By the Time You Read This, Fall Retreats Have Started!

The two RAPP XXVII groups have started their RAPP journey, having already participated in two meetings.  This weekend marks what many consider to be the full immersion into the RAPP process: Fall retreat!

Since we have two groups - one that meets on Tuesday and one that meets on Wednesday - we have two back-to-back retreats.  The Tuesday group will be retreating Friday-Saturday and the Wednesday group Saturday-Sunday.

This year's fall retreats will take place at YMCA Camp Ernst.  We're looking forward to seeing how this new-to-RAPP space works out!

One of the "traditions" of retreat prep is snack shopping.  Marjorie and I ventured out on Wednesday to Kroger and fill two cartfuls of snacks and drinks that supplement the meals provided by the retreat center.  

Many thanks to Marjorie's family's food business Marvelous Munchies for letting us use their food truck to store all our goodies until retreat time!

About 90% of the snacks and drinks sorted and bagged.  Seriously, this picture doesn't do the volume of food justice!

Three Sustainability Events - Monday, Nov 7th!

From UC Sustainability:

Monday, November 7: PACES Meeting 12pm @ TUC 425

Join us for this meeting open to any university community member to find out more about what sustainability projects we are currently working on and suggest ways to improve UC’s sustainability efforts.

Monday, November 7: Lecture – A More Sustainable Way: Waste Zero 4pm @ Xavier University, Duff Banquet Center, Cintas Center

Bob Besso of Recology will discuss this pioneering firm’s work in large scale recycling and composting in the San Francisco area.

Monday, November 7: Film Series – HAPPY  7pm @ MainStreet Cinema

Does money make you happy? Kids and family? Your work? Do you live in a world that values and promotes happiness and well-being? Are we in the midst of a happiness revolution? Roko Belic, director of the Academy Award nominated “Genghis Blues” now brings us HAPPY, a film that sets out to answer these questions and more. Taking us from the bayous of Louisiana to the deserts of Namibia, from the beaches of Brazil to the villages of Okinawa, HAPPY explores the secrets behind our most valued emotion.

Equality Ohio offers LGBT Trainings and Presentations

From Equality Ohio:

Bring Equality Ohio to Your University or Workplace

Equality Ohio offers a broad range of presentations, some for continuing education credit, that you can bring to your workplace or university. Equality Ohio’s Director of Programs and Outreach, Kim Welter, consistently travels throughout Ohio to present LGBT-related training to direct care providers, schools, businesses, and other organizations. The presentations include:

• Straight Talk About LGBT Issues: General issues effecting the LGBT community
• Safe Places Safe Spaces: Creating welcoming and inclusive environments for LGBT individuals
• The State of the State: The status of state policies and how they effect the LGBT community
• Marriage: How state marriage policies effect the LGBT community
• Local/State Dynamics: How to work on local ordinances

Contact Kim Welter today to schedule a presentation. 

SALD Welcomes Our Student Staff

The Office of Student Activities & Leadership Development is growing in our engagement of students in developmental work experiences.   Our current full-time staff now work closely with a Public Ally, two Graduate Assistants, three Interns, and one Student Worker.

Yesterday we held a lunch to welcome and thank our student team!  These students have been hard at work all quarter and we wanted to pause to make sure our team knew each other as well as say thanks for the work they're doing.

We welcomed RAPP Public Ally Marjorie Bledsoe, Fraternity & Sorority Life GAs Ashley Townes and Courtney Cox, RAPPORT Intern DeVorah YisraEL, and SALD Student Worker Sabrina Johnson.  Not able to make the lunch but greatly appreciated nonetheless were RAPP Interns Jojo Azevedo and Rachel Berman.

SALD Director Nicole Mayo kicks off an ice-breaker, with Administrative Secretary Patty Speed smiling next to her.

From Left to Right:  Administrative Coordinator Gila Johnson, RAPPORT Intern DeVorah YisraEL, Student Worker Sabrina Johnson, and Assistant Director Dr. Nicole Ausmer.

A post-lunch group shot!

Marjorie shows off her sweet PAC shades from her welcome bag.

Human Rights Watch Film Festival - Nov 17-19!

From SALD:

Human Rights Watch Film Festival

November 17-19, 2011

Brought to you by:

Student Activities & Leadership Development 

Cosponsored by:

*International Education Week*ELS* 

The Green Wave

The Green Wave
Thursday, November 17, 2011
2pm-4pm
TUC Cinema


By providing an animated backdrop for the urgent blog posts and tweets that became a lifeline to Iranian pro-democracy activists, The Green Wave recounts the dramatic events of the most severe domestic crisis in the history of Iran. From the widespread hope of political change in Iran through the 2009 elections to the violent suppression of the mass protests against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election, filmmaker Ali Samadi Ahadi brings us into the world of Iranian citizens who risked their lives in the hopes of a better future. 


Interweaving online posts, video footage caught by those present, and extensive interviews, The Green Wave is an artistic portrait of modern political rebellion, an exposé of government-sanctioned violence, and a vision of hope that continued resistance may galvanize a new future not just for Iran but for the region

You Don’t Like the Truth

You Don’t Like the Truth: 4 Days inside Guantanamo
Friday, November 18, 2011
2pm-4pm
TUC Cinema


You Don’t Like the Truth – 4 Days Inside Guantanamo is a stunning documentary based on security camera footage from an encounter in Guantanamo Bay between a team of Canadian intelligence agents and Canadian citizen Omar Khadr, then a 16-year-old detainee. 


Based on seven hours of video footage recently declassified by the Canadian courts, this documentary delves into the unfolding high-stakes game of cat and mouse between captor and captive over a four-day period. Maintaining a surveillance-camera style, the film analyses the political, legal, and psychological aspects of the interrogation through interviews with Khadr’s lawyers, a psychiatrist, an investigative journalist, former Guantanamo detainees, and a former US interrogator. This unique depiction of Omar Khadr’s interrogation offers an unusual insight into a world where “the truth” itself is often negotiated.

Better This World

Better this World 
Saturday, November 19, 2011
12pm-2pm
AACRC
**Light lunch will be provided**


When David McKay and Bradley Crowder, two boyhood friends from Midland, Texas, visit an Austin bookstore to hear a talk on upcoming protests at the 2008 Republican National Convention, they are approached by a charismatic local activist 10 years their senior, who quickly becomes their mentor. Six months later at the volatile 2008 Convention, McKay and Crowder cross a line that radically changes their lives. The result: eight Molotov cocktails, multiple domestic terrorism charges, and a high-stakes entrapment defense. 


A dramatic story of idealism, loyalty, crime, and betrayal, BETTER THIS WORLD goes to the heart of the “war on terror” and its impact on civil liberties and political dissent in the United States after 9/11.

AACRC Choir Concert Continues 20th Anniversary Celebrations - Nov 13th!

From UC News:

AACRC Choir Concert Continues 20th Anniversary Celebrations

The African American Cultural and Resource Center supports the success of students of color at UC. Check November events celebrating the center’s 20th anniversary.

Date: 11/1/2011 12:00:00 AM
By: African American Cultural & Resource Center
Phone: (513) 556-1177

   UC’s African American Cultural and Resource Center (AACRC) is holding a series of events this fall to celebrate its 20th anniversary of providing service to students. 

The AACRC officially opened on Sept. 21, 1991. The center supports the mission of the university by recruiting, retaining and encouraging the success of students of color at the University of Cincinnati.
Upcoming anniversary celebrations include:
NJOZI-AACRC Choir Concert
Sunday, Nov. 13
4 p.m., Great Hall, Tangeman University Center (TUC) The AACRC choir will present the musical tribute, “Legacy: Connecting the Campus, the Community and the Continent.” This concert – centering on various selected themes over the past two decades of the AACRC – will also feature a special musical presentation honoring the late civil rights icon, Rev. Fred Lee Shuttlesworth, a co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Atlanta and central leader of the civil rights movement in Birmingham, Ala.
In remembrance of Rev. Shuttlesworth’s contributions to the nation’s history, the AACRC annually presents an award named in his honor to a UC student who exhibits academic excellence and a high standard of integrity. The AACRC choir has also performed at the Greater New Light Baptist Church in Avondale, where Shuttlesworth was pastor.
The concert is free and open to the public, but tickets are required. Tickets can be picked up at the AACRC, UC’s Ethnic Programs & Services Office, or from any AACRC choir member. For more information, call 513-556-1177.
AACRC 20th Anniversary Panel Discussion and Reception
Thursday, Nov. 17
6-8 p.m., Russell C. Myers Alumni CenterThe AACRC presents “The Mikutano” (Swahili for “discussions”) and the “Trafija” (Swahili for “reception”). The Mikutano will highlight the AACRC’s history through the memories of former and current student leaders, and will also provide an inspiration to current and prospective UC student leaders in the AACRC. The Trafija hour will follow the discussion and will include hors d'oeuvres and dessert. The event is free and open to the public.
The AACRC works to enhance the growth and development of UC students of color. The center’s major focus is to address the academic, social, spiritual and cultural needs of the African-American student population.
The AACRC fosters an atmosphere where lively conversation and debate is welcomed and encouraged, where skill-building workshops on leadership and academic success are implemented and quiet study spaces are utilized regularly. The AACRC also hosts several large-scale traditional programs that mark significant aspects of African-American life at UC.

For more information on 20th anniversary events, contact the AACRC at 513-556-1177 or check the AACRC website athttp://www.uc.edu/aacrc.html

Celebrating a RAPP Behind-the-Scenes Leader: Vicki Marsala Calonge

On Thursday, October 17th, Student Activities and Leadership Development bade farewell to a long-term staff member, Vicki Marsala Calonge, with a campus-wide celebration of her work.

Vicki has worked in SALD for nearly a decade, starting as a Graduate Assistant in Fraternity & Sorority Life (FSL), moving to being the full-time Program Coordinator for this area, then spending the last five years as an Assistant Director supervising coordinators of Diversity Education, RAPP, and FSL.

As the Program Coordinator of RAPP, Vicki served as my direct supervisor for my entire tenure so far.  She has been a behind-the-scenes leader, support, and creative sounding board for all the work that has been a part of RAPP's elevation under the Diversity Council.  Her mark on RAPP is profound and I know that we would not have acheived the success we have without her guidance and support.

-Rebecca Lehman

Vicki with Dr. Lisa Newman and Dr. Bleuzette Marshall (VI)

Vicki with Dan Cummins (VIII) and Gila Johnson (SALD)

Vicki with a RAPP gang for our photo for the Just Community award.