...The women said to Naomi: “Praise be to the LORD, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! --Ruth 4:14

How many famous people do you know on a personal level? Most perceptions about fame, value and worth are occupied with complex misconceptions. I believe the elegantly poignant words of poet Naomi Shihab Nye, captures the essence of what it truly means to be esteemed.

FamousThe river is famous to the fish.

The loud voice is famous to silence,which knew it would inherit the earthbefore anybody said so.

The cat sleeping on the fence is famous to the birdswatching him from the birdhouse.

The tear is famous, briefly, to the cheek.

The idea you carry close to your bosomis famous to your bosom

The boot is famous to the earth,more famous than the dress shoe,which is famous only to floors...

Director’s Corner continued on page 5

UNITY

502 e boone ave msc#2466, spokane, wa 99258 (509) 313-5836 unityhouse@gonzaga.edu

7 Mocktail Movie Night: “Arranged”26 Annual Diversity Monologues

7 CAN: Holocaust Remembrance Program17 Crafting Unity: Sensu-Japanese Folding Fans26 Stand Against Racism

6 UMEC Study Break

Upcoming Events

the

Director’s Corner

inside this issue...BRIDGE/LEADS Reunion Dinner

GU Iron Chef: Cultural Cooking Battle“More Than a Month” Screening/Discussion

Where Are They Now?Virtual Voices

Ally ConnectionMLK Day Celebration March

2013 BRIDGE CORE!

March

MULTICULTURALEDUCATIONCENTERVolume 3, Issue 3 February 28, 2013newsletter

Pictured below: GU students having a awesome time reconnecting during the BRIDGE/LEADS spring semester reunion dinner in January.

Photos courtesy of UMEC Staff

april

May

BRIDGE/LEADSReunion2013

Gonzaga university unity multicultural education center

Annual GU Iron Chef:

“I loved being able to make a dish that was not specifically tied to my ethnic background, but a dish that is tied to my immediate family tradition. We are a family that loves cooking and eating food from around the world and that encompasses our multi-ethnic culture. The dish I made is one I beg my dad for every year for my birthday and getting to make it side by side with my dad as my loyal assistant really made for a great experience!”

- JASMINE LINANE-BOOEY, GU SENIOR AND 2013 GU IRON CHEF JUDGES’ CHOICE WINNER

Pictured left: Kelly Keller, Sodexo Resident Dining Manager/GU Iron Chef Judge with Jasmine Linane-Booey, Judges’ Choice Winner. Not pictured, People’s Choice Winner Olivia Murphy. The winning dishes were Jasmine’s Shrimp Jambalaya and Olivia’s Mediterranean Cheesecake. Both dishes were featured during the COG dinner time on Sunday, February 10.

Pictured below: GU Iron Chef Participant and GU senior Guillermo Espinosa getting the total Sodexo COG dining cooking experience and GU Iron Chef crowd participants enjoy the atomsphere and delicious food on Sunday, January 27 in COG Marketplace.

Photos courtesy of UMEC Staff

Cultural Cooking Competition

More Than A Month:

As I stood in the middle of Bulldog Ally laced up in my new sneaker wedges and a sandwich board inscribed with the provocative statement, “End Black History Month, Black History is American History” I was overcome with an uncomfortable, yet giddy sensation of knowing that my actions were soliciting controversy. Inspired by American Film maker, Shukree Tilghman’s newest production “More Than a Month” where he himself, armed with a sandwich board, camera, and ambition to end Black History Month, hits the streets of urban America.

Following along Shukree’s journey in the documentary, viewers too become aware that the initial question concerning the eradication or continuation of Black History Month, transforms into a much more complicated topic than the original definitive seeking question appears. The unique opportunity to dialogue with the director/star following the viewing was rewarding. He openly answered all posed questions which examined the technicality of film making as well as his current stance on the controversial topic.

502 e boone ave msc#2466, spokane, wa 99258 (509) 313-5836 unityhouse@gonzaga.edu

Film screening and post-film discussion with Filmmaker Shukree Hassan Tilghman

Quite profoundly, Shukree uses the metaphor of an injured person’s reliance on a crutch to that of America’s reliance on Black History Month. Further, he emphasized the difference between wanting something and needing it. As of now, America needs Black History Month, but as Shukree optimistically articulated, within our generation there will come a time when America transcends its need for Black History Month, then it will no longer exist out of necessity but out of a genuine desire to commemorate. After leaving the event and reflecting on Mr. Tilghman’s work and message, I left convicted and eagerly look forward to embracing that uncomfortable, yet giddy sensation standing for something greater always invokes.

-STUDENT REFLECTION BY MICHAELA BROWN, GU JUNIOR AND ACT SIX SCHOLAR, CADRE II

Photo courtesy of UMEC Staff

Gonzaga university unity multicultural education center

Where Are They Now?:Catching-up withGonzaga Alums

Name: Ramon Carranza Jr.

Year Graduated: 2011

Major: Biology (Research Option)

From: Phoenix, Arizona

Activities while at GU: Campus Kids, La Raza Latina (Vice President and President), B.R.I.D.G.E (participant, counselor, and program coordinator), Gonzaga Student Body Association-Diversity Board, Undergraduate Biology Research Assistant.

What are you currently doing since graduating? I am currently working in Phoenix at Pueblo Del Sol Elementary as a Teach For America corps member. These past two years I have been teaching 7th grade Science. Outside of school I have been working with other fellow teachers on a leadership program that is designed to empower 8th grade students by preparing them with the skills and knowledge that are necessary to succeed in high school. We also discuss with them their best options for high school in the Phoenix area. This leadership program is known as AGUILA Young Achievers Program. We currently have students applying to several of the top schools and programs around Phoenix.

What do you miss most about Gonzaga? The wonderful people that I met there. I learned so much about many different cultures while I attended Gonzaga. I was able to form relationships with people from very different cultures and backgrounds. Now that I am two years removed from Gonzaga I look back and I am just thankful to have had the opportunity of meeting so many great people that helped me become who I am today. I miss all the help and guidance that the staff at Gonzaga provided to me during my college experience. I do miss being able to walk in to the Kennel for a game, and I do miss being able to walk around the campus during the fall. However what I do miss the most without a doubt are the old friendships and strong bonds that I formed with many of my peers.

What was your favorite moment at Gonzaga? I have many moments that I cherish from my time at Gonzaga. I can look back and say that I really enjoyed the atmosphere our campus had during basketball season. Or the joyous moments I spent with La Raza Latina and FASU. Or simple things like the excitement in the library when cookies were provided to students during finals. The list could go on forever however I think that my favorite moment which was also extremely bittersweet has to be the day I graduated from Gonzaga. It was the moment in which I knew I had accomplished what I had come to Gonzaga for.

What was one challenge you faced while at Gonzaga? It had to be the culture at Gonzaga. Being brought up in a diverse environment and then coming over to Gonzaga was the toughest challenge I faced. My freshman year of college was a complete culture shock for me. Not only was I not use to the cold temperatures or the lack of sunlight, but I was not use to being the only person in the class that had a foreign complexion. I was always brought up knowing that being a Latino in this country means you are a minority, however I never truly experienced that until I came to Gonzaga, thats when I realized that there were not that many people that looked like me.

Were you able to overcome them? How so? Yes, by becoming more culturally aware of other students also prompted me to share my culture with others. I was highly involved in BRIDGE, La Raza Latina, FASU, and the rest of the cultural clubs while I attended Gonzaga and this involvement really helped me learn and appreciate the cultural diversity that Gonzaga has to offer.

What was your biggest takeaway from your Gonzaga experience that is most applicable to you after graduating?Help where help is needed and that the Jesuit tradition should be carried on by providing service to others. Now as a teacher in Phoenix, I realize that Gonzaga did a great job in preparing me to give back to the community that I myself am a product of.

What advice do you have for current Gonzaga students? Make the most out of all the opportunities that they are given at Gonzaga.

What’s next for you? I plan to continue teaching at Pueblo Del Sol Elementary even after my contract with Teach For America is completed. I plan to continue expanding the AGUILA Young Achievers Program to more 8th graders in Phoenix. And lastly I plan to go back to school in the future to complete a graduate degree in Public Health.

502 e boone ave msc#2466, spokane, wa 99258 (509) 313-5836 unityhouse@gonzaga.edu

A look into the lives of Gonzaga Virtual Campus Students

Tell us little bit about your yourself and your previous educational and professional experience before becoming a student with Gonzaga Virtual Campus: I am a Dream Architect and founder of CouturePurpose.com, a multicultural platform intentionally designed to reveal the global voices of female social entrepreneurs. I have used my formal training in development and implementation in various organizations in the sacred and secular spheres. My expertise has afforded me the opportunity to sit on several reputable boards aimed at cultivating affinity programs for the next generation of servant leaders. I have a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice-Sociology, a Master of Business Administration degree in Management and I am a Georgia Real Estate licensee.

How’s your Virtual Campus experience been with Gonzaga University so far? My virtual campus experience has been very rigorous, challenging and transformational.

What’s one takeaway from your current Gonzaga Virtual Campus experience that will be most applicable to you after graduating from your program? The one takeaway from my Gonzaga Virtual Campus experience I will apply after completion of the Organizational Leadership program is the understanding—connectivity is best achieved when willing spirits work together to enable progress for the greater good.

What advice do you have for other Gonzaga students? My advice for Gonzaga students is to keep the purpose for their education at the forefront of their minds and deep in their hearts. Additionally, I suggest, trust the process, the courses and materials are truly designed to educate the whole person.

Name: Antoinette Robinson

Educational Status: Organizational Leadership Masters of Arts candidate

From: Cleveland, Ohio

Virtual Voices:Director’s Corner continued...

The bent photograph is famous to the one who carries it and not at all famous to the one who is pictured.

I want to be famous to shuffling menwho smile while crossing streets,sticky children in grocery lines,famous as the one who smiled back.

I want to be famous in the way a pulley is famous,or a buttonhole, not because it did anything spectacular,but because it never forgot what it could do.

As a Gonzaga community, let’s not forget we are all some form of pulley or buttonhole that can impact students, colleagues and many others in our circle of influence. Use your fame wisely!

Tracy Ellis-Ward Director, UMEC

Pictured below: English Professor Tod Marshal giving introductory remarks during the warmup event for award winning poet, Nikky Finney’s end of February poetry read. The lunchtime warmup event featured students reciting Finney’s pieces, their own original pieces, and overall discussion of Finney’s work. Photos courtesy of UMEC Staff

Head Off and Split:Politicized Poetics

Gonzaga university unity multicultural education center

Ally Connection

My name is Ellen Maccarone, and I am an Associate Professor of Philosophy specializing in applied ethics. I have been teaching here for eight years. I count myself very lucky to have landed at a university that values philosophy and inspires its students to take seriously the demands of justice, especially those demands of justice that benefit people who are very unlike them. This

leads students to work for causes that benefit the greater good and not merely themselves and reflects a commitment to diversity.

It might not be obvious to some that the ethics of food can have a deep and meaningful connection to diversity. But it can. Before there was an ethical food movement that spoke about whole food and organic food, there was a food movement that spoke about the poor and marginalized and their access to enough healthy food to live, and the effects of environmentally unsustainable practices on agricultural workers. More recently, the ethical food movement has been engaging with questions about who really owns the genomes of food and the exploitation of the developing world that often follows with the intellectual property interpretation of such ownership.

These are all ways that the philosophy and environmental studies course “The Ethics of Eating” engages diversity. The potentially unexpectedness of these ethical issues make them important ones to ponder and explore, since they will be there as we choose what we eat day to day. We cannot avoid them in our consumer society. (Well, I guess you could decide to grow all your own food.) An appreciation of how our values about diversity are embodied in our food choices provides a concrete way for all of us to live our values daily. In fact, likely several times a day.

The answers about what to do still need to be explored, a boycott might not necessarily be the best answer, but the fact remains that the ethical problems associated with food are ethical problems that affect the value and status of diversity in our society and world.

502 e boone ave msc#2466, spokane, wa 99258 (509) 313-5836 unityhouse@gonzaga.edu

MLK Day Celebration March:Honoring a Legacy of Justice

Several LEADS (Leadership, Education, Academic Development, and Success Skills) students participated in this year’s MLK rally. It was a bitter cold morning but the enthusiasm of the crowd and the excitement of the speakers made a warm and united atmosphere. There were several speakers including the director of the MLK Center, a young high school student, the police chief and the president of the Spokane branch of the NAACP. After listening to their stories and messages it was time head outside and march in unity.

Participating with LEADS students made this event more significant and special. It provided students an opportunity to get involved in the greater Spokane community and live out the Jesuit mission of social justice. Partaking in this event with a mentor/mentee adds another level of impact. By going to the MLK rally they were able to engage in an enriching community activity while bonding with other members of the LEADS family.

-REFLECTION BY LIBBY THOMPSON, AMERICORPS LEADS COORDINATOR

Pictured above and below: GU students coming together to march in downtown Spokane for MLK Day. Close to 1,000 people gathered at the INB Performing Arts Center at 10 a.m. to listen to this year’s speakers, before walking peacefully together to RiverPark Square on January 21, 2013.

Photos courtesy of UMEC Staff

Gonzaga university unity multicultural education center

MEET THE 2013 SUMMER BRIDGE TEAM!

Jordan LoveProgram Coordinator

Jesus Esqueda Logistics Coordinator

Deonna SmithPublic Relations Coordinator

B R IDGE

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