TheOnlineBeacon.com
Thursday, October 15, 2020
Volume 91 • Issue 5
Day of Dialogue
Third Annual Day of Dialogue Coming Oct. 21 BY BRIAN RHODES EDITOR-IN-CHIEF MCLA will be hosting its third annual Day of Dialogue, which hosts several workshops and speakers, virtually on Wednesday, Oct. 21. The theme of this year’s Day of Dialogue is “Creating Change Through Community: Action and Organizing,” which is meant to encourage MCLA’s students, faculty, and staff to explore the ways that community organizing can empower change. Students will be able to access all of the day’s events through Canvas. The Day of Dialogue is a campus-wide day of workshops and discussions that focus on issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. As in previous years, classes for the day will be canceled on the day of the event. The Canvas site leading students to all the day’s workshops and events will
PHOTO BY MAYA MCFADDEN
Students engage in classroom activities with professors as a part of the first annual Day of Dialogue in 2018. This year marks the third annual Day of Dialogue. be live soon according to an email from MCLA’s Chief Diversity Officer Christopher MacDonald-Dennis.
Public Safety
“Community organizing is the process of building collective power—particularly among those who have
been marginalized—to make change, always with an eye toward creating a more just community and society for
everyone,” said MacDonald-Dennis in a statement on the Day of Dialogue. “I am look-ing forward to a day of presentations, workshops, and discussions in which our community will look at the themes of action and organizing through an interdisciplinary lens.” Due to the college’s restrictions caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic, all of the day’s sessions and events will be held virtually. In total, there are 14 scheduled sessions compared to 18 last year. The day will open with a welcome event hosted by MacDonald-Dennis, MCLA President James Birge, and Keynote Speaker Kerri Leyda Nicoll, associate professor of social work. Following this opening, students will be able to attend two breakout sessions; the first goes from 9:45 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. while the
Dialogue, Page 10
SGA
Police Investigating Prouty Elected SGA President Suspicious Van BY NATALIA GIACOMOZZI MANAGING EDITOR Public Safety’s Chief of Police Daniel Colonno told the MCLA community on Tuesday, Oct. 13 that an incident involving four female MCLA students occurred on Monday, Oct. 12 in downtown North Adams. According to Colonno, Public Safety is working with the North Adams Police Department in order to investigate the suspicious activity. “They were approached by a black four door sedan occupied by three males. The driver of the vehicle asked our students if they were drunk and asked if any of them wanted to give out their snapchat names,” Colonno wrote in a safety alert sent via email on Tuesday night. The students declined to give the suspects any personal information. According to Colonno, the men in the sedan watched as the students walked away and followed them in the van. “Our students felt unsafe causing them to hide in some bushes, as the vehicle circled the block looking for them,” he said.
Campus police escorted the students home after the students called the North Adams police department. The incident took place around Eagle Street and Center Street. At the time of publication, the only specifics known are that the sedan had a loud sound from its exhaust pipe and the three occupants were identified as white. “The three occupants are described as white males with short hair with one of them having red colored hair,” Colonno said. Colonno also requested that anyone with information regarding the incident should contact the North Adams police department at 413-6644945 or campus police “by dialing extension 5100 from any cam-pus phone or 413662-5100 from your cell or off campus phone.” “This incident serves as a reminder to practice safe behaviors such as being alert, staying in groups and contacting the MCLA Campus Police to accompany you if you are feeling unsafe or dialing 911 if you feel you are in an emergency situation,” Colonno said.
BY NATALIA GIACOMOZZI MANAGING EDITOR
Student Government Association (SGA) elections drew to a close on Wednesday, Oct. 8, with several vacant positions being filled by the voted in candidates. The new SGA presidential cabinet consists of Shannon Prouty ’21, who will be the president, Noah Henkenius ’21, who will be the executive vice president (EVP), and Melanie Davis ’22, who will be the coordinating vice president (CVP). Prouty served on SGA during the 2019-2020 academic year, and was slated to be former SGA President Dean Little’s CVP before his decision to step down. The class of 2021 council will consist of Crystal Wojcik ‘21 as the president, Samantha Johnson ’21 as the vice president, and Brian Adelt ’21 as the treasurer. Ian Crombie ’23 won a residential seat on SGA, and Edgar Perez was elected the president of the class of 2023. At the time of print, there has been no announcement
SGA, Page 10
PHOTOS PROVIDED BY SGA
Shannon Prouty ‘21 (above), Melanie Davis ‘22 and Noah Henkenius ‘21 have been elected as a cabinet to lead SGA this year as President, Coordinating Vice President and Executive Vice President respectively.