The Cable - The College of St. Scholastica

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t h e
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Peace,
Fatima Alwan
cable@css.edu
Culture
Sports Variety
Pop Culture
Editor's Desk
The Cable Editor-in-Chief
Unfair Campaign From Cover
posters, specifically the students of color?
Although many upset students appreciate
the reasoning behind this concern, confusion
lingers. The campaign didn’t create a
focus group, but CSS also did not make an
effort to host a focus group to garner our
students’ perceptions. Emily explained that
she approached a few students of color with
the posters and asked them of their opinions.
But are a few students enough to understand
what the entire student body feels?
Many students disagree. Bridgett Clark believes
that those students’ opinions do not
represent what majority of the students of
color feel about the campaign; in fact, many
white and students of color wish we had the
campaign at our school. Hayley Moede, Junior,
explains, “although I understand we as
students do not know the whole situation, I
do support the Un-Fair campaign and am
somewhat disappointed in our school’s decision
to decline participation.”
Emily Segar-Johnson understands that the
college needs to improve on implementing a
stronger emphasis on teaching privilege and
discrimination in curriculum. “Do I believe
we’re doing enough? No. Do I believe this
campaign was the right vehicle? No.”
Sister Edith Bogue agrees that the campaign
was not the correct route for teaching white
privilege. “Feelings can swamp cognitive
processing – people don’t even take in the
information. If the first message is received
as “You’re a racist!” it’s likely to evoke defensiveness,
not introspection. The image of
photos defaced with writing evokes strong
negative emotions. But not emotions in the
service of inclusiveness and awareness.” This
may have been the experience of CSS student
Annie Marolt, who’s immediate response to
the poster was “I lock my door when EV-
ERYONE walks by due to bad experiences.”
Mayor Don Ness, who has supported the
campaign and has received death threats and
hateful messages from white supremacists
from around the nation, explains, “no, the
(Un-Fair Campaign) is not calling all white
people racists, it’s saying white folks need to
be part of the solution. And I’m not backing
down from that.”
“We are not calling individual people racist.
That is not the intent of the campaign,” a
woman said, speaking on behalf of the campaign.
Blair Jordon Moses, a student at UMD, states
that “one thing I think people who criticize
this campaign need to realize is that no one
is accusing anyone of not earning what they
have worked for or getting anything handed
to them. The campaign is saying that people
of color, especially in Duluth, face hardships
that do not plague the white community as
a whole. Everyone faces discrimination or
prejudice on an individual level. But not every
group faces racism.”
A recent graduate student from CSS, Brittany
Stevenson, agrees, stating that “social
progress has to start with the most
privileged,” thus we, St. Scholastica, should
make a greater effort in explaining white
privilege.
CSS Senior David Walsh believes that this
campaign is not the right approach for addressing
this issue as well; “I think that it’s
a really good idea, however I do find that
in fighting against racism and profiling, the
campaigners are using stereotypes in saying
that, for example, ‘white people don’t see
racism.’”
Many are postulating what the CSS experience
with the Un-Fair campaign may have
been based on the responses from students
at UMD and LSC, where the campaign has
been launched. Blair claims that the posters
are not receiving the backlash that was expected.
“From what I have seen and heard I
don’t believe it has been as confrontational
as it has in the Duluth community…however,
as the campaign goes on I’m sure it
will reach the UMD community in an extremely
swift manner.”
David also adds that “the leaders of the Un-
Fair campaign need to add some shock value
to their campaign. If everything we publicized
was fair and just, we just wouldn’t
be human anymore.” Blair agrees, stating “I
would say it has certainly got people talking.
Whether people are satisfied or displeased
either way, it is out there and visible.
Obviously the methods the campaign
is using are willfully abrasive; but I think
it is appropriate, especially for the Duluth
community. This discussion and discussions
of inequality need to take place and
people need to have the opportunity to educate
themselves.”
Dr. Larry Goodwin responded to the issue
by emailing the CSS community about a forum
regarding the Un-Fair campaign that
will be held on February 6th in the Mitchell
Auditorium. “Our goal is to bring our
community together to have a constructive
and respectful public discussion,” states Dr.
Goodwin. Hayley Moede adds, “I hope we
can use this experience as a starting point
to developing other ways as a community
in which we recognize and educate about
white privilege.”
To learn more about the campaign, please
visit http://unfaircampaign.org/ and attend
the forum hosted by St. Scholastica. For
more information, contact diversity@css.
edu.
1
Opinion
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Random Acts of
Kindness (R.A.K.)
Christine Peters
Opinion Columnists
During the eventful weekend of Winter Fest, the people
around campus have had many opportunities to help others
out. The Snowball dance was where I saw people acting
kindly the most. I have seen some of the behind-the-scenes
work by people who planned and created the whole event,
and they spent incredible amounts of time and energy so the
rest of us could have an enjoyable experience. Everyone who
was involved with tabling, serving at the snack-bar, helping
with coat-check, planning, and cleaning up deserves a huge
amount of thanks.
One of the things that were really touching was the kindness
that random students exhibited. My friend realized that
her phone was lost after the dance and was really upset by
it, as many of you can probably relate. When we called the
phone, we realized the it was out of battery.
All evening, she was worried, but we reassured her we
would check with security the following morning. Before we
could go to the security office the next day, we decided to try
calling it one more time, and it rang! Someone had found
the phone, charged it and had it beside them we called. We
made a plan to meet up and get the phone.
It was very touching that someone else would take care
of and charge the phone for my friend, when others may
have simply left it on the floor to get stepped on and broken,
or possibly kept it for themselves. It saved her a lot of
time, money, and worry. We were both very thankful for a
stranger’s gift of taking time out to help someone else.
It’s all Greek
to me
Alexa Pulliam
Opinion Columnists
A modern retelling of the infamous Greek story of the
battle at Troy comes to the CSS Little Theatre. When the
troops go to Troy they get stalled at a beach in Aulis. The
holy man has told Agamemnon that if he doesn’t sacrifice
his daughter Iphigenia to the Gods, they will never get favorable
winds to take their boats to Troy. Agamemnon is
faced with the challenge to either sacrifice his child to return
Menelaus’ wife, Helen, or if he should leave this quest
behind in order to save his daughter’s life. Come and see
CSS students Shane May, Madison Haeg, Katie Mahocker,
Nate Byrne, Joey Brueske, James Merle, Jessica Trihey, Mariah
Berg, Deanna Sell, and Christina Booth perform this
epic story; under the direction of Tammy M. Ostrander and
her assistant Alexa Pulliam. Performances start Thursday
February 16th with the free preview at 7:30pm. Other showing
will be Feb. 17th, 18th, 23rd, 24th, 25th at 7:30pm and
Feb 19th and 26th at 2:00pm. Tickets are on sale for $10
adults, $8 seniors/non-CSS students, and $5 CSS students.
Love writing? Love news?
Get PAID to do what you love!
Become a contributer to th e Ca b l e!
Email us
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