcase current campus affiliated individuals and groups whose diversity initiatives have positively impacted the university. Students, faculty, and staff can nominate individuals & groups for this award if they meet one or more of the following criteria: shows an awareness for diversity, exhibits sensitivity to people of various cultures, evidence of helping colleagues/peers grow in the area of diversity (race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, disability status, socioeconomic level, etc.), and prepares others to thrive in a diverse global workforce.

Linda Bates Parker
Former Director, Career Development Center
Nominated by Velta Kelly-Foster, EdD

Linda Bates Parker's husband and daughter accept the award on her behalf from Dean Bilionis.

Linda was dedicated to the field of diversity for many years. She led the early pioneering of diversity initiatives for the University of Cincinnati. She served on numerous diversity panels to discuss diversity issues, both community and statewide. Her expertise in diversity teaching and training cannot be overestimated. The development of her "Managing Diversity in the Workplace" course, reflected her skills and years of experience in addressing diverse learning styles through excellent classroom teaching and experiential learning activities.
In 2007 Linda created and designed the first region-wide Diversity Recruiting Training Institute. The institute focused on the development of skills, insights, and strategies for hiring and retaining a productive multi-ethnic/multi-racial/multi-cultural/multi-generational, and differently-abled workforce. This Institute was just one of many projectst that supported students, by educating our employers on the "best practices" to recruit and retain our talented and diverse UC students. In the community, her leadership of Black Career Women, addressing issues of women in the workforce, attracted women both locally and nationally.
Linda's effective and inclusive leadership style and her passion and spirit for the field of diversity earned her great respect in a profession where she continued to make remarkable and original contributions. Pothumously, we are proud to award the Diversity Ambassador Award to the life and legacy of Linda Bates Parker.

Tad Miller
Senior majoring in Communication
Tad with his award after the conference.

Tad Miller, a senior within the College of McMicken Arts and Sciences' Communication program, is currently an RA in the Office of Resident Education and Development and also serves as a Peer Leader in hte Racial Awareness Program (RAPP). While serving in these capacities, he has demonstrated an awareness of and commitment to multiculturalism, creating an inclusive and supportive environment for a diverse group of students. Despite his busy schedule as an RA, he serves as a mentor to current members [of RAPP] and develops facilitation skills in social justice education. He is know as the "go-to-guy" for many residents on campus and members of RAPP. These students know that Tad will listen to them with an open mind and try to help thme find their own solutions to problems, rather than telling them what to do. While serving as an RA, a peer leader, and outstanding UC student, Tad has not only personally committed himself to being a better leader, but committed himself to helping others become dedicated players in the creation of a just and caring community.

Marvin Lewis Speaks Wednesday @ 3PM

From the Diversity Conference organizers:
Marvin Lewis will be delivering the closing keynote presentation at the 2nd Annual Diversity Conference on Wednesday, April 14.
For those of you who could not attend the entire conference, you will be able to come to the closing session beginning at 3:00PM in the Great Hall [of Tangeman University Center].
In addition to Marvin Lewis, we will present the Marian Spencer Diversity Ambassador Awards and hear the delightful sounds of MUSE Cincinnati's Women's Choir.
This event is open to the entire University community.

Rapping at the Diversity Conference

If you have the good fortune of attending the UC Diversity Conference this Wednesday, be sure to check out all the RAPP in action!
This year's conference's theme is "Diversity & Inclusion: Leadership Imperatives for Excellence" and will feature Marvin Lewis and Dr. Lee Gardenswartz as keynote speakers.
There are several RAPP folk leading concurrent sessions:
Kim McGinnis & Valerie Lewis will present "Inclusion: Integrating Privilege Awareness into Personal and Institutional Spheres" 9:45-11:00AM
Rebecca Lehman will co-present with "Friend of RAPP" Maggy Fogler "Socioeconomic Class & Higher Education: Issues and Engagement" 9:45-11:00AM
Kim & Valerie will present "Emotional Inclusion: Integrating Privilege Awareness" 11:15-12:30AM
Rebecca will present "Personalizing Social Justice through Experiential Learning" 1:45-3:00

Word on the street is that some RAPP folk may be up for some awards during the 3:00 award ceremony. You should come just to find out if they're successful!

The Coochie Chronicles Returns!

First came the Vagina Monologues. Now get ready for the Coochie Chronicles!

Kicking off UC's participation in Take Back the Night will be a performance of The Coochie Chronicles: The Spoken Word Stage Play.

From the Facebook Event for the performance:

Real life. Real Sistahs. Real Talk!“Coochie Chronicles: The Spoken Word Stage Play” is a frank, melodicexploration into the lives, sexuality, politics, stereotypes andrealities of women of color. This multi-media production utilizes spokenword poetry, popular music, original songs, powerful imagery,and eye-opening statistics to chronicle the universal realities of womanhoodand the unique experiences of women of color.

Take Back the Night

The UC Women's Center is organizing participation in Cincinnati's 21st annual Take Back the Night.

The event is held each year to bring awareness of the ongoing problems of sexual violence in our community. The city-wide event is Friday, April 23rd, starting at 6:30PM. Attendees will assemble at Sawyer Point and march to the Peace Bell in Newport, where we will hold a program consisting of local musicians and a survivor speak out. The evening will conclude with a silent, candle light vigil back to Sawyer Point.

The UC Women's Center is providing a bus to Sawyer Point, seats available on a first-come first-served basis. For more information, check out this Facebook Event.

Grill Out!

The RAPP XXV Social Committee put on its first program yesterday - with amazing attendance and rampant fun!

RAPP XXV members Danielle Thomas, Andrea Tinsley, Laura Plikerd, Bobby Filbin, and Kelly Crotty organized the event for current RAPPers and RAPPORT members. The weather was beautiful and the "Grill Master" filled bellies with yummy food.

Some snapshots of the evening (click on the image to see it larger):

RAPPers and RAPPORT folk mingling & waiting for grill food.

Grill Master Danielle made cooking a successful team effort (and didn't burn off her eyebrows)! (l-r: Wil, Danielle, Brice, Bethel)

Folks hanging out (l-r: Mahsino, Kimmins, Luke, Meagan, Lane)

Apples to Apples fun (l-r: Jourdi, Wil, Anum, Kimmins, Luke, "game starter" Jojo)

Daniel and Jourdi found a way to have a back rest on a picnic table.

Lane and Maggie take a moment to enjoy the swings.

I distracted Ivy from the rousing game of frisbee.

RAPP welcomes everyone! - even Jenn's dog Blake.

Jenn and Mahsino enjoy some social time.

President Williams' Book Talk

UC President Dr. Williams spoke yesterday as a part of the Center for Access and Transition author series. The event was co-sponsored by CAT, SALD, and Diversity Education and had 150 or more people at it.
The News Record covers the event far better than I could in this article.

(pic - President Williams signed a book and spoke with SALD Administrative Coordinator Patty Speed)

Reclaim Peer Advocate Program - Accepting Applications Now!

UC Women’s Center Reclaim Peer Advocate Program is recruiting undergraduate students (this is a volunteer program) for the 2010-11 school year.

For information about the program and application check-out the Reclaim website.

For more questions contact Kim Fulbright at Kimberly.fulbright@uc.edu or 513.556.4328.

UCWC RECLAIM Peer Advocate Responsibilities and Guidelines

Responsibilities:

1. Provide campus and community advocacy services to victims of sexual assault, including support, crisis
intervention, court and legal advocacy and hospital accompaniment.

2. Provide non-threatening information on police, medical and legal procedures.

3. Inform survivors of available community resources, as indicated by individual needs and assist with referrals by victim.

4. Assist with the answering of the 24-hour Help Line through an "on-call" cell phone system.

5. Maintain records related to the provision of services and submit these records to the
Sexual Assault Response Coordinator in a timely manner.

6. Assist in educational programming and other outreach events.

7. Attend mandatory monthly in-services the first Saturday of each month from 10:30am-12:30pm.

8. A one-year commitment to the program which allows for optimal personal and professional growth.

9. Participation in year long program evaluation.

Qualifications:

1. Application and interview acceptance process.

2. Mature and dependable individual. Advocate must be able to actively listen and communicate.
Advocate should be non-judgmental and have an understanding of the needs of victims of sexual and gender violence.

3. Once accepted into the program, advocates are trained in issues related to sexual violence through a 40-hour training
coordinated and facilitated by the UCWC.
The mandatory training dates this year are:
June 5th 10am-1pm
September 9th, 10th, 16th, 17th 9am-5pm
October 2nd 10:30am-2:30pm

4. Access to personal transportation.

Linda Bates Parker Receives Alumni Association Mosaic Award

Among the seven people being honored with Alumni Association awards is our own founding "Ma Parker." 

From the announcement of honorees:

Linda Bates Parker, A&S ’70 (presented posthumously)

Linda Bates Parker was the director of UC’s Career Development Center for 22 years until her passing on December 10, 2009.

“A piece of Linda lives on in the hearts and minds of those she touched, and because of that, the world will be a better place,” said Dr. Bleuzette Marshall, senior director of development for UC’s Provost & Student Affairs offices, who nominated Parker.

Parker grew up in Cincinnati’s West End and was able to attend college at the University of Dayton solely because of a scholarship she received. She would repay that scholarship by earning a master’s degree at UC and becoming a pioneer in business and higher education, as well as a passionate ambassador for diversity and equality.

A cherished fixture on the UC campus for more than three decades, Parker was well liked and respected in her work throughout the UC community and recognized as an excellent leader and engaging teacher. A Distinguished Faculty Fellow who helped develop some of UC’s first distance-learning courses, Parker also taught a popular Managing Diversity in the Workplace course within the McMicken College of Arts & Sciences throughout most of the last decade. Her recommendations helped lay the groundwork for the university-wide Diversity Task Force, and her commitment and follow-through earned her many awards as a champion of diversity in principle and in action.