Greetings, All!
I AM HONORED TO PROVIDE this introduction to the Days-Massolo Center’s current status report. When I joined Hamilton College in August of 2022, one of my inaugural challenges was to get to know this campus. As you can imagine, attempting to catch up with Hamilton’s 200-hundred-year history remains a daunting task, but I am making progress. Like many new employees, I started with Professor Maurice Isserman’s On the Hill and widened my scope with the assistance of Hamilton’s librarians and archivist. What have I learned so far and how might that inform your review of this report?
Among other things, I learned the community we experience at Hamilton College today has roots in the aspirations of leaders who believed in a shared academic experience between the Oneida Nation and settlers. They leveraged their inclusive beliefs to found the Hamilton-Oneida Academy. While the Academy ultimately failed, its successor, Hamilton College, enrolled its first Chinese student (Chan Laison) in 1846 and produced its first African American graduate in 1889 (Joseph Spurlarke). Further, as early as 1920, Hamilton College admitted cohorts of African American men and by the 1970s invested in a model to expand beyond a men’s college with the creation of Kirkland College.
The record confirms that none of those transitions was easy. There were failures, moments of contention, and incidents where members of the Hamilton-Kirkland community did not feel welcome or experienced isolation. However, leaders persisted and Hamilton College is better today because of the trustees, faculty, staff, and students who led.
The vision of alumni and trustees, including Drew Days ’63 and Art Massolo ’64, follow a long-standing tradition of thinking independently, embracing difference, and engaging issues ethically and creatively. This report provides insights into the intense work and expansive community that are the lifeblood of the DaysMassolo Center. For more than a decade, the DMC’s directors and student leaders have served as catalysts for change. The diversity of our community continues to grow, but no matter where you call home away from the Hill, the DMC is a place where all cultures are welcomed to learn, share, and grow. You belong here.
SEAN BENNETT Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and InclusionTHROUGHOUT THE LAST FOUR YEARS, we’ve had the opportunity to connect and rebuild relationships that have advanced the mission and vision of the Days-Massolo Center. Our mission is challenging but one we strive to live out everyday.
The Days-Massolo Center enhances the academic, intellectual, social, cultural, and leadership dimensions of the Hamilton community. Through forums, panels, lectures, and other programming developed in cooperation with students, faculty, and staff, the Days-Massolo Center serves as a central resource for exploring intersections among gender, race, culture, religion, sexuality, ability, socioeconomic class, and other facets of human difference.
We hope to be the living legacy of the student group, the Social Justice Initiative, who advocated and protested for a cultural education center; and to our namesakes, the late Drew Days ’63 and Art Massolo ’64, who have supported the center, mission, and programs.
The COVID-19 global pandemic disrupted lives, plans, and intentions of rebuilding the Days-Massolo Center that was supported for four years by interim director and Higher Education Opportunity Program Director Phyllis Breland ’80. Despite the disruption, the team made up of Days-Massolo Center student ambassadors trusted and persevered as we pivoted operations and reimagined how to live out our purpose. We embraced the ambiguity of the virtual environment, and created new community spaces, and found ways to cultivate meaningful connection and exchange. This report highlights the four-year journey of rebuilding the Days-Massolo Center, the impact story of what we do and why it matters, and an invitation and call to join the center in the work. The Days-Massolo Center is one of the few spaces on campus that collaborates with every area of College life, with partnerships in academic affairs, admission and financial aid, alumni engagement, athletics, college events, facilities management, student affairs, and more. We welcome every opportunity for meaningful collaboration “to be a catalyst for social change and a resource for shared experience at Hamilton College.”
It has been an honor and a privilege to serve the students, the College, and the greater Hamilton community. I am grateful for the opportunity and confidence entrusted to me to lead and cultivate community. I hope by reading this impact report you will learn more about and choose to engage, champion the work, and support. There’s great potential and great need, and for the impact and reach of the center to continue, it needs all benefactors to lock arms with the team. This may be in lending logistical ad programmatic support or in stewarding resources so we may engage more students and generate more transformational experiences.
Will you join the Days-Massolo Center as it enters into a new era, as the paradigm of our world has shifted? Will you engage in connecting across and because of our differences for a holistic, values based, inclusive campus experience?
PAOLA LOPEZ Days-Massolo Center, Director 2019-23The Days-Massolo Center enhances the academic, intellectual, social, cultural, and leadership dimensions of the Hamilton community. Through forums, panels, lectures, and other programming developed in cooperation with students, faculty, and staff, the center serves as a central resource for exploring intersections among gender, race, culture, religion, sexuality, ability, socioeconomic class, and other facets of human difference.
To be a catalyst for social change and a resource for shared experience at Hamilton.
• Support: We will engage the Hamilton community by addressing the holistic needs of students in order to create a space where they can thrive and realize self-actualization.
• Standards: We will practice inclusion, equity, and representation of and for all people and identities. We expect accountability, integrity, and trust as we work on institutional change with regard to campus culture and structures.
• Scholarship: We will partner to support scholarship, education, and experiential engagement as a means to create a more equitable Hamilton experience.
• Leadership: We commit to examining power structures and creating opportunities for the experiences of those at the margins to be centered.
The new Days-Massolo Center mission, vision, and values were developed following a year of student-led focus groups and data analysis. Students from the academic years, 2019-20 and 2020-21 contributed by sharing what they believe the center is and should be, and how we might go about the work to positively impact the experiences of students on campus. Based upon professional standards, we recommend centers visit and assess their mission, vision, and values every 10 years.
IN 2007, a coalition of students came together to form the Social Justice Initiative (SJI), a group dedicated to creating positive change in the experiences of marginalized groups on College Hill and to promote interaction and awareness among all members of the Hamilton community. Founded by Black, Latinx, Asian, and international students, alongside members of the groups then known as the Rainbow Alliance and Womxn’s Center, SJI was formed in response to various acts of racism on campus over the years.
As stated in its charter, the Social Justice Initiative was comprised of students from various multicultural groups on campus known by the following names at the time: Black Student Union, La Vanguardia, Brothers, Rainbow Alliance, Womxn’s Center, West Indian and African Association, Asian Cultural Society, Muslim Student Union, and International Students Association.
From 2007-11, SJI spread awareness about how marginalized groups often felt isolated, ignored, and alienated due to hidden implicit social and structural racism. Recognizing that the intersectionality of a student’s identity can affect their experience on the Hill, SJI leaders worked to provide a regular venue, open to the entire student body, to develop strategic goals such as curricular reform, the recruitment and retention of diverse faculty and staff, and the establishment of a cultural education center.
SJI developed and shared with College officials numerous proposals for these changes that reflected the group’s thorough research of the efforts of other colleges and consultation with students and faculty. One of these proposals was the establishment of a physical and intellectual space on campus that would amplify marginalized voices, facilitate student community organizing, push for inclusive educational initiatives, and strive to make the Hamilton experience more equitable for students. SJI envisioned a dynamic, vibrant home that would host speakers, events, workshops, and much more — a space where open and honest discussions around difficult issues and how to address them would be facilitated. Thanks to the dedicated work of these students, this dream became a reality with the establishment of the Days-Massolo Center in 2011.
The Days-Massolo Center is a lot of things and holds a different meaning for every person who has walked through its doors over the years. It is always changing and evolving so as to better serve students, because students made and continue to make the Days-Massolo Center what it is today.
Drew Days graduated cum laude from Hamilton in 1963 with a major in English literature. He was a member of the College Choir and Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity. Mr. Days earned his law degree from Yale University and was admitted to the Bar in 1966. He worked briefly at a union-side labor law firm in Chicago before joining the Peace Corps and serving for two years in Honduras, where he organized cooperatives. Returning to the U.S. in 1969, he joined the legal staff of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, litigating civil rights cases. In 1977, he was appointed U.S. assistant attorney general for civil rights by President Jimmy Carter, serving through 1980. A member of the faculty at the Yale Law School beginning in 1981, he was named Alfred M. Rankin Professor of Law in 1991, and from 1993 to 1996 he took a leave of absence to serve in the Clinton administration’s Justice Department as U.S. solicitor general. He was a member of Hamilton’s Board of Trustees from 1986 until his death in 2020.
After graduating Phi Beta Kappa from Hamilton in 1964 with degrees in history and German, Art Massolo received his law degree from the University of Chicago and served with the Peace Corps in Malaysia from 1967 to 1969. He returned to the U.S. and joined the First National Bank of Chicago where he worked until his retirement in 1996. In addition to Malaysia, Mr. Massolo has lived in Denmark, Germany, Italy, Singapore, Indonesia, Panama, and Brazil. While in Chicago, he served on the board and as president of LINK Unlimited, a mentoring program that provides atrisk inner-city students with private school educations. His affiliation with LINK and his love for his alma mater led Art and his wife, Karen, to sponsor a number of students at Hamilton and to establish a scholarship, named for his grandfather, for promising underprivileged students from the Chicago area. Mr. Massolo has served Hamilton as a member of the Board of Trustees, Alumni Association officer, reunion gift and major gifts committee member, and Career Center volunteer. His son Arthur is a 1993 Hamilton graduate.
In 2021-22, the Days-Massolo Center celebrated its 10th anniversary. Despite the fact that it was just one year after the global pandemic disrupted the world and students’ college experiences, the center engaged about 25 percent of the Hamilton student population.
The Days-Massolo Center hosted:
102 weekly student organization meetings
29 student-led programs
20 DMC-led events and programs
5 co-curricular faculty-led events
The Days-Massolo Center took the lead as a grant writer and grant recipient for the 2021-22 Interfaith America Racial Equity and Interfaith Cooperation Award to fund the transformative dialogue based Social Justice Fellowship. Some 26 students participated and received stipends. Here is just some of their feedback:
“I believe I’ve become less angry at the world, more capable of engaging in justice from a place of love.”
“I think I’m taking a much different approach to how I want to do good in the world and follow God this year. I’ve stopped doing things because I think I should do them, and I’ve started [practicing] faith and volunteering at times when I want to.”
“I’ve become more connected with my spirituality on an individual level. I feel more grounded when using techniques from every conversation we’ve had that’s provided me with the insights of different backgrounds and experiences.”
“I have a better understanding now of the interconnections between nature, spirituality, and social justice, in that all three relate to connecting with others and yourself — a sense of oneness with the rest of the world.”
The student testimonials demonstrate the intentionality and importance of dialogue facilitation hosted by the Social Justice Fellowship (SJF) leadership. The SJF leadership was made up of Associate Director of Outdoor Leadership Sarah Skoy; Chaplain Jeff McArn; former Campus Rabbi and Hillel Director Ethan Bair; and Days-Massolo Center Director, Paola Lopez. Each SJF leader coordinated at least one session and hosted individual small groups made up of five or more students. This attention to leadership develop-
ment and dialogue yielded the high impact learning outcomes that exceeded expectations. It is with great hope the Days-Massolo Center looks forward to the Chaplaincy becoming the new home to future Social Justice Fellowship cohorts.The Social Justice Fellowship originated from the DMC 10th Anniversary Steering Committee’s recommendations that the center serve as a connector with the Chaplaincy and Outdoor Leadership to explore topics of social justice within areas where the topics and issues may have yet to be addressed. The fellowship students focused on exploring identity, spirituality, and communal activism in a diverse setting with the following stated learning objectives:
• Students will learn how to build and sustain community connections and learn how to generate impact;
• Students will learn how to hold space for reconciliation and connection;
• Students will develop greater affinity for the Hamilton community;
• Students will gain greater understanding and confidence in self-reflection.
The LGBTQIA+ identity support specialist position was created in the fall of 2020 in direct response to student need and advocacy. While meeting with students throughout the work of revitalizing the DaysMassolo Center, the narratives and feedback continued to highlight the disparities among students who have marginalized identities and experiences. After several meetings with students, Gender and Sexuality Union student leaders, and digging into the academic literature, DMC Director Paola Lopez identified that the center could do more to serve LGBTQIA+ students as they navigate the remote working world and college experience. Looking to the nonprofit sector, we modeled the LGBTQIA+ identity specialist role after direct service roles one may find within the nonprofit sector.
During the hiring and onboarding process, the director and identity specialist discussed the current experiences of LGBTQIA+ students, campus resources, and our initial goals for this position, which included to provide initial framework and services, specifically non-clinical individual and group support sessions, for LGBTQIA+ students as well as those exploring their sexual, romantic, or gender identities and the ways they express, navigate, and develop these identities.
196 unique individual services offered by the LGBTQIA+ identity support specialist
2020-21 engaging 4% of enrolled Hamilton students
2021-22 engaging 3.3% of enrolled Hamilton students
Common topics included:
• Identity Exploration: Asexuality, Gender Identity, Questioning
• Intersections of LGBTQIA+ Identity and Race, Culture, Ethnicity, Religion, Family Structure, Birth Story, and Being a Survivor
• Imposter Syndrome
• Demystifying Queer Stereotypes
• Sexual Health Resources
• Breaking the Binary
• Internalized Homophobia
• Experiences of Homophobia (household, friends, campus, religious communities, etc.)
• Dating, Sex, Relationships
• Queer Milestone Pressure (thinking they are “too old” to just be figuring out their identity)
• Queer Resources after College
In addition to supporting students one-on-one, the LGBTQIA+ identity specialist facilitated virtual support group meetings that welcomed 22 students since their inception in 2020. Each group provides a supportive, brave, and affirming space for students to explore their identity and experiences through facilitated narrative sharing with the goal of finding mutual support. These groups are NOT affiliated with any student organizations and are designed to protect the privacy of all participants. The groups were facilitated for 10 weeks. Facilitation style was “Circle Process.” Two groups were facilitated: Open Doors (anyone queer or questioning) and TNC (Trans, Non-Binary & Gender Creative). Here are recaps of student experiences and topics covered in the support group settings.
“I have really come into my identity recently at Hamilton and feel much more comfortable now in my identity, which has been directly related to participating in the group.”
“It was awesome to have an adult who could dedicate time to making interesting and challenging questions for us to help us all work through our identities and share our experiences. It was good to have someone who had more experience as an adult moving through the queer community to be supportive and informative on the queer experience.”
Open Doors Topics
Week 1: Identity Sharing and Impacts of Hamilton and Quarantine
Week 2: Assumptions (placed and projected)
Week 3: Relationships (platonic, romantic, or sexual)
Week 4: Family
Week 5: Mid-way Check-in
Week 6: Coming Out
Week 7: Queer Journey Timeline
Week 8: Internalized Homophobia
Week 9: Healing
Week 10: Celebration and Reflection
TNC Topics
Week 1: Identity Sharing and Impacts of Hamilton & Quarantine
Week 2: Assumptions (placed and projected)
Week 3: Trans Beyond Appearances
Week 4: Trans @ Hamilton
Week 5: Mid-way Check-in
Week 6: Coming Out to Ourselves
Week 7: Impact of Current Events (trans day of visibility, anti-trans laws)
Week 8: Dysphoria
Week 9: Healing
Week 10: Celebration and Reflection
From LGBTQIA+ Identity Specialist Lexie Muccie: “This role continues to amaze me in terms of the impact that it is providing for students at Hamilton. Over the course of the past two years, there has been a resounding narrative from students regarding their struggles with how to come into or navigate their identities and the positive impact that this role has had on them with this journey.”
Recommendations for future growth and services of the LGBTQIA+ identity specialist:
• Create full-time positions for specialists in order to offer extended hours, programs, groups, etc.
• Offer in-person and remote sessions
• Have an office located in a private, yet accessible, location. Also offer office hours at satellite locations: DMC, Counseling/Wellness Center, residence hall lounges, etc.
• Continue to offer support groups with the circle process format
• Ensure support groups remain the appropriate size — 10-12 per group
• Host groups in a comfy, accessible, and private location — do not release location until student signs up for group
• Broaden services to provide training, mini-retreats, or workshops for specific populations focused on connection/healing rather than education (queer students of color; ace/aro community; gay-men; queer athletes; etc.)
• Look to partner with other local campuses on programming
• Continue and deepen connection with counseling and student support
• Engage in monthly meetings with departments to support common students and to update on common themes
• Create web-based resources focused on common topics such as
+ Coming Out
+ Sex Education and Safer Sex Practices for Queer and Trans Folks
+ Queer/Trans after College
+ Healthy Relationships
+ Build Connections with Departments (to deliver advertisements and make introductions to key student leaders to such groups as Student Assembly, Residential Life, New First-Year Students, Student Orgs/Clusters)
• Continue to differentiate specialist services from existing student organizations centered on LGBTQIA+ students
During the remote experiences brought on by COVID-19, the Days-Massolo Center led the campus in unique hybrid and virtual experiences. For example, the C. Christine Johnson Voices of Color Lecture Series student organization hosted the following guest lecturers and community leaders as well as some of Hamilton’s largest virtual engagements.
Yusef Salaam discussed criminal justice reform and personal experiences: 419 in virtual attendance
Xiuhtezcatl Martinez discussed youth-led climate justice activism and sovereignty of indigenous and native communities: 100 in virtual attendance
Voices of the Resettled with local Uticans panel discussed the experiences of immigrants and refugees and how Hamilton students can become better community partners: 100+ in virtual attendance
Angela Davis with student-hosted panelists discussed welcoming change and topics ranging from criminal justice reform to student activism: 900+ in person and virtual attendance
Despite the challenges the pandemic presented, we revived and hosted dynamic identity and heritage month celebrations that generated powerful partnerships among WHCL, CAB, Student Activities, the Black Latinx Student Union, La Vanguardia, Center for Intersectional Feminism, Gender and Sexuality Union, Voices of Color Lecture Series, Asian Student Union, and Feminist of Color Collective. Among the events were the following performers and speakers:
• 2022 NPR Tiny Desk Winner: Alisa Amador
• 2022 Bob the Drag Queen
• 2021: Aida Encarnacion
• 2021: Nano Stern
• 2021: Alisa Amador
• 2020: Zakiyyah Sutton
• 2020: Nedelka Prescod
• 2020: Fabiola Méndez
The Days-Massolo Center team is composed of one full time director, a part-time LGBTQIA+ identity specialist, a part-time staff support, and 11-16 student ambassadors. Working as a team the DMC supports seven identity and cultural based student organizations, center operations and care, center programming and services, and respective campus communication.
The director has extended administrative support to budding student organizations. Students focused on establishing a community that supports their accessibility needs and their social and intellectual STEM pursuits. One such organization is ROOTS: Students of Color in STEM. With the faculty support of Professors Todd Franklin, Max Majireck, and Rhea Datta, ROOTS has led its peers in finding better study practices, engaging with STEM faculty outside of the classroom, and advancing pre-professional STEM pursuits such as offering assistance in identifying research experiences and preparing scientific research conference abstracts and presentations. In the 2022-23, ROOTS gained the full funding support of Dean of Faculty’s office and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Inclusive Excellence Committee to send 14 students to the annual 2022 Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized Scientists (ABRCMS). Borrowed from the ABRCMS attendee impact report, read below for the dynamic cultural and leadership development outcomes led by ROOTS student leaders.
• Breakdown of ABRCMS attendance by academic year: sophomores (35.7%), juniors (50%), seniors (14.3%)
• Presentations: 11 out of 14 presented (one oral presentation, 10 poster presentations). Three students won presentation awards.
• Concentrations represented: Art, Biology, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Chemistry, Chinese, Hispanic Studies, Neuroscience
• For 12 out of 14 students (85.7%), this was their first in-person conference trip.
• Seven (50%) of attendees applied for ABRCMS travel awards. Four received partial awards (covering registration, flight, and/or hotel). Three received full awards covering registration, flight, and hotel costs. (Because of the high success rate, we will encourage all future attendees to apply for these awards.)
• 100% of attendees indicated that they could not have attended if only the standard partial conference support ($500) was provided.
There was a strong sense of community that was fostered — or perhaps for some ignited — during the ABRCMS experience. Attendees were universally positive about being in the presence of other scientists.
• “As a minority and first-generation student, it can be challenging to navigate and comprehend what opportunities are present. However, being surrounded by a community of people who experience similar trajectories and who look like me helps me believe that I have the capabilities to become a scientist.”
• “I have never before been in such a diverse space before despite growing up in New York City. The STEM I know is majority white, and if I am being honest, I do feel very inferior and a huge sense of imposter syndrome. Thanks to ROOTS that has decreased, and thanks to ABRCMS I feel more confident in what I want to pursue and my capabilities. I appreciated every guest speaker that came in to talk about their journey in STEM and how they established themselves. I enjoyed the talks about racial inequity and bias in STEM and what steps we could take in order to slowly eradicate this bias. I felt wholly seen, surrounded by people with the same experiences and feelings as me. Seeing them prosper and succeed only made me feel like I could do the same. I think this motivation that I will be able to achieve my place in STEM is absolutely needed when it comes to going to classes and being in a tough academic environment like Hamilton. It really gets you going, really pushes you to keep trying and studying.
• “I would not have been able to handle the pressure of attending ABRCMS by myself. I think that being a part of a group made me feel less intimidated, and I was able to speak to my peers about different experiences that I encountered throughout the day and learn from theirs.”
• It is worth noting that the community building began even well before the conference: “…I saw how the co-chairs went the extra mile, to not only obtain the funding to bring more than 10 members to the conference, but also to guide them through it in many ways: how to network, prepare for the presentation, print and make their poster, bring formal clothes, and make the most out of this experience during and after the conference.”
• “I found it very helpful to have judges examine our presentations. This is because I felt they asked questions that really got me thinking about my own research. Additionally, it provided us [a] professional audience which then forced us to really prepare and hone down on and understand our research project. I also found that the feedback they provided was very helpful. Most of the advice they provided me, I will be using and applying on my next presentations.”
• “Presenting my research at ABRCMS was an incredible experience. I got to explain my research to judges, attend riveting talks on the anti-cancer properties of caffeine, and meet former astronaut Mae Jemison. This opportunity exposed me to the academic community in science. Before going to Anaheim, Calif., I wasn't certain what my route after graduating would look like, but after talking to a few renowned scientists, my interests in research solidified. I know I want to take a gap year to build a strong foundation with an end goal of going to graduate school for a Ph.D. in cancer biology, and working in industry.”
In addition to ROOTS impact outcomes, we’re proud of the leadership and community impact of the seven Days-Massolo Center cluster student organizations. We’ve seen greater collaborations in planning and hosting events, programs, and services. For example, the Welcoming Change with Angela Davis event was planned and hosted by the Black Latinx Student Union, Center for Intersectional Feminism, and Voices of Color Lecture Series. All organizations and DMC staff have championed the restart of the Asian Student Union and were excited to celebrate their highly successful Asian New Year celebration where they welcomed over 150+ campus friends. The Center for Intersectional Feminism, along with Feminist of Color Collective, Black Latinx Student Union, and Asian Student Union hosted the annual Women of Color Banquet and later partnered with the Gender and Sexuality Union to host Sex in the Dark. These are just a few of the leadership and community impact outcomes from the 2022-23 academic year!
In summer 2022, Hamilton had the honor of welcoming inaugural International Student Services Director Dr. Bonike Odegbami.
The DMC has been found to help international students build community among themselves and has served as a haven for diverse student populations. As such, they could yield additional opportunities for international students to further build connections and garner support. Higher student satisfaction with the DMC meant higher utilization because it offers a sense of community, particularly for diverse student populations. Some of the impact the DMC has had on international students includes:
• providing and advocating for services, programs, and resources that assist international students for a successful transition to, matriculation at, and graduation from Hamilton
• offering services, programs, and resources that foster academic success among international students
• ensuring a space for multicultural community building, individual expression, and the exchange of ideas
• fostering leadership skills for multicultural competence for international students
• serving as a partner in promoting multicultural competence through community engagement on various topics
We’re proud of the leadership and impact each of the departmental and student organization collaborations have made and will continue to make. Their commitment to community, social justice, and the DaysMassolo Center mission is evident as they’ve achieved dynamic outcomes throughout the last four years.
Days-Massolo Center Cluster Student Organizations
• Asian Student Union
• Black Latinx Student Union
• Center for Intersectional Feminism
• Feminist of Color Collective
• International Cultural Association**
• Gender and Sexuality Union
• La Vanguardia
• C. Christine Johnson Voices of Color Lecture Series
**ICA is administratively supported and advised by International Student Services. Together International Student Services and the Days-Massolo Center support and collaborate on leadership training and development, collaboration, and resources.
The Days-Massolo Center director has served on various academic committees, leadership search committees, as an community advisor to Student Assembly, and as an ad hoc internal consultant to faculty and various institutional colleagues, in addition to providing ad hoc training and workshops for various departments and student organizations.
As an example, the director has contributed to the First-Year Course (FYC) experience by working with faculty to develop greater leadership and student development competencies for the FYC mentor and mentee program, and to expand the methods in which the FYC program lists student job opportunities, recruits, and reviews FYC mentor applicants.
The DMC also engaged with the First-Year Experience program to enhance the dialogic experience of DEI-based topics during the first year orientation experience. In addition, we’ve worked with the Hamilton Greek Life advisor and organizations to develop DEI-based workshops and leadership development experiences.
The Days-Massolo Center strives to be a catalyst for social change and a resource for shared experiences
We’re so proud and pleased with the rebound of DMC use and growth on this side of life amidst a pandemic. We’re grateful to the 25 percent of students who have come through our doors since campus reopened and look forward to expanding our use, center care, and partnering with colleagues — students, faculty, staff, and alumni — to continue our evolution in order to achieve our farreaching vision.
Of the many components to the DMC’s mission, vision, and values, one with great impact potential is our vision statement. The students who contributed to this vision statement made it very clear that the DMC should not be the only place where DEI and social justice-based impact is generated. They want to see the DMC as a resource and metaphorical campus intersection where these issues can be supported, catalyzed, and connected.
The DMC would benefit greatly from greater staff and campus support. We have generated dynamic impact outcomes in partnership with seven student organizations and our campus and community partners. However, to achieve the vision included in our strategic plan goals, the DMC will need an expansion of allocated operating budget and staff support. Specifically in the following areas:
• Funding to advance the plans for dialogue program support
• Increased funding to expand heritage and identity month programming
• Funding to expand leadership development programs, workshops, and off-campus experiences (conferences, collaboration with other higher education institutions)
In partnership with students, faculty, and staff, the Days-Massolo Center director strategically addresses diversity and inclusion efforts that advance the College’s mission and vision; oversees all programming for the DMC, whose mission includes offering broad, innovative and relevant programs to the entire community; and is primarily responsible for management, development, and assessment of programs focusing on identity development and understanding of issues on diversity, inclusiveness, and social justice.
Other duties include to:
• Collaborate with members of the campus community to develop and implement innovative programming that educates the campus about multiculturalism, diversity, social justice, and intersections of identity through community building
• Facilitate dialogue across campus groups focused on social complexity, ethnic and racial difference, social class, religious identity, gender, LGBTQIA+ issues, and the intersection of these identities
• Collaborate with faculty, staff, and administrators to promote a diverse and open learning environment in and out of the classroom to develop student-centered programming including cultural events, talks, film series, panels, and other educational programs
• Provide leadership and training in diversity awareness and inclusive practices; engage widely with the College community around issues of diversity, inclusion, and intersections of identity; and serve as a resource for students, student organizations, and faculty and staff about related matters
The role of the LGBTQIA+ identity support specialist was created in the fall of 2020 in direct response to student need and advocacy. (See page 9 of this report.) The position focuses on support services, specifically non-clinical individual and group support sessions, for LGBTQIA+ students as well as those exploring their sexual, romantic, or gender identities and the ways they express, navigate, and develop these identities.
The Days-Massolo Center student ambassadors experience is a student employment opportunity based in the National Association of Student Personnel and Administrators Undergraduate Fellowship competencies as well as student socio-emotional and leadership dimensions. The ambassadors are central to the DMC mission as they support the center’s evening and weekend operations and are the friendly student faces that welcome new and returning students to the center. Ambassadors participate in biannual staff training retreats and ongoing leadership development experiences.
DMC Student Ambassador Learning Outcomes — all with the goal to build connections on campus; increase academic performance; increase the number of student opportunities, retention/completion; enhance student learning:
• Enhance sense of identity, belonging, contribution, and purpose within the community and world
• Develop leadership and self-reflection skills to identify power, identity, and privilege as it relates to one’s own experiences as well as self-care and wellness needs personally and professionally
• Lead by applying knowledge, modeling positive mentorship relationships, and ethical decision making
• Awareness and understanding of engaged citizenship and service
• Understanding of the history, mission, and purpose of the DMC, student affairs, DEI, and higher education structures
• Learn self-advocacy and advancement skills to advance and ask for what they need in preparation for career-readiness
(Burnside, et. al, 2019)
• Archive Team: The archive team was established in 2020 to focus on developing the meta-data/ digitization of archival pieces associated with the Days-Massolo Center and former Womyn’s Center to ensure these items and the associated histories are documented and recognized. This team has involved the following students:
+ Nasheley Boursiquot ’22
+ Luna Zou ’24
+ Jason Casado ’24
+ Fiona Murphy ’23
+ Rosa Carter ’21
+ Zach Brooks ’24
• Cluster Leadership: The cluster leadership role supports the seven student organizations. Student ambassadors plan, program, and host the monthly cluster leadership dinners where student leaders come together to connect as leaders, collaborate, and foster greater community. In addition, the cluster leadership ambassadors support the director in planning the biannual leadership retreats. This team has involved the following students:
+ Pablo Reina-Gonzalez ’22
+ Emily Boviero ’24
+ Jhoana Flores ’24
+ Anyi Rescalvo ’22
• Communication: Our communication student ambassadors generate the beautiful monthly newsletter content. They focus on telling the DMC’s story, from what’s happening to impact outcomes, that demonstrates the mission-based work that the DMC and cluster organizations are doing. This team has involved the following students:
+ Alex Medina ’22
+ Madeleine Cerone ’26
+ Maja Domagala ’24
• Generalist: Our generalist supports the team, the center, and the director in ad hoc projects. They are typically of senior standing and have developed the leadership and responsibility necessary to support the team with general questions and delegate accordingly. This team has involved the following student:
+ Salwa Sidahmed ’23
• International Student Services Intern Program: These students support the communication and operations of International Student Services:
+ Jazmine Florencio ’26
+ Diane Ntaganda ’26
• Programming: Our programming team is responsible for planning and hosting our Cafecito Program, a monthly dialogue-based program focused on the respective month’s heritage or identity celebration. This team has involved the following students:
+ Joel Adade ’22
+ Nicole Conlogue ’25
+ Taliyah James ’24
+ Emily Boviero ’24
• Social Media: Our social media team is responsible for telling our story on various social media platforms. They cover events, individual stories, trivia, and engage our internal and external audiences. This team has involved the following students:
+ Carlo Benavides ’23
+ Kritika Ghimere ’25
+ Raymond Ni ’24
+ Mariam Saied ’23
• Visual Communications: Our visual communications team lends their visual creativity to create student organization and center posters, digital elements, or even physical objects like logos. This team has involved the following students:
+ Mil Fienco ’23
+ Juasline Plasencia ’23
+ Chidera Uwakwe ’24
+ Mariam Saied ’23
• Monthly heritage and identity month celebrations whether through planning committee structure or supporting the respective student organizations planning
• Our LGTBQIA+ identity specialist supports students in a one-on-one capacity and leads two support groups:
+ Open Doors and TNG
• Programming and events throughout the academic year, but not limited to:
+ Open House
+ Cafecito Friday’s
+ Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dinner
+ Heritage and identity months
+ Training and workshops
Following is our finalized and approved strategic plan, which outlines the greater goals and impact outcomes possible by partnering with the Dean of Faculty’s area — expanded theory to practice opportunities as well as faculty development opportunities in creating faculty fellowship roles. In addition, we hope that by sharing this impact report, alumni will be motivated to engage and provide financial support to create student research and leadership development fellowship opportunities.
Review, refine the mission, vision, and values for the DMC/department.
(Timeline: April 1, 2020)
Review, revise, and streamline departmental operations including staffing structure, fiscal operations, and facility management.
(Timeline: June 2020)
PILLAR
Develop and establish a structure to student ambassadors within a student development model.
(Timeline: April 2020)
Review, refine, and establish student organization advising function, fiscal management, student organization e-board leadership, and expectations.
(Timeline: May 2020)
1. Operationalize mission, vision, and values for the DMC.
2. Develop and establish structure and process for faculty fellow roles and responsibilities.
3. Develop strategic plan and structure for building staffing roles, job descriptions, and capacity.
Review, refine the mission, vision, and values for the DMC/department.
(Timeline: April 1, 2020)
4. Develop student learning outcomes
5. Develop an assessment framework and tools.
PILLAR
Review, revise, and streamline departmental operations including staffing structure, fiscal operations, and facility management.
(Timeline: June 2020)
PILLAR
Develop and establish a structure to student ambassadors within a student development model.
(Timeline: April 2020)
PILLAR
Review, refine, and establish student organization advising function, fiscal management, student organization e-board leadership, and expectations.
(Timeline: May 2020)
Infuse the DMC mission, mision, and malues into center programming, establishment of services and resources, and into center partnerships.
• Utilize values as DMC 10-year planning tracks — meaning all experiences created will fit into one of our four values as the track leaders/name and meaning making.
• Develop DMC101 training, peer-led, on the importance of mission, vision, and values and how to implement.
• Create planning rubric for major DMC program(s), collaboration requests, and programmatic/ service evaluations.
• Incorporate mission, vision, and values into job descriptions and responsibilities.
If the DMC mission, vision, and, values are incorporated into programmatic development and evaluation, then those who engage with the DMC will experience a measurable affinity for the work, center, and mission.
Establish partnership with the Dean of Faculty office to engage instructional faculty in curricular and co-curricular multidisciplinary and intersectional work.
• Ensure instructional faculty are compensated for their contributions to the academy and student affairs.
• Incorporate faculty knowledge and experience to DMC curricular, co-curricular, and service development.
• Provide avenues for students, student organizations, and faculty collaboration.
• Leverage better integration of social justice education.
• Develop co-curricular experiences such as, but not limited to, DEI fellowship.
If the DMC develops and establishes a faculty fellow role, the center will have a measurable impact to support scholarship, education, and experiential engagement as a means to create shared experience at Hamilton.
Utilize program data, feedback, and narratives to develop rationale for increasing DMC staffing capacity.
• Conduct initial SWOT (strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis with DMC student constituents and professional campus colleagues assessing perceived staffing needs, strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities.
• Identify/distinguish roles for FTE, faculty fellows, graduate assistants, and student staff.
• Identify role support structures (retention and thriving).
• Develop role support structures (retention and thriving).
• Draft a DMC staffing proposal/position descriptions.
• Align DMC staffing proposal with advisory council report and recommendations; consider inclusion of audit and action council.
• Share SWOT analysis and needs assessment with division of DEI leadership and stakeholders.
If the DMC develops a strategic plan and staffing structure, it will increase its ability to fulfill strategic plans and decrease professional burnout and mission creep.
Redefine established student learning outcomes and incorporate into the DMC co-curricular programs and services.
• Identify student information clearinghouses and points of contact and support for students who we seek to engage at the DMC.
• Establish relationships with student information clearinghouses, ensuring we can annually share information with all self-identified students at the beginning of the academic year.
• Identify areas of student growth that can be responded to with co-curricular resources.
• Develop co-curricular resources with leadership application.
• Adopt and implement leadership curriculum into student ambassador and cluster leaders learning and development.
If the DMC develops student learning outcomes, it will have a measurable impact upon co-curricular skill and knowledge development.
Foster a culture of evidence in utilizing data, analysis, and reporting to support center work and ongoing assessment of impact outcomes. ACTION
• Establish relations and partnership with institutional research office to support data intentions, assessments, and impact outcomes.
• Identify data points and student life cycle milestones.
• Develop metrics to assess data points (DMC mission and values) and student life cycle milestones.
• Create a timeline for assessment.
• Develop support structures and feedback loops for interpretation of assessments.
• Consolidate and create consistent reports that measure and speak to leverage, impact, and influence outcomes.
If the DMC develops and utilizes an assessment framework and tools, it will have a greater narrative to share, metrics to speak to culture of accountability, and increased transparency.
As assessed, proposed, and reported by the 2006-08 student group Social Justice Initiative, a cultural education center (CEC) will have tangible impacts on the wellbeing, affinity development, and socio-emotional and leadership development of Hamilton students. See the SJI’s initial proposal impact outcome language.
• If the College shows its commitment to its stated goals of diversity with a CEC, current students [from] underrepresented groups would feel more welcome at the school and more likely to feel attached to the institution as graduates and give back to Hamilton. At the present most alums from these groups feel alienated and do not come back except when invited by multicultural student groups, much less give money to the College.
• A CEC will help with retention of students from underrepresented groups.
• A CEC is a proactive step to prevent incidents of harassment or greater tragedy on campus rather than waiting for another incident to occur before acting.
Banner Goal
The banner goal was established in 2019 to reframe and reimagine the Days-Massolo Center after a dormant period of four-and-a-half years. Every subgoal will connect to meet and support the banner goal, which is to live out and practice the center mission.
• Review, refine mission, vision, and values for the DMC/department. (April 1, 2020)
Pillar Goals
The pillar goals are the functional components that organize and guide the incremental strategic goals. Pillar goals support the banner goal and, if met at a minimum level, ensure center operations continue and mechanize the strategic goals for impact.
• PILLAR GOAL 1: Review, revise, and streamline departmental operations including staffing structure, fiscal operations, and facility management (June 2020)
• PILLAR GOAL 2: Develop and establish a structure to student ambassadors within a student development model (April 2020)
• PILLAR GOAL 3: Review, refine, and establish student organization advising function, fiscal management, student organization e-board leadership, and expectations (May 2020)
Strategic Goals
Strategic goals are the building blocks that support and reinforce the impact of pillar goals and provide greater support for the banner goal. Strategic goals are the microcomponents that, when implemented, provide incremental outcomes and measurable progress. The strategic goals are organized based on the pillar goal they help to fulfill.
• For those who read this report to:
+ Consider sharing the DMC’s story and impact narrative,
+ Think about how might you get involved in being a catalyst for shared experience at Hamilton, and get involved, ask the team how you can help, and or seek greater opportunities for inclusive excellence learning experiences or inclusive excellence pedagogical workshops
+ Ask the next question. Is this an opportunity for your department, student organization, or divisional area to partner with the DMC? Or ask the team, how might my department be a champion and partner in seeing the strategic plan become reality.
• Funding. We’re growing and while central resources are held constant to anticipate fiscal uncertainty, we would love to find ways to partner, resource share, or fundraise to achieve our strategic plan and vision.
These are the Hamilton or community-based partners that have supported the DMC.
Days-Massolo Center Cluster Organizations
• Asian Student Union
• Black Latinx Student Union
• Center for Intersectional Feminism
• C. Christine Johnson Voices of Color Lecture Series
• Feminist of Color Collective
• Gender and Sexuality Union
• La Vanguardia
• ROOTS Students of Color in STEM
Days-Massolo Center Student Ambassadors and Team
• Joel Adade ’22
• Carlo Benavides ’23
• Emily Boviero ’24
• Nasheley Boursiquot ’22
• Zach Brooks ’24
• Rosa Carter ’21
• Jason Casado ’24
• Madeleine Cerone ’26
• Brooke Cipollone, DMC Fellow ’2021-23
• Nickie Conlogue ’25
• Maja Domagala ’24
• Mil Fienco ’23
• Jazmine Florencio ’26
• Jhoana Flores ’24
• Kritika Ghimire ’25
• Alex Medina ’22
• Fiona Murphy ’23
• Lexie Mucci, LGBTQIA+ Identity Specialist ’2020-23
• Raymond Ni ’24
• Diane Ntaganda ’26
• Pablo Reina-Gonzalez ’22
• Anyi Rescalvo ’22
• Mariam Saied ’23
• Salwa Sidahmed ’23
• Chidera Uwakwe ’24
• Luna Zou ’24
Days-Massolo Center 10th Anniversary Steering Committee Members
• Co-Chairs: Robyn Gibson ’10 and Paola Lopez-Dir. of Days-Massolo Center
• Corinne Bancroft ’10
• Alma Bradley ’21
• Emily DiBari, former Associate Director of Identity and Affinity Programs
• Jazmin Gatto-Torres ’02
• Maria Genao-Homs, Associate Dean of Diversity and Inclusion
• Geoffrey Hicks ’09
• Taliyah James ’24
• Maddie Lazenby ’23
• Alejandro Medina ’22
• Torrence Moore ’92
• Josue Herrera Rivera ’24
• Nhora Serrano, Associate Director for Digital Learning and Research
Hamilton College Departments
• Advancement and Alumni Relations Offices
• Africana Studies Department
• ALEX
• Art History Department
• Asian Studies Department
• Athletics Department
• Auxiliary Services
• Bon Appetit
• Campus Safety
• Care Team
• Chaplaincy
• Communications and Marketing Office
• Community Standards
• Counseling Center
• Dance and Movement Studies Department
• Dean of Faculty
• Dean of Students
• Facilities Management
• F.I.L.M.
• First-Year Curriculum Committee
• Government Department
• Health Center
• Hillel
• Hispanic Studies Department
• International Student Services
• International Cultural Association
• Kirkland Endowment
• La Amistades de La Vanguardia
• Levitt Center
• Library and IT Services
• Literature and Creative Writing
• MARC: Multicultural Alumni Relations Committee
• Opportunity Programs
• Philosophy Department
• President’s Office
• Residence Life
• Schambach Center for Music and the Performing Arts
• Science Departments: Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Biology
• Sociology Department
• Student Activities
• Student Affairs
• Student Assembly
• Theatre Department
• Transportation
• Wellin Museum
• Women’s and Gender Studies Department
• ACR Health
• Agora Cultural Architects
• APB Speakers
• Gotham Artists
• Hale Transportation
• Holy Shirt
• Lafa
• Mohawk Valley Latino Association
• NESCAC LGTBQIA+ Resource Centers Group
• Phoenix Radio and Newspaper
• ProForma
• Rosie’s Diner
• Salsa Caterers
• SoulOne12
• Syracuse Salt City Market
• Vescio’s
• Wizzard Sound
• YWCA
• Zeina’s
