Pearls and Cashmere

Pearls and Cashmere?! 
Intergenerational Dialogue about Smith College’s Evolving Community

March 12, 2012, 7PM, Neilson Browsing Room 

A recently published Letter to the Editor of the Sophian by an alum from the class of 1984 portrayed Smith College as declining in its historically rigorous educational standards because of the increasing presence of students of color, as well as low-income and working-class, international, and LGBTQ students. How do we understand this letter, the diverse responses and reactions, and the evolving Smith community? Through an intergenerational dialogue, we hope to engage students, alums, faculty, and staff in a conversation that grounds the present in an understanding of the past. The recent events emerge not as an anomaly but represent the ongoing struggle for social justice. Diversity is not social justice; social justice is an ongoing process of uprooting systems of oppression and decolonizing all facets of life and society. Like today, students in the past several decades have worked to create a new educational community through movements led by Concerned Students of All Color (1988) and Grassroots (2001). Come learn these histories and how, by valuing our lived experiences, we can re-imagine and redefine the Smith community. All are welcome to participate in this conversation. The event will include the following before we open it up for a dialogue:Introduction by Carro Hua ’13 (Weaving Voices)Screening of documentary footage from the College Archives on student organizing for social justice in the early 2000s.Comments by Ginetta Candelario ‘90 and Associate Professor of Sociology and Latin American and Latina/o Studies, and Neda Maghbouleh ’04, Visiting Instructor of Sociology, and PhD Candidate, University of California, Santa Barbara.Open discussion moderated by Jennifer Guglielmo, Associate Professor of History, American Studies and the Program for the Study of Women and GenderAttendees will include:Lisa Armstrong, SWGBianca Bryant ‘14, Black Students’ AllianceXiomara Castro AC ‘13J, Prism; SGA Diversity Board/Grassroots (2002)Kendra Colburn, AC ‘08; SACA chair 2006-08

Lisa Daniels ‘12, Black Students’ Alliance chairVelma Garcia ‘79, GOV/LALS

Paula Giddings, AAS/MeridiansGlorianne Gonzalez ‘12, NosotrasMac Hamilton ’13, SGA Diversity CommitteeMichelle Joffroy, SPN/SWG/LALS

Daphne Lamothe, AAS/SWG/AMSAlli Langley ‘13, SSJICKatherine Lebron ‘12, NosotrasNoemi Linares-Ramirez ‘15, Nosotras/ISSADonique McIntosh, ResLife

Sophie Nathan ‘14 Pamela Nolan Young, Office of Institutional Diversity and EquityDawn Peterson, HSTElizabeth Pryor, HST/AMSKevin Quashie, AAS/SWGL’Tanya Richmond, Office of Multicultural Affairs

Emily Rider-Longmaid ‘13 J, SSJIC/SASA/Weaving VoicesDonna Riley, EGR/SWG

Kristen Rosa ‘12, SSJICNadya Sbaiti, HSTNowmee Shehab, ‘15, Prism

Britainy Stephens ‘14, Black Students’ AllianceNancy Sternbach, SPN/LALSHannah Sultan ’12, Multi-Ethnic Interracial Smith CollegeJennie Wachowski ‘13, SASATina Wildhagen, SOC

Nanci Young, College Archives