BRIDGES Walk for a Just Community - October 23rd

Please join us for this year’s BRIDGES Walk for a Just Community on Saturday, October 23rd!

The BRIDGES Walk for a Just Community is an inspiring event promoting inclusion, equity and justice for all.  This celebration is truly a display of the rich ethnic and cultural compilation of our region.  All proceeds for the walk benefit the programs of BRIDGES for a Just Community.

The walk is 3.1 miles  - there is also 5K run.  This year’s walk begins at 10 AM  at Owl’s Nest Park and continue through the community of Evanston. 

UC is providing transportation to and from the walk for the UC community - running buses from the Dabney Circle beginning at 8:45 AM (last bus at 9:50 AM). 

After the walk, there will be entertainment including dancing and choirs.  There will also be food, drink and the opportunity to learn more about organizations in the area doing diversity and inclusion work - groups that represent our area's rich multi-ethnic composition. 

Buses will bring you back to campus (last bus at 1:00 PM).

RAPP & RAPPORT Members on the way to the 2010 BRIDGES Walk

More information:  http://www.uc.edu/justcommunity/Walk.html

Winter Retreats This Weekend!

It's another exciting weekend in RAPP world! Winter retreats are this Friday through Sunday - our Tuesday nights group will be at Grailville Friday-Saturday and our Wednesday nights group will be there Saturday-Sunday.

This retreat's theme is exploring issues of sex and gender. The facilitation team has had a great time the last few weeks getting our sessions ready and are excited to see what our group members learn from each other this time around.

I enjoy winter retreats at our "home base" of Grailville because the cold outside keeps us in the warm inside - talking and getting to know each other on deeper levels. Our sessions will hit a variety of ideas related to sex, gender, sexism, and cissexism. I know that even more interesting, in many ways, will be the ideas that come up during "free time" discussions.

Can't wait!

(pic-RAPP XXIV Wednesday at their winter retreat)

-Rebecca

Kuamka Week

The annual Kuamka Week organized by the AACRC kicks off next Monday! This year's theme is Reviving the Legacy. Check out the many thought-provoking events below (click on the image for a large view)!

RAPPers at City-Wide MLK Events

Yesterday was one of my favorite days of recognition and rejuvenation of the year: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!

RAPPers current and previous were at many MLK events this year. Here are a few shots from the city-wide march & rally organized by the Martin Luther King, Jr. Coalition.

The count I heard from Channel 5 (who covered the city-wide events from start to finish) was that 2,000 people participated in the march and rally.

Marchers watching King's "I Have a Dream" speech on the Fountain Square screen.

Taylor (XXV) and friends wait in the cold for the march to start.

Mimi & Divine (both XXV) at the start of the march to Fountain Square.

Me (XXII), Lisa (XXIV), Brittany (XXIII), and Brenna (XXII) about to march to Music Hall.

Many thanks to all the folks who came out but that I didn't catch on film (note to self: recharge camera immediately following RAPPORT retreats). :)

-Rebecca

RAPP Potluck - Yummy Snacks, Fun Games

Many thanks to the folks who came out to last night's RAPP Potluck. We took time to break from the stress of exams and - for a lucky few - celebrate the completion of the quarter.

The snacks were delicious (especially Amber's brownies!) and the company was good fun.

Eddie (XXIII) and Nicole (XXIV) enjoying Amber's delicious baked goods.

Kenzie (XXV) gives the night a thumbs up - and Jojo (XXIV) has his eyes closed in the photo as always! :)

Mia (XXII) brought along her visiting friend to meet us fun RAPP folk! Amber (XXV) relaxes in the background.

Brice (XXV) and his friend James look on as Jojo keeps the eyes-closed tradition going!

-Rebecca

RAPP Potluck

If there's one thing RAPPers know how to do, it's eat! And lots of other things that can happen during eating: have thought-provoking conversations, make friends, play games.

Join us for some of all of this! We'll be having a pot luck this Wednesday, December 9th from 4-7PM in the 6th Floor Open Space in Steger Student Life Center (just down the hall from the RAPP Office).

If you can come for ten minute or for two hours, I hope you stop by! If you can bring something to share, that's great. If you can't, that's great too - still come!

All RAPPers current and previous as well as our many "friends of RAPP" are encouraged to come. Take some time out in the midst of exam week to relax, share some food, and hang out with some RAPPers.

(pic - RAPP XXIV having dinner at spring retreat)
-Rebecca

More "RAPP Food"

This year's retreat made me reflect on one of our previous facilitators and debate whether to start another "RAPP Food" myth.

Steve Succop was a facilitator with RAPP XXII, XXIII, and XXIV. He was a last-minute replacement facilitater his first year and our office really won out with that decision. Steve became known for his great listening skills, his keen ability to connect students and their ideas, and his powerful words. Along with being an excellent facilitator, Steve played an integral role in the creation of the current RAPP curriculum.

Steve also likes gold fish crackers, so we bought a packet (or big pourable container) for each retreat.

(my favorite picture of Steve - taken during RAPP XXII with that year's "RAPP baby")

We're missing Steve this year (he's gone on to bigger and bolder things), but we brought him "in spirit" to the fall retreats. I say we start another "RAPP food" tradition in honor of Steve!

(RAPP XXV facilitators and Peer Leaders with "the new RAPP food")

-Rebecca

RAPP Food

To me, Oreo cookies are a ubiquitous RAPP food. When I joined, we had a ton at the every retreat - even varieties I'd never heard of. Who knew there was more than Regular and Double Stuffed?!

When I became a facilitator, I helped maintain the omnipresence of Oreos at RAPP retreats and events. Now, I have a tendency to call them "the official RAPP food." This is probably something I've made up in my mind as being a "RAPP thing," but still I keep it going.

At the urging of Jojo, we had cookies at our Student Spotlight table today. We mostly just gave them to folks for fun without pressure to listen to a spiel. Still, they may have helped - we talked with two applicants today. They've now been sucked into my "Oreos are RAPP food" myth.

I'm curious - what other things do RAPPers associate with the RAPP experience? I'd love to hear what, if anything, were previous dietary traditions - whether you feel they were made up by you (as with me and Oreos) or not.

(pic - our little plate of Oreos from today, B&W b/c my poor little camera-phone made them look disgusting in color)
-Rebecca