CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, LONG BEACH
VOL. LXVIX, ISSUE 71 | APRIL 19, 2018
49er
D CONTEST
A hotter alma mater Meet the men behind Cal State Long Beach’s new alma mater song. By Samantha Diaz Photos by Shyanne Riberal-Norton | Daily 49er
Arts & Life Editor
Students march across campus as part of the Take Back the Night event Wednesday night. Beginning in 1976, the event has been aimed at raising awareness for gender equity.
PROTEST
Taking back the fight Women’s and Gender and Gender Equity Center bring survivors out to promote sexual harassment and inequality awareness. By Shyanne Riberal-Norton Assistant Arts & Life Editor
A small, but mighty congregation commanded the attention of the campus Wednesday with loud chants and neon signs as they marched across campus to Take Back the Night. The international event has been fighting for equality and raising awareness of sexual harassment since 1976. This year’s annual event was hosted by the Women’s and Gender Equity Center at Cal State Long Beach. Around 50 participants visited tables and listened to speakers talk about their experience with inequality and sexual assault. The center invited Cindy De La CruzBrown, alumna of Cal State Long Beach, to speak about why spreading awareness about sexual harassment is such an important issue. She is also a Community Organizer at the Long Beach chapter of Building Healthy Communities. De La Cruz-Brown said when women come forward about being harassed or abused, the common response is to ask what was wearing when it happened. “The fact that is even a response is problematic to me,” De La Cruz-Brown said. “I don’t co-sign on something like that. It validates the objectification of women but also affirms how a woman’s word is commonly devalued.”
Members of the Women’s Gender and Equity Center prepare to march across campus along with almost 50 students. The event ended with a safe safe, allowing survivors of sexual assault to comfortably share their stories.
The night started with information tabling on subjects such as Denim Day, the Peace Corps and a sign-making booth for participants. After introductions and speeches by De La Cruz-Brown, her colleagues joined students in a march from the Maxson Plaza next to Brotman Hall to the Anatol Center. Once reaching the center, participants watched a sexual harassment awareness interACT performance. InterACT is a social justice awareness group of performers from Cal State Long Beach who encourage audience participation in their reenactments of sexual assault
scenarios. The night concluded with a safe space, where sexual assault survivors and those personally affected spoke to audience members to share their stories. Jorge Sandoval, psychology senior, was one of the only men to attend the march. He said he feels that this is not only a women’s issue. “We have to stand in solidarity, and change the culture.” Sandoval said. “Just the simple act of walking alone at night can be so tasking on a woman. It’s important for guys to support so [women] can get their night back.”
There are few things more rewarding than having your own words and music forever tied to your school’s history — actually, there are about 5,000 things. Two students have been chosen as the winners for the alma mater song contest that President Jane Close Conoley announced via mass email in late December, cementing their legacy at the school and winning a generous monetary prize of $5,000 each. “The President came up with the idea for a new alma mater as the old one wasn’t very memorable,” said Carolyn Bremer, the associate director for the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music. After receiving roughly 150 submissions for both the lyrics and music for the song, a panel of students, faculty, staff, alumni, athletes and members of the community selected one set of lyrics and one melody. While typically words and music work in tandem, for this project the contestants worked on their own to create one or the other and submit them separately. Third year jazz major Christian Valdez won the lyrics portion of the contest, while vocal performance major Kyle Gabriel was chosen for his music entry. According to Bremer, Conoley directed the panel to choose a song that “represents the values of our Beach Family and illustrates diversity, innovation, academic rigor, sustainability, justice, public good and community.” The panel chose the lyrics for the alma mater first, then sent out another email with the new lyrics, stating they only were deliberating on the music. The new lyrics are more modern than its predecessors, free of “thous” and “thees,” instead with key words such as “dreamers” and “black and gold.” “I feel silly when I say something see MUSIC, page 4