Social Activism: "Educate Yourself"

     Last night, October 26th, was a program on the Trinity campus to raise awareness for refugees. The formal program included an overview of the San Antonio Center for Refugee Services as well as personal narratives from refugees currently living in San Antonio. These men came from Bhutan, Congo, Iraq, and Burma/Myanmar though most of them lived in at least one different place besides there home country before ending up in the United States.

     Tula Durand, from the non-profit Center for Refugee Services, gave us an overview of terms and definitions relating to refugees. Ms. Durand also explained how and where most refugees were located throughout the world and the protections they are offered by UN Sanctions. The number of refugees coming to San Antonio- and where they are from- has changed drastically over time, so that this year alone, SA had over 1,000 refugees. That is triple the amount of refugees that came here last year. Over all, it was a very informative program, with a chance to talk one on one with these refugees at the reception held afterward.

Current Events, 10/19 Exec. Meeting

* from the 10/19 Executive Meeting, presented by Thi Pham.
   
     At our last TDC Exec. Meeting, we discussed the Body Image Program's initiative to end "fat talk."  This program is especially important to our University as the sororities on campus were one of the test groups for the project that is now nationwide. Our athletics and sororities now participate yearly and part of the program is a Fat Talk Free Board- where students can celebrate their bodies by posting what they love about themselves for all to see. One of the issues that came up during our discussion was a question of whether or not this campaign was targeted at creating a healthy nutritional and fitness program to go along with a healthy image. However, Tri Delta we surmised that this project was more to raise self-esteem (as well as discourage "Fat Talk"), rather than to be a resource to a "healthy" lifestyle. Another point of discussion was at the source of "Fat Talk" in our society? Is it caused by parental or peer pressure or some other reason? We followed that media and fashion standards of beauty were partly to blame because they create unrealistic goals for human bodies with airbrushing and other image altering techniques.
     Check out the body image program website  as well as the youtube video for more information.

LGBT Ally Workshop

A New Associate Group Joins TDC!!!

     Our cabinet is very excited about the events of last nights' vote to include a new group under the umbrella of Associate Groups in TDC.The Sikh Student Associate presented last night at our Executive Meeting, covering why and how they fit in with the overall mission of TDC and what events they plan on having throughout the year. Though they are a small group now, they hope to gain a membership of people at Trinity interested in the Sikh faith (which has around 23 million followers worldwide) and dispelling the mystification and misinformation surrounding the male turban. 

     So a big congratulations and welcome to Jaskirat Singh Batra (President), Harjot Kaur Dhillon (Vice-President),  Jasdeep Singh (Historian/Secretary), and  Anmol Singh Bhinder (Accountant) from the Trinity Diversity Connection Board members!

Also, discussed at the Executive Meeting for Current Events:

(* from the 10/5 Executive Meeting, presented by Kate Goldsberry) 

"Suicides Put Light on Pressures of Gay Teenagers" by McKinley

      In light of LGBT History Month (October), I decided to talk about a NY Times Article that caught my attention about the recent rise in suicides of LGBT youth. Bullying seems to have become an epidemic in middle schools and high schools across the country and it is especially damaging to developing LGBT youth. As the article mentions, "According to a recent survey conducted by Ms. Byard’s group, nearly 9 of 10 gay, lesbian, transgender or bisexual middle and high school students suffered physical or verbal harassment in 2009, ranging from taunts to outright beatings" (McKinley: NY Times- Oct. 3, 2010). 

    However, the recent suicide of Tyler Clementi, a 18 year old Rutgers University student, shows that the problem of bullying and harassment is also a problem in institutions of higher education. Many figures and groups have spoken out about this issue recently, including Ellen Degeneres and the "think B4you speak campaign" (website).

Some questions that came up during the meeting:

1. Who is to blame for this continued harassment of students: Parents, the Institution itself, Faculty and Staff at these schools, or some other cause?
2. How does anti-gay rhetoric affect these teens? video-clip about phrase "that's so gay"
3. Why are more and more people choosing to use online/media as a way to bully others?
4. How can we change this trend? 

Petition Day and Dialogue on Diversity

Petition Day

     As our Associate Groups and the rest of this campus found out, this past week was First Amendment Right's Week. This meant that our Freedoms to Assemble (Monday), Speak (Tuesday), Petition (Wednesday),  Religion (Thursday), and Press (Friday) were all challenged by different groups and activities on campus. TDC
participated by helping to host the Freedom to Petition Day event as part of our take on Social Activism and Justice on campus. Ashwin organized multiple groups on campus to come and have a petition ready for other students to sign. Some were silly (the right to have spicier food on campus) or inspirational (Petitions for the Dream Act and Freedom to Marry Act), but all the groups there felt something in the world wasn't quite right and decided a petition was the way to try and enact that change. See the Trinitonian Article 
    The next TDC Social Activism Project is Oct. 26th @ 7:00pm (Fiesta Room, Trinity University). The topic is Refuge Awareness and there will be several guest speakers.

Dialogue on Diversity: Gender Discrimination
     Hosted by TDC, the Dialogue on Diversity Series seeks to create a forum for discussion on certain topics of interest (this semester: Gender, Interfaith Issues, and Immigration) that we feel have a great impact on our society at this given point in history. Along with dinner-pizza and salad-, participants were challenged to think critically about the impact of gender norms and socialization. Guest speakers from the Esperanza Center for Peace and Justice Center (website) along with the Rape Crisis Center for Adults and Children (website) came to the dialogue to give their opinions and ideas about gender discrimination in the U.S. To sum up the thoughts and comments that were discussed would be impossible, but I will say that it became obvious just how interrelated all types of oppression (sexism, racism, homophobia, etc.) really are.
     The next TDC D.o.D. will be Nov. 9th @ 7 p.m. (in the Skyline Room, Trinity University) over Immigration Issues in the United States.