Beyond the basement
By Kristin Hawkins | February 6, 2009THEY SAY it takes a village to raise a child, and the same concept applies to The Cavalier Daily.
Serving the University Community Since 1890
THEY SAY it takes a village to raise a child, and the same concept applies to The Cavalier Daily.
The field of candidates vying for the student position on the Board of Visitors was narrowed Tuesday from 51 to 13 when semi-finalists were selected. The new member will be announced in February, following another round of eliminations, according to current student Board member Lizzie Mullen. The selection committee -- composed of Patricia Lampkin, vice president for student affairs; Sandy Gilliam, secretary to the Board; Mullen and an undisclosed number of students -- is looking for "a well-rounded student who is able to connect with everyone that he or she works with," Mullen said. Mullen noted that evaluating applicants for the student Board position requires a different approach than selecting the best candidates for other leadership positions.
Religious Studies Prof. James Childress will chair the committee to find a replacement for Ed Ayers, dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, who will leave the University this summer to assume the presidency at the University of Richmond. The composition of the search committee is likely to be announced later this week.
The first black student to receive an undergraduate degree from the University addressed a group of students and faculty yesterday afternoon during a ceremony honoring student achievement. The event, Harambee II, has been held every winter for the past 16 years in recognition of first-year black students who achieve a first-semester GPA of 3.0 or higher. Sylvia Terry, associate dean of the Office of African-American Affairs, called keynote speaker Dr. Robert A.
While some students used this weekend to recuperate from the first few days of class, many others braved the inclement weather to participate in the ongoing fraternity and sorority recruitment process. Charlie Morgan, Inter-Fraternity Council chairman for membership intake, said 674 men are participating in rush this year. IFC President Andrew Paradis said the number of men participating is up about three percent from last year, noting that the IFC focuses outreach efforts toward those men who "might be on the fence in terms of rush and people who are typically underrepresented." Courtney Ball, Inter-Sorority Council vice president for recruitment, said 755 women began the rush process.
Presidents of the four Greek councils gathered last night to participate in a forum sponsored by Student Council Diversity Initiatives addressing inter-council relations. The leaders of the Inter-Fraternity Council, Inter-Sorority Council, Multicultural Greek Council and National Pan-Hellenic Council discussed topics ranging from how to improve mandatory diversity-related programs for members to whether the existence of four separate councils fosters self-segregation at the University. Ryan McElveen, panel moderator and chair of the Diversity Initiatives committee, asked the leaders to consider how the four councils can work together to influence the University community in the way the councils have worked together on philanthropic projects such as Mid-Autumns Carnival. ISC President Massie Payne noted that leaders of the four councils present a "united Greek front" to incoming students and also encourage University students to participate in their social and philanthropic events. Other presidents agreed, noting that their mutual goal is to ensure students feel comfortable taking part in the activities of an organization within any of the four councils. The panel members also agreed that the randomization of first-year housing could benefit their organizations. NPHC President Joyce Adelugba said randomized housing could allow members of organizations within the different councils to interact more and could encourage greater participation in each council's activities. The panel also discussed the issue of increasing diversity on Rugby Road. Incoming MGC President Jovian Ho said organizations within his council "can't dream of" purchasing a house on Rugby Road because small alumni bases limit their financial resources. Adelugba noted that because of younger councils' inability to afford houses on Rugby Road, the organizations within these two councils suffer from a lack of social space and affordable security options for social gatherings. Following a question from an audience member, the panelists discussed the possibility of the creation of a unified Greek council at the University.
The early 1970s were a time of change at the University: changes in quality of education, changes resulting from the introduction of coeducation, changes in the growing diversity of the student body.
Three members of the University community joined representatives of 14 other colleges to discuss the issue of sexual assault at Washington & Lee last weekend. The conference, organized by W&L senior Matthew Loar and W&L counselor Dr. Jennifer Sayre, was intended to provide a forum for discussion about successful and unsuccessful experiences dealing with the issue of sexual assault on different campuses, according to Loar. Chris Elliott, assistant dean of students from the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life, and University students Andrew Tuttle, vice president of 1 in 4, and Amanda Penabad, co-chair of the Sexual Assault Leadership Council, gave a presentation about the design of sustainable and effective programs for fraternities and sororities. Tuttle said the University representatives' presentation included information about a new interactive fraternity education program that was first implemented at the University last year. "We wanted to share that with other peer education groups [and] receive their feedback so we can do better," Tuttle said. Loar said events at the conference provided opportunities for attendees to work in peer groups and for students and administrators to work together. The discussion allowed participants to learn more about how other schools deal with the issue of sexual assault, Penabad noted. "It was nice to hear different perspectives of what's going on at different schools," Penabad said. Elliott noted that the chance to communicate with members of other communities led to "some pretty rich dialogue about how administrators and students can both take some proactive steps." Loar said he would like to see similar conferences regularly held in the future, as some participants expressed interest in meeting again to discuss their progress. Elliott echoed this sentiment, noting that student peer groups have frequent leadership turnover and could benefit from the conversations produced at such conferences.
Some members of the Gallaudet University community -- from the student body, administration and Board of Trustees -- are encouraging the university to move forward following the recent Board of Trustees decision to terminate the appointment of President-Designate Dr. Jane K.
Student leaders gathered last night to discuss ways to increase diversity in historically white organizations at a forum sponsored by Student Council Diversity Initiatives. The event centered around the efforts of four groups -- Student Council, the Honor Committee, the University Judiciary Committee and The Cavalier Daily -- to advance race and diversity-related issues within their organizations. Leaders of organizations within the Minority Rights Coalition responded to the statements and questions of the group leaders and of audience members. Student Council President Darius Nabors noted the importance of looking at diversity in two ways, both in representation of diverse backgrounds within an organization and in the actions an organization takes to respond to the issues of different underrepresented groups. Nabors said that while he does not think there is a large problem with current participation in Council, he believes the organization can "do a better job of representing minority issues on Grounds and having continued involvement." Eli DeJarnette, UJC vice chair for trials, and Honor Chair Allison Tramba both noted their groups' efforts to reach out to underrepresented student populations while recruiting support officers who could eventually become leaders in their organizations. Tramba noted that Honor has revived the once-defunct Diversity Advisory Board this year in order to encourage discussion of issues that affect minority groups at the University. DeJarnette noted that while UJC does not have a standing diversity committee, it created an ad-hoc committee last year to deal with hate crimes and also recently changed its constitution to allow the Committee to take bias incidents into account during the sanctioning process. Cavalier Daily editor-in-chief Michael Slaven said there has been an effort in recent years to improve coverage of events sponsored by cultural organizations.
