Liberty in North Korea Presentation - Monday, 3/30, 3:00PM

RAPP welcomes Liberty in North Korea back to UC this Monday, 3/30/2015, at 3:00PM in the 6th Floor Open Space of Steger Student Life Center! Find this event on Campus LINK and Facebook.

From LiNK:

The international narrative on North Korea has created an environment of fear and isolation. This disempowers ordinary North Koreans, who have nothing to do with the political circus.

We are launching an exciting NEW initiative this spring to give millions of people the opportunity to send a personal message of support TO: the North Korean people.

Our goal is to show North Koreans that the world is united in support for them. We need YOU to change the narrative on North Korea by adding your community's voice of support to our collective message.

This event includes:

Multimedia Presentation
LiNK events are engaging and educational presentations. We use a combination of speaking, videos, audience interaction and photos to connect audiences to the people behind the stories and provide a comprehensive look at North Korea. This event is unique and offers a look at North Korea most people have never had.

Questions & Answers
We give you the opportunity to ask any questions and get answers from our highly trained representatives. The purpose of these presentations is to not only educate but also connect with you and your community.

Get Involved Table
LiNK Nomads will invite anyone who's interested to visit with us to learn more about how to get involved. This is a great time for those interested to have deeper discussions about the issue, buy merchandise to support the work LiNK does, and find out more about how you can stand alongside the North Korea people.

Last Film of Courageous People Series

In Kingian Nonviolence Conflict Reconciliation, we talked about the nonviolence movement in the United States and the teachings of Martin Luther King.

Those who participated in KNCR as well as the SALD Community are all invited to join us as we look at nonviolent movements from across the globe. This series is titled, "Courageous People".

We will now look at the nonviolent movement and resistance that fought segregation in Nashville.


Feel free to bring lunch! This is open to all UC students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community leaders!

                                                  Tuesday, August 5th, 12pm- 1:30pm
                                                       6th Floor Steger Student Life

Lessons Learned: Commitment is...

As a facilitator, as a recruiter, as a leader one thing harsh lesson I learned was: not EVERYONE can do what they signed up for. I used to take low turnout/feedback/membership personally. I thought, somewhere in the process, I aspired too much or recruited too many folks. However, I'm learning that just because people sign up for things doesn't mean people will follow through with that.

It's not always people forgetting they signed up to commit to something. It's not just people wearing themselves too thin and not being able to commit. Sometimes folks have emergencies or an illness that prevents them to keeping commitments they made months in advance. Other times, people just drop the ball. Smile, discuss and converse away! Those who came were eager to learn and make sure to keep spirits high and work with those stayed committed.

Lessons Learned is a RAPP Blog initiative intended for folks who hold formal leadership positions in RAPP programs to share what they're learning through their process

Lessons Learned: Redo It. Just Do It Again.

After two months of being RAPPORTless, I was so excited to finally return to UC for the second semester and start with a RAPPORT meeting. I set up the Facebook Page, invited all 50 of the people on my list (not many friends ay?) and Rebecca rounded out the invites. In the end, there were 20+ eager folks ready to get back into the RAPPORT swing and learn some Social Justice Values.

Then this arctic thing happened and classes were cancelled the first day back. And the day after.

                                                             Thanks alot, Santa!

In my mind, (and out loud to Rebecca), I said "well, we can just move the meeting forward two weeks and keep the event the same. Well, no. People had forgotten about the event and thought we cancelled it! In the future, it's good to just remake the event on Facebook and remind folks again that way. Once they've said their coming, we at least can keep a better count of approximate people!

Lessons Learned is a RAPP Blog initiative intended for folks who hold formal leadership positions in RAPP programs to share what they're learning through their process

KNCR- Courageous People

In Kingian Nonviolence Conflict Reconciliation, we talked about the nonviolence movement in the United States and the teachings of Martin Luther King.

Those who participated in KNCR as well as the SALD Community are all invited to join us as we look at nonviolent movements from across the globe. This series will be titled, "Courageous People".

We will first look at the nonviolence movement that helped end the Apartheid in Africa.

Join us! Wednesday, June 25th @ 11:30!

2014-15 Facilitation Teams Announced

One of the difficult behind-the-scenes parts of RAPP is selecting the which students will be on the facilitation teams for RAPP's programs.  Each year now we receive far more applications from students with great skills and desire for ongoing learning than we have spots that we can effectively support.

This year, we had 22 applicants for only 11 spots.  The candidates brought a wide range of experiences, wisdom, and desired learning.  Through many hours of work individually reading applications and conversing about the teams, our selection team built the teams below.  Please join me in appreciating the folks who did this work: Brice Mickey, Jojo Azevedo, Marquez White, Sam Foltz, Sid Thatham, and Tianshu Lu.

Accelerating Racial Justice 2014 Team
Eric Muenchen, Peer Leader
Diamond Penn, Peer Leader
Meg Groat, Student Worker/Facilitator
Mia Lawrie, Student Facilitator
Siva Nagi Reddy Inturi, Peer Leader

RAPP XXX Team
Bridge Parham, Peer Leader
Jacob Harnist, Peer Leader
Shawnee Haslon, Peer Leader
Tristen Hall, Student Worker/Facilitator

RAPPORT
Ali Davis, Student Worker/Facilitator
Julie Nemitz, Student Worker/Facilitator

Accelerating Racial Justice 2015
Daycia Harley, Student Worker/Facilitator

Join Us for "Traveling Directly Towards Danger: The Movement-Building Legacy of the Women of SNCC"

The national Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) Basebuilding Team is hosting a teleconference discussion featuring Judy Richardson and Betty Garmin Robinson, racial justice activists and co-editors of the new book Hands on the Freedom Plow: Personal Accounts by Women in SNCC.

This interactive discussion is designed to support white anti-racist activists who are working for racial justice by sharing some historical framework, discussing the role of white people in the work, and identifying past & present challenges.

Join RAPPORT in participating in this event!  Feel free to call in from where you're at or join us in 671A Steger Student Life Center for a small group listening together.

For more information, check out the event on Campus LINK!

RAPP Leaders Go On To Be... National Frame-changers

A couple of years back, we made a couple videos called "RAPPers Go On To Be..." to highlight how involvement in RAPP makes sense for all Bearcats regardless what career you might be headed toward.

In reflecting on encouraging people to apply for formal leadership positions in RAPP, we thought it could be similarly useful to highlight how people have contributed to RAPP and gone on to apply the knowledge they learned in a variety of impactful professions.

Un and her child Anouk at the RAPP XXIV Fall Retreats

Un Kyong Ho was facilitator & graduate assistant with RAPPs XXI & XXII before becoming the Program Coordinator of Diversity Education, coordinating & facilitating RAPP XXIII and coordinating the grant proposal that led to RAPP's restructuring in 2008. She also led the re-development of and facilitated RAPPORT.

Un Kyong is associate producer on the recent documentary Private Violence, which offers a harrowing account of domestic violence from the perspective of two survivors which works to disrupt the oft-asked question "why doesn't she just leave?"  She is also a producer on (and blogger for) the series A Chef's Life, which explores food issues through sharing the story of a family-owned farm-to-table restaurant in eastern North Carolina.

Private Violence Trailer (3 minutes) from Cynthia Hill on Vimeo.

A Chef's Life teaser from A Chef's Life on Vimeo.

RAPP Leaders Go On To Be... Lawyers!

A couple of years back, we made a couple videos called "RAPPers Go On To Be..." to highlight how involvement in RAPP makes sense for all Bearcats regardless what career you might be headed toward.

In reflecting on encouraging people to apply for formal leadership positions in RAPP, we thought it could be similarly useful to highlight how people have contributed to RAPP and gone on to apply the knowledge they learned in a variety of impactful professions.

Several people who held leadership roles in RAPP have gone on toward a career in law!

Steve's self-submitted picture for the RAPP XXIV roster.

Steve Succop was a facilitator with RAPPs XXII, XXIII, and XXIV.  He co-authored the current curriculum for the 9-month intensive.

Steve is currently a law student at CUNY Law School, the country's premier public interest law school. He is a legal intern at Main Street Legal Services in New York, which provides direct services related to citizenship, domestic violence, immigration, and legal services.

Sarvani waved hello to the camera at the RAPP XXV Tuesday fall retreat.

Sarvani Prasad wrote the grant proposal the reshaped RAPP's structure in 2008 as a graduate assistant. She also was a facilitator with RAPPs XXIV and XXV as well as co-authored the current curriculum for the 9-month intensive.

Sarvani is an alumna of UC College of Law where she earned both a JD and an MA in Women's Studies. She is currently a Legal Research Assistant with the Kettering Foundation and previously worked at Legal Aid of Western Ohio and Advocates for Basic Legal Equity.

Rachel showed her favorite pose at the RAPP XXVII Wednesday Winter Retreat

Rachel Berman (RAPP XXV) was a Peer Leader for RAPP XXVI and Facilitator for RAPP XXVII. She also served on the Working Group that created Accelerating Racial Justice.

Rachel is currently a student at Emory University School of Law.  She currently doing an externship with the Fulton County Public Defender and previously was an intern at Georgia Capital Defender.

Lessions Learned: Frustating Foods

Food has been my best friend for many and plenty of years as seen by my increasing waist size. I have the privilege of eating whatever I want, whenever I want, however I want due to the fact that I don't have any dietary constraints that require me to take special precautions when eating nor any other health problems (that I know of) that stop me from eating this way. I'm allowed to be extremely picky whenever for absolutely no reason, which brings me to my biggest point:

Ordering food is hard!

First hand experience has allowed me to see what happens when you order food for masses without taking into count dietary concerns or allergies. This evidenced by seeing someone have an allergic reaction to nuts in the room at the MLK event and PAC preparing 3/4 of the main items for Tim Wise with meat, although he's vegetarian.  And I can easily place blame and say, well why don't you just ask folks? It's easy to know what to prepare for! And that's the easy part... Asking. Following through takes massive amounts of planning, prepping and effort in execution.

Never will I be this excited to pick foods.

Honestly, of all the tasks I've completed in my two years of facilitation, ordering food has been the most frustrating and hardest to manage. Maybe I'm just whining or complaining about something simple. But no, I'm not. And I know why it's hard. Whoever said inclusion was easy? No one in social justice has, that's for sure. So as I head into future work of coordinating and organizing, I have to remember, to cover bases, and don't exclude people just because their needs are different than my own.

Lessons Learned is a RAPP Blog initiative intended for folks who hold formal leadership positions in RAPP programs to share what they're learning through their process

Lessons Learned: The Disengagement

Facilitating RAPPORT has proved to be quite different than facilitating ARJ or a workshop on campus. Working with RAPPORT since 2012 has vastly expanded how I present materials, models and how I work with members in the group. One thing to remember is that most of the people who go to RAPPORT meetings have gone through one intensive already.

When I facilitate workshops however, many of the people we reach haven't gone through a social justice education program. And even if they have attended such programs, they may only be attending a workshop because their professor or learning community has set the workshop in place. Therefore, as someone leading or co-leading the workshop I have to realize not everyone is comfortable or eager to talk about whatever materials or issues we are presenting to them.

In any enviroment, there will be people talking and talking and talking. I was one of them in my RAPP year and maybe that's why I'm here! :)
Anywho, and in every group there will be a few people not talking much. It doesn't mean I'm confusing people or not making any sense, but just that some people aren't as engaged as other. I have to remember not to take things personally and embrace the disengagement!

Lessons Learned is a RAPP Blog initiative intended for folks who hold formal leadership positions in RAPP programs to share what they're learning through their process

Lessons Learned: Flu Shot!

Well, as a person who hardly gets sick, imagine my surprise to leave a retreat with a little cough. That little cough managed to grow into a fever that morphed into body aches and sore throat. What do you know, the flu! In that moment, it was good to remember, FLU SHOTS can prevent such things from happening. It took a good week or so to re-cooperate! But I came back stronger than ever!

Lessons Learned is a RAPP Blog initiative intended for folks who hold formal leadership positions in RAPP programs to share what they're learning through their process

Lessons Learned: Take Care of Yourself!

Sometimes, I'm thinking of what to do next. What's going to be the most impactful? How can I contribute to certain activities. During this same time, I'm learning really oppressive things that happen around the country in which some of these acts, I'm the target of. However, I never realized that self care was such an important thing. So much information especially around discrimination and oppression can take a mental toll on both leaders and participants and it's good to infuse lighter activities and mental breaks that can bring your mood back to a better place.

Lessons Learned is a RAPP Blog initiative intended for folks who hold formal leadership positions in RAPP programs to share what they're learning through their process

RAPPORT Gets Wise! - Oct 23 @ 6PM

Join RAPPORT at PAC's event: Get Wise, a lecture and discussion with Tim Wise.  Wednesday, October 23, 6PM in the TUC Cinema.

Whether you can physically attend the event or not, we encourage you to:
*Wear a RAPP shirt on Wednesday, October 23rd!

*Post a question here (or Campus LINK) - what would you ask Tim Wise if you could?

*Share with PAC - UC Programs & Activities Council your feedback on them bringing back their speakers series! This semester, they've brought Yael Choen, Stephen Smith, and now Tim Wise in addition to all the other programs they've provided our community!

To stay connected, join the event on Campus LINK and/or Facebook.

RAPPORT Meeting: Does One Size Fit All?

The next RAPPORT meeting will allow us to explore dominant/subordinated group dynamics as it pertains to sizism. We'll also look at size and how it connects with our other identities.

This meeting is open to all!

We're having it in the newly renovated Morgens Hall in the Student Study Lounge. 
Monday, October 14, 2013 at 6PM!

Get LINKed with RAPP: UC Campus LINK

People have been able to link up with RAPP through our LinkedIn group for several years.  UC students will now have another way to link up with us online.

Student Activities & Leadership Development is launching a new student engagement portal this summer: UC Campus Link

It's building over the summer through Bearcats Bound Orientation and goes large this fall with Welcome Weekend, but certain student leaders and university staff are being early adopters over the summer to help prepare and build the site.  Many RAPPers are among them!

The site is being built for a variety of reasons, improved events calendar, development of a leadership transcript, and improved student organization registration and connections among them.

RAPP's page was among the first set up.  ARJ 2013, RAPP XXIX, and RAPPORT already have private pages set up for participants.  If you're a UC community member with a UC email address, check out the site and join RAPP on it!

This screencap highlights how UC Campus LINK brings together  much of our social media in a convenient location for students.

Announcing the Leadership Team for RAPP 2013-14!

The selection process for the limited leadership roles available in RAPP is a challenging one - each year, we have more more-than-qualified applicants than spots available.

Many thanks to the great campus leaders who helped make this imperfect process a manageable and even enjoyable one:  AJ E (RAPP XXVI), Ana M (RAPP XXVI), Becca H (RED), Farooq A (RAPP XXVII), Maggy F (RED), Shyamal R (XXVI), & Susie M (SALD)!

Many thanks also to the all of the great Bearcats who applied for the positions.  It was truly a talented group, making the selection process a difficult one.  All of the applicants are leaders in RAPP and around campus who work to make our campus a more just and caring community.

Please join me in welcoming those who were placed into formal positions:

Accelerating Racial Justice 2013
Peer Leaders:
Corinne Pattersion - Activists Coming Together (ACT), Women in Leadership & Learning (WILL)
Gregory Gamble - ARJ 2012, Social Justice League 2012-13
Jazmyn Battie - ARJ 2012
Maya Whyte - RAPP XXVIII

Process Observers:
Jojo Azevedo - RAPP XXIV, RAPP XXVI Peer Leader, ARJ 2013 & RAPP XXVII Student Facilitator, Social Justice League 2010-2013
Kevin Weber - RAPP XXVI, Social Justice League 2011-13

Student Facilitators:
Jamieson Williams - RAPP XXVII, ARJ 2013 Student Worker
Megan Kreaps - RAPP XXVII, Social Justice League 2012-13

RAPP XXIX
Peer Leaders:
Jalisa Holifield - RAPP XXVII, ARJ 2012 Peer Leader, Social Justice League 2012-13, ACT, WILL
Nathaniel Bell - RAPP XXVIII
Siva Nagi Reddy Inturi - RAPP XXVI

Student Facilitator/Worker:
Brice Mickey

RAPPORT
Student Workers:
Jamieson Williams - RAPP XXVII, ARJ 2013 Student Worker/Facilitator
Matthew Woodruff - RAPP XXVI, RAPP XXVII Peer Leader, Social Justice League 2011-13

ARJ 2014
Student Worker:
Meg Groat - RAPP XXVIII

Lessons Learned: Give Broad Directions

There are various types of activities conducted during RAPP sessions. In the past we have engaged groups around similar concepts, but used many different approaches. Whether it’s discussion-based, reflective, visual, or kinesthetic, groups have managed to employ ideas presented to them in meaningful ways. I believe it is important to refrain from aiming toward one style of motivating the learning process. We can help do this by welcoming several new ideas when brainstorming content for meetings. Eventually when activities are decided, consider different ways for the group to initiate them. When giving directions to the group, state that there are many ways to approach the activity, and make it known that there is no correct method to perform this. Stating these general rules avoids stifling and produces diverse insight. If participants express concern for their accuracy, reassure them to trust their abilities and make the task meaningful for themselves. 

RAPPORT Retreat 2013

Depictions of what empathy is/isn't 

Lessons Learned is a RAPP Blog initiative intended for folks who hold formal leadership positions in RAPP programs to share what they're learning through their process

Lessons Learned: Focus on the Process and Limit Expectations

As facilitators, sometimes our personal vision for a group can get in the way of acknowledging its progress. For example, we might want to introduce the idea of oppression on individual, social, and institutional levels, however, participants might only identify one of those three levels. Rather than recognizing the significance of any achieved awareness, we sometimes dwell on our desire for the group to acquire a precise type of understanding. This desire can cause us to amplify perceived problems, and has the potential to impair a group by creating an urge for us to apply specific parameters for gaining knowledge. 

RAPP XXVIII & RAPPORT Joint Spring Retreat

Mind-mapping connections between oppressions

Lessons Learned is a RAPP Blog initiative intended for folks who hold formal leadership positions in RAPP programs to share what they're learning through their process

Lessons Learned: Allow Uncomfortable Silence

In every RAPP session there is a large or small group discussion that takes place. Commonly during these discussions there will be a moment of awkward silence shared within the group. Moments like these tend to be prominent within smaller groups. Facilitators grapple with this tension, often accepting this silence as a reflection of failed leadership. We might ask ourselves, “Was this discussion a good idea?” “Did I explain the prompt properly?” “What should I do to get them talking?” Motivating conversation can be an appropriate route to take, but we should not discredit the option of allowing periods of silence.

There are many benefits to having uncomfortable silence. In this silence, group participants are afforded an opportunity to collect their thoughts during an otherwise fast paced conversation. Silence encourages participants to focus on each other’s facial expressions and body movements that contribute to the mood of the conversation. Because group silence is a cooperative phenomenon, it unconsciously builds acquaintanceship. The group further builds acquaintanceship by working together to overcome silence. Group silence is seldom supported in daily life. Allowing silence to transpire within a group may leave a positive impression on your participants’ attitude toward this experience.

RAPP XXVIII Session 4

Lessons Learned is a RAPP Blog initiative intended for folks who hold formal leadership positions in RAPP programs to share what they're learning through their process