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Director of Mail Services Alma Dancer gave an eloquent charge to the participants. She encouraged attendees to think about the four goals of this year’s NCORE Network: to engage, enrage, enlighten, and inspire the campus community around issues of race and social justice. This conference, she said, is a point of engagement. The next step is to let ourselves feel enraged “because emotions are what unlock us and make it possible for us to move to the next level, which is enlightenment.

“When we are enlightened about how our world functions, we will feel inspired to work for justice.”

Associate Director of Residential Life Javier Gutierrez, who presented definitions of racism to conference participants, said, “The intersections conference re-emphasized that working for justice is more about the heart than the mind. Some people got stuck on the definitions rather than thinking about how the definitions made people feel.”

The definitions of racism presented at the conference were new and challenging to some. Security Officer Jules Howard said,

“What unsettled me most, and which I am still thinking about, is the idea that only the majority culture is capable of being racist. In our discussion a number of us felt uncomfortable, and I myself felt attacked by certain minority students who appeared to be angry at us for not being able to automatically accept this “new” (to us) definition of racism.”

Director of the Wesley Center Phyllis Messenger said: “What struck me was how important it is to be in these multifaceted conversations with our colleagues...I recognize the urgency and frustration some people feel with how slowly things move. Once they “get” it, or if they are sick of dealing with it on a daily basis, they just want everybody to see the light and change their behavior and the system. Others are just beginning their journey of discovery and unpacking their own history of racism and stereotypical thinking. They need opportunities, time, and trust to be in conversations.”

The mini-conference provided a rare opportunity for us to think and talk about how parts of our identities give us more or less power in specific contexts. It is not unique to experience the intersections of identity; most of us live our lives on the intersections, but we may not be aware of it. Administrative Assistant for
Residential Life Nancy Klein said during the workshop on gender and race, she was asked to identify her position on social issues, such as the O.J. Simpson Trial, based on either her gender or her race.

“It was interesting that my opinion changed when I thought about the issues from these two different parts of my identity,” she said.

Howard added that she “especially enjoyed the presentation on race and ability, as [my] brother is deaf and severely mentally ill. It was very therapeutic to meet other people who have had similar personal experiences with raising multiply disabled children.”

Hamline senior Phasoua Vang said that the highlight of conference for her was that it “gave me an opportunity to dialogue about race and its intersections with other issues with members of the Hamline community that I have never had conversations with, including librarians and deans from the graduate schools.”