MISSION, VISION, AND VALUES

MISSION:

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 center serves as a central resource for exploring intersections among gender, race, culture, religion, sexuality, ability, socioeconomic class, and other facets of human difference.

VALUES:

VISION:

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.

The Social Justice Initiative

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.