who’s on staff? editorial EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Liv Velarde CREATIVE DIRECTOR Paige Wilson FEATURES EDITOR Amber Mitchell PRINT FASHION EDITORS Elena Odulak Alana Valko DIGITAL FASHION EDITOR Alexa DeFord PRINT DESIGN EDITORS Katie Beukema Xinyi Liu
business PUBLISHER Serena Pergola ACCOUNTS DIRECTOR Connie Zhang
DIGITAL DESIGN EDITORS Aliya Falk Manda Villarreal
MARKETING DIRECTOR Christi Suzuki
PRINT PHOTO EDITORS Kenzie King Becca Rudman
FINANCE COORDINATORS Savannah Klein Ella Radice
DIGITAL PHOTO EDITOR Francesca Romano
EVENTS COORDINATOR Courtney O’Beirne
STREET STYLE EDITOR Evan Parness
OUTREACH COORDINATOR Ellie Benson
MANAGING PHOTO EDITOR Benji Bear
ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Claire Dickerson
VIDEO EDITOR Rosalie Li
DISTRIBUTION COORDINATOR Colleen Jones
DIGITAL CONTENT EDITOR Emily Benderoff
SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR Molly Shulan
ILLUSTRATOR MANDA VILLARREAL
SHEI /’sh(ay)/ Magazine was founded in 1999 as an Asian Pop Culture Magazine and became affiliated with University of Michigan Student Publications in 2013. Our Digital Magazine, known as SHIFT at the time, was launched in 2015. Since then, SHEI has grown to campus wide recognition as a publication that students can come to for fashion, art, and culture commentary and inspiration.
who’s on staff?
contributing members STYLISTS Cassidy Caulkins Rachael Curry Nicholas Farrugia Elizabeth Haley Amreen Kanwal Olivia Keener Harsha Kishore Krit Kosoltrakul Grace Lees Lily Marks Juan Marquez Susie Meaney Jess Peterkins Alexandra Plosch Paris Rose Jenny Ruan Jasmine Smith Sean Tran Abigail Ziemkowski WRITERS Lauren Champlin Calder Lachance Morgan Rubino Jamie Schneider Sean Tran
PHOTOGRAPHERS Eliz Akgun Maya Ballaster Michael Barsky Molly Bokor Lucy Carpenter Katie Corbett Julia Dean Sam Goldin Anurima Kumar Alex Leav Michelle Lin Juan Marquez Sam Plouff Andy Regos Robina Rranza Jenny Ruan Hannah Siegel VIDEOGRAPHERS Hayley Danke Emily Koffsky GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Eliz Akgun Carly Lucas Elizabeth Marics Mackenzie Schwedt
SAPAC
Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center 24 Hour Crisis Line: (734) 936-3333 Office Number: (734) 764-7771 3rd Floor of 330 E. Liberty St. (Michigan Square Building) Self-Care Workshops To request a Self-Care Workshop or other Student-Led Workshops for your student organization, visit https://sapac.umich.edu/student-led-workshops Ad? Confidential Drop-In Groups for Survivors Aliya’s Room 1551, Michigan Union (West Quad)graphic? LGBT+ Peer-Led Support Group Tue, 6-7:30pm SAPAC Peer-Led Support Group (PLSG) Wed, 7:30-9pm & Sun, 12-1:30pm
If you are interested in volunteer training for SAPAC for Winter Semester 2019, please fill out the Ally/Volunteer application online at sapac.umich.edu/application
www.wolverinecuizine.com
MASTHEAD 02 LETTER FRO
GRATIT
in this issue
SAT STUDENT SP
2 OM THE EDITOR 08 TWO’S COMPANY 10 ENABLE & EMPOWER 18 FALL FERVOR 20 GENERATIONS OF STYLE 26 WHAT DO WE OWE THEM? 40 GLIMMER 42 TUDE: BUBBLE TEA PARTY 46 URBAN OPULANCE 48 STREET STYLE: WINTER VIBES 58 DITCHING THE PLAID 64 TIN DREAMS 66 POTLIGHT: SENA ADJEI 76
letter from the editor
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If you’ve been in any sort of store in the past few weeks, you may have noticed that it’s the season to be grateful. While the glossy version of gratitude promotes spending the last five paychecks on overpriced candles and fuzzy sweaters for your friends, there are plenty of ways to demonstrate gratitude in addition to those gifts. Be present and look for opportunities for acts of service. On page 18, you can read about a company that turns their customers’ purchasing power into tangible change and discusses appreciating the support systems in one’s own life. As we’ve established, it’s the holidays. We’ve made it through Thanksgiving and we’re well on our way to lighting candles, baking cookies, or just getting Chinese on the way to the movie theater. Regardless of holiday traditions, whether you’re with your found family or your biological one, I hope that they inspire you like the models and stylists on page 26. They’ve drawn style tips
from photos of their family members from the past. Vintage is not only on trend, but it’s a great way to connect with the special people in your life through fashion. Get cozy with two models in “Satin Dreams” on page 66. We know it’s already hard to force ourselves out of bed on a cold December morning, and this shoot might just make it even harder. On page 76, there’s more inspiration to get out and be the best you can be, read Sena Adjei discuss how his involvement with various groups on campus allows him to combine all of his passions and talents. Check out the interview to read his advice about how to follow your dreams and make your mark. Shower your loved ones in gifts, but remember above all to show yourself love as well. Crush those finals, buy that candle, and I hope your holidays are fragranced by Balsam & Cedar.
Liv Velarde Editor-In-Chief
STYLISTS RACHAEL CURRY JESS PETERKINS JENNY RUAN ABIGAIL ZIEMKOWSKI PHOTOGRAPHERS
ALEX LEAV
MICHELLE LIN JENNY RUAN GRAPHIC DESIGNER MANDA VILLARREAL MODELS DANA DEAN JULIA DEAN
Two’s Company
Shoes - Doc Martens Pleated Skirt - Macy’s Striped Skirt - Zara Light Blue Sweater - Urban Outfitters Cream Sweater - Urban Outfitters
Coat - Asos Beret - Nordstrom’s Rack Yellow Pants - Forever 21 Yellow Sweater - Ellison
Dress - Free People Button Up - Urban Outfitters Pants - Taobao Coat - J Crew
Beret - Macy’s Fuzzy Scarf - TJ Maxx Tan Coat - Thrifted Tan Trench - American Apparel
ENABLE & EMPOWER INDEPENDENT, BUT NOT ALONE
When I think about gratitude, I think about the people that have helped me get to where I am. For me, it has always been about acknowledging where you come from and showing appreciation to those people. I show gratitude through my paintings and would not be the artist I am today if I didn’t have the parents that I do. They have always encouraged my artistic expression and supported me every step of the way. As a child, I wasn’t winning baseball and volleyball trophies like my siblings were, but my parents still cheered me on nonetheless. My art felt like a private part of my life, something that was mine alone, confined to the pages of my sketchbooks and walls of my bedroom. However, I’ve come to realize that my art is just as much a part of my parents’ lives as it is a part of mine. My parents are always at my side at each exhibition where my work is showcased or sold. They are my personal assistants, my coaches, and my emotional support system. As an independent artist, I thought of my business as just that—independent—but now I understand that even independent businesses need supporters, and in fact, many wouldn’t stay afloat without the support of their customers and advocates. Giving back to communities is a way that many small businesses in the fashion industry show their appreciation to the people that make their brands successful by using their purchasing power to effect change. One business in particular, a fashion and lifestyle brand called ABLE, gives back by providing economic opportunities for women in impoverished communities. While living in Ethiopia, the company’s founder and CEO, Barrett Ward, witnessed how poverty can affect young women, and how without viable employment or educational opportunities, they sometimes resort to prostitution in order to support and protect themselves and their families. “I saw the impact of unemployment at 45 percent, and the first people that hits is women,” Ward commented in an interview with Parade. Upon returning to the States, Ward and the rest of the ABLE team made it their goal to provide an alternative for these women, by creating jobs for them to earn living wages and ending the cycle of poverty that traps them. Today, the company employs more than 300 women in Ethiopia, Peru, Mexico, and Nashville.
WRITER LAUREN CHAMPLIN GRAPHIC DESIGNER ELIZABETH MARICS
ABLE does not consider itself a charitable business, but instead describes itself as a social company in the business of rehabilitation and job creation for women. “That was a seminal moment of my career,” said Ward in a recent podcast interview with Branden Harvey, “realizing charity needs to be the beginning point, but at some point that has to stop and we have to give people the opportunity to stand on their own two feet.” For this reason, ABLE was founded with the belief that creating jobs is an integral part of ending generational poverty. When women in these areas are given opportunities that wouldn’t otherwise be available to them, there is clear upward growth within their communities. Providing employment opportunities is how Ward and his ABLE team share their gratitude with women around the world. Brands like ABLE look to the faces of their supporters when they succeed. When you purchase from small businesses dedicated to making positive changes in the world, you take pride in the business’s accomplishments. In each step that ABLE takes towards ending generational poverty, you can be confident that your contribution went to changing someone’s life forever. Seeing how your work positively impacts the lives of others is a feeling unlike anything I could have imagined growing up. I’ve always loved my work. I took pride in every piece of art I completed, and I happily taped each colored pencil sketch and watercolor painting to the bedroom wall above my desk. However, it wasn’t until I started displaying my work at competitions and showcases that I was able to see how much pride my friends and family also took in my accomplishments. So many people have invested much of their own time and energy into shaping me into the artist I am today. When I see their faces light up when I win a prize at a show or when I finally sell a painting I’ve worked on for months, it’s clear how not independent my independent business truly is. We are a team. Gratitude can be shown in a countless ways. Through art, through expressions of affection, or even through purchases from sustainable brands, giving back to the people who stood by you from the beginning shows your appreciation of their loyalty and faith in your mission. I will never stop creating. In the moments when a piece of my writing doesn’t turn out the way I’d planned or when a painting I’m working on doesn’t appear on canvas the same way it does in my head, giving up seems easy, yet I could never stop creating. In part that’s because I know this is what I’m meant to do, but even more than that, because my support system has gotten me too far to give up now. I still have more to say, and when I’m ready to share it, I know I can depend on my team to be there, ready to listen.
FALL FERVOR
DIRECTOR JASMINE SMITH STYLIST PARIS ROSE PHOTOGRAPHERS ELIZ AKGUN JULIA DEAN GRAPHIC DESIGNER ALIYA FALK MODELS LAUREN HUANG JORDAN JACOBS CHRIS POSADA JP VASQUEZ
Red Fuzzy Coat- Free People
Red Patterned Jacket - Free People Copper Fur Trim Leather Jacket- Urban Outfitters
GENERATIONS OF STYLE DIRECTOR GRACE LEES STYLISTS ELIZABETH HAYLEY KRIT KOSOLTRAKUL CASSIDY CAULKINS PHOTOGRAPHERS ANURIMA KUMAR ALEX LEAV VIDEOGRAPHER EMILY KOFFSKY GRAPHIC DESIGNER MANDA VILLARREAL LOCATION ENCORE RECORDS MODELS MAGGIE O’CONNOR NATALIE GIANNOS GRACE DOLITTLE JOHN FABIAN
Jacket - H. Kauffman & Sons NY
Head Scarf - Vintage Sweater- Urban Outfitters Skirt - Vintage
Shirt & Pants - Salvation Army
Vest - Vintage Shirt - LL Bean Pants - Levi Strauss
Pants - Urban Outfitters
Salads UP
611 East Liberty Street, Ann Arbor
KEEPIN IT FRESH
DMUM is coming together
for the kids to raise funds and spread awareness about pediatric rehabilitation therapies
www.dmum.org
WHAT DO WE Throughout my life, I have carried a lot of privilege that has allowed me to ignore some things that I should be grateful for. Being a white, gay, cisgender man, I’ve encountered less trials and tribulations. The gay liberation of the 60’s and 70’s occurred decades before I was born, and when the marriage equality movement was in full swing, I was only 15--three years before I fully came out and was an active member of the gay community. When I finally did come out, I was fully embraced by the community, and finally felt that I had found a place where I belonged. However, as my connections expanded and I met more diverse individuals in the community, I discovered that my good fortune was not one that was shared by all of those who fall under the LGBTQ+ umbrella. As united as the LGBTQ+ community may appear, many members can attest to the divisions inside the community driven by sexualized racism and internalized homophobia. The popular gay dating app, Grindr, is home to much of the evidence of these divides. The app has been under fire recently for not doing enough to combat the sexual racism and transphobia that haunts this space specifically designed to be safe for members of the community, and for good reason. During my time on the app, some of the most offensive and racially charged comments have been explicitly stated in the profiles. One such bio, that of a white man, stated “only interested in white guys, sorry it’s just my preference.” Unfortunately, these “preferences” stated in bios are not uncommon. Within the year that I’ve been on the app, I have seen countless racial preferences towards only white men. Not only does this erase the worth of the members of color in the community, it indicates the issue of sexualized racism. Another profile I encountered took on the name “masc4masc” and stated in the bio “only interested in men who act like men.” These “masc4masc” profiles are also extremely common and conform to the homophobic concept that individuals in the gay community who do not conform to gender norms are not real men. While sexualized racism and internalized homophobia are extremely common inside of Grindr bios, they become much worse inside the message feature of the app. Although I have not personally had any negative interactions on the app, several of my friends testified to receiving racially charged or homophobic messages. One friend, a white, gay, cis-male who embraces
OWETHEM? THEM? OWE his feminine side and does not conform to gender rules when it comes to fashion and makeup, told me several stories of instances in which he had been a victim of internalized homophobia. His first experience involved an individual who told him to change the gender in his profile from cis-male to ugly because he didn’t deserve the cis-male label. In a different incident, my friend was told that he wastes his potential by acting feminine and was called a f**. Another friend of mine, a black, gay man, received a message that told him he could only be hot as a black man if he was masculine. All of these messages indicate the internalized homophobia in the community that divides us and the sexualized racism that is directed at black gay men. When I was welcomed into the gay community, I felt a depth of gratitude towards the leaders of the community from the past who fought to ensure that the community had rights and no longer had to fight discrimination in the same way. We have marriage equality, but we have to work on fighting the more unconscious biases. Often, when the gay liberation movement of the 1960’s and the 1970’s is discussed, the diversity of those who participated is often one of the first things mentioned. Individuals from Audre Lorde, a black, lesbian poet who advocated for intersectional feminism and Marsha P. Johnson, a black, gay liberation activist who was instrumental in the Stonewall Riots, to Christine Jorgensen, the transgender ex-GI who opened up national discussions about gender identity, and Harvey Milk, the first openly gay person elected to public office, serve as proof of the diversity of these participants. However, despite those differences in identity, they were able to look past their differences and come together under their uniting causes to fight for the rights and liberties everyone in the community should be allowed. In a political climate that threatens the rights of members in the LGBTQ+ community, specifically trans individuals at risk under the Trump administration, which has pushed to remove legislative language inclusive of transgender people, it is more important than ever to come together to examine our own intolerances. Sexualized racism and internalized misogyny need to end and the barriers that divide the community need to be broken down. We are humans fighting for those rights. After all, it’s what we owe to the extraordinary people who fought for our rights before us. WRITER CALDER LACHANCE GRAPHIC DESIGNER ELIZ AKGUN
GL IM ME
ER
DIRECTOR JUAN MARQUEZ STYLISTS OLIVIA KEENER ALEXANDRA PLOSCH PHOTOGRAPHERS KATIE CORBETT MAYA BALLASTER JUAN MARQUEZ
VIDEOGRAPHER HAYLEY DANKE GRAPHIC DESIGNER MANDA VILLARREAL MODELS LEYLA BEYDOUN ALY CHARF MICHAEL HEYWARD ROBINA RRANZA
gratitude bubble tea party To my family, my boys at Michigan State, Joselle, and fellow bubble tea-lovers
Brewed tea, milk, chewy tapioca balls, and sugar are the main ingredients of my favorite drink: bubble tea. While I’ve grown up on bubble tea, I still haven’t lost any love for it. At most East-Asian restaurants, cafés, and bakeries, it’s an automatic order of mine. Before my direct deposit hits, it’s the reason why my bank account cries out to be replenished— anyone that knows me can attest to that. Yet, the literal and figurative sweetness of bubble tea is more than enough to make up for the bitter loss of my money. In twenty-four fluid ounces, bubble tea reminds me of who I am. For most of my life, while I’ve been reluctant to embrace my Asian-American identity as an ethnic minority in America, food has sub-
consciously served as a symbol of my culture. Although I’ve spent so much time disliking my small eyes and the sound of Vietnamese being spoken, I never turned away from East-Asian food because it made me feel like I belonged to a community. Food became a means of connecting to my identity. My own family’s affection is often expressed through taste as much as it is signified by talk or touch. “Have you eaten yet?” and “Are you hungry?” have come to mean the same thing as “I care” and “I love you.” Each cup of bubble tea conceptualizes this sense of belonging, even when I find myself away from home. Alongside bowls of white rice, to plastic cups being carefully carried through Chinatowns across the U.S., and most of
WRITER SEAN TRAN GRAPHIC DESIGNER MACKENZIE SCHWEDT
all, as a little present from my parents, I drink bubble tea fondly, recalling these memories. As bubble tea’s popularity grows within Western culture, there are still so many people that have never tried it or even heard of it. Raised in West Michigan, this isn’t particularly surprising. I graduated from a predominantly white high school, and I had a group of mainly white friends. Once, during a day spent in downtown Grand Rapids, I watched the girls who I was with spit out tapioca balls onto the sidewalk, describing the pearls as “fisheyes” with disgust. I remember this instance, thinking about how my own enjoyment diminished as I witnessed their reactions. Like me, bubble tea stood out from my community and overall Western culture as different. Yet, I’ve found that the friends I still have from high school have all tried the beverage with open minds. Our little bubble tea parties became a place not only for hanging out, but also learning more about my identity, as well as its accompanying cultural associations. In this way, bubble tea has enabled me to expand my personal attachment into an experience that I can share with others, even when we have cultivated unique cultural understandings. At the heart of my love for bubble tea is how distinctly East-Asian it is. Even though all bubble teas are not
created equal, they are easily recognizable to all of my East-Asian peers. More than just going out for coffee, I appreciate being able to ask if someone wants to go out for bubble tea. There’s a certain pre-existing knowledge that permeates this interaction, which comes out of a mutually lived cultural experience. Although these instances are not superior to my aforementioned relationships with friends from different backgrounds, there’s something pleasantly familiar within the similarities between other East-Asians’ upbringings and my own. Last year, when I started my first semester of college and didn’t know anyone, it’s this similarity that allowed me to not feel so alone. Bubble tea was one of the most basic, but still meaningful ways, that I related to other East-Asian students, who have now unintentionally become the majority of my friends on campus. We are already connected through our culture; drinking bubble tea together illustrates this. Despite its inherent deliciousness, each sip of bubble tea is special because of its hidden ingredients— the personal and cultural connections that you cannot taste simply with your tongue. Whether I am enjoying my drink of choice by myself, or with the company of friends or family, the flavor is still just as sweet. I drink with both my lips and my heart through that familiar oversized straw.
All Clothing - Thrifted
DIRECTOR LILY MARKS STYLISTS NICHOLAS FARRUGIA SEAN TRAN PHOTOGRAPHERS ANDY REGOS ROBINA RRANZA GRAPHIC DESIGNER ALIYA FALK MODELS MAHDI BOSIER JOSH JOHNSON
URBAN OPULENCE
STREET STYLE PHOTOGRAPHERS EVAN PARNESS MICHAEL BARSKY MOLLY BOKOR LUCY CARPENTER SAM GOLDIN JENNY RUAN GRAPHIC DESIGNERS ALIYA FALK EVAN PARNESS
MATTHEW TAYLOR @32tiles
MARLENE DEIBL
AANYA AGARWAL @aanyaagarwall
REUVEN ANAF-SHALOM
TALIA RIZIKA @taliarizika
MICHELLE AL-FERZLY @alferzly
D I A L P E H T G N I H C ON I T H I S A D H F G U O R TY TH I
IDENT
When I woke up in the morning to get dressed during high school, the most daring style choice I made on a regular basis was selecting which color polo to pair with my plaid skirt and thrilling combination of crew socks and boat shoes. Up until my freshman year of college, every aspect of my appearance, from my nail polish color to earring size was dictated by my private school’s detailed, chapter-long dress code. My school uniform became like a second skin to me — a second skin that, from kindergarten to senior year, bound me to a strict set of fashion rules and regulations and forced me to blend into the crowd. As I made the monotonous stroll from math to Spanish class each day, dressed head to toe like every other girl in my vicinity, the already fairly windowless halls of my high school felt darker and bleeker. There was a major lack of personality and self-expression — those qualities rejected and overtaken by a sea of navy blue. As someone hoping to turn the arts into their future career, I constantly questioned what this encouragement of conformity was teaching us students. How would these stylistic
limitations get us anywhere outside of the rigid four walls of a Catholic school in the middle of suburbia? Where was the concern about how this homogeneity stifled creativity and artistic growth? I have to admit that my lengthy history with wearing a uniform did have some perks. For 14 years of my life, I was able to sleep soundly at night knowing that I could roll out of bed and throw on my good ol’ plaid skirt. Also, unlike what I had grown up seeing in the movies, I never had to worry about comparing myself against some rare breed of high school fashion icons à la Mean Girls. It’s just that now that I’m without my uniform, I finally realize how grateful I am for the opportunity to express myself and experiment with fashion. When I first arrived on campus, it was hard adjusting to no longer being reliant on my previous fashion crutch. I barely owned enough clothes to take me through Michigan’s motley mix of seasons, and the clothes that I did have weren’t representative of myself and my personality. Nowadays, I embrace spontaneity through my clothes. I get out
WRITER MORGAN RUBINO GRAPHIC DESIGNER CARLY LUCAS
D
of bed, take a glance out of my dorm window to determine just how many layers the weather’s going to demand of me, and go from there. What version of myself do I want to introduce to the world today? Is it my favorite 90’s style striped flannel, thrifted from my grandma’s closet that’s calling my name? I believe that being able to dress yourself freely is a gift, of sorts, and people often don’t notice how choosing your outfit positively affects your day. On days when I would rather let my clothes do the talking for me, I can match my outfit to my mood and turn simply getting dressed into a method of storytelling. Just last week, on a day when I was dreading tackling what seemed like an endless grocery list of assignments, club meetings, and interviews, my outfit — featuring a classic leather jacket and suede ankle boots — motivated me to switch into boss-lady mode. It is in these moments of low lows that the inspirational powers that clothes hold, beyond just being mere pieces of fabric, are revealed. I’m also grateful that getting to play with fashion pushes me to make an effort in my appearance and adopt
a fresh feeling of pride for the way that I look. When I was a kid, I would often refuse to go into the grocery store with my mom after school, for fear of the stares my preppy uniform would warrant. Finally, I have taken back ownership for the way that I look and know that, if I’m getting stares now, at least they’re prompted by my own doing. That’s the great thing about the freedom of fashion. It is your choice to make a stand-out first impression (if you want to), or to contrastingly disguise yourself in shades of grey sweats (if you want to). What matters here is that the choice in how you wish to present yourself is completely up to you. Of course, the age-old argument in favor of the school uniform still advocates for how it supposedly teaches discipline and works to stop competition amongst students. But as I have begun to learn, when you perpetuate the very essence of fashion in order to express yourself, it’s no longer about anyone else. Reminiscing on a time when I felt like I was defined by a plaid skirt and polo shirt, I am now so grateful to be able to define myself.
SATIN DREAMS
Faux Fur Coat - H&M
DIRECTOR HARSHA KISHORE STYLISTS AMREEN KANWAL SUSIE MEANEY PHOTOGRAPHERS JUAN MARQUEZ SAM PLOUFF HANNAH SIEGAL GRAPHIC DESIGNER ALIYA FALK MODELS ALEXA BATES BELLA TRACEY
Socks - Urban Outfitters
Pink Slip - Aibrou
Cardigan - Urban Outfitters
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT: SENA ADJEI
WRITER JAMIE SCHNEIDER PHOTOGRAPHER BENJI BEAR GRAPHIC DESIGNER ALIYA FALK
As a CSG policy advisor, a BSU political action chair, and a stroll master for the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, one might expect Sena Adjei to have dark circles under his eyes and about three empty coffee cups in front of him at 10:30AM on a chilly Friday morning. Instead, the senior has a passionate energy and an easy confidence that rivals even the most seasoned creative directors, as he discusses how exhilarated he feels to have such a significant role in so many powerful organizations. Even without caffeine, he’s brimming with excitement as he explains his intersecting roles on campus. Sena has a knack for capturing specific moments of inspiration— whether in a song, film, or even within a sliver of a conversation— and transforming them into captivating choreography for Alpha, the oldest black fraternity in the country. As we chatted about Comme des Garçons, dancing to Missy Elliott, and the best ways to mix campus involvement with artistic passion, I quickly came to an undeniable conclusion: Sena is a force to be reckoned with.
For people who are unfamiliar with Alpha, can you explain a little about the fraternity and your role there? Alpha Phi Alpha, Inc. is the oldest black organization ever founded. NPHC (National Pan-hellenic Council) is a specific council that was made specifically for the advancement of colored people across the nation. In 1906, the genesis of that was at Cornell University by seven black men who we call our Jewels. There’s a bunch of lore and myth around it, and everyone takes it really seriously. But at the University of Michigan, the Epsilon chapter is the first black org ever founded, period. We’re older than the BSU, we’re older than the Union, we’re older than a lot of other Greek organizations on campus. I don’t want to make it sound like we’re all that, but I really am proud of the chapter. We have members like W.E.B Dubois, Dhani Jones, so making sure to uphold that standard of being that pillar of a black community is really what it’s about, whether it be service, whether it be providing a safe social space, whether it be providing opportunities to mingle or show off scholarship, and we have all kinds of events for that. This year I’m a senior, so I am technically on the executive board, but I’m just a stepping stroll master. I’m focused on stuff like presentations and performances, but I’m pretty active in other places on campus as well.
You’re a transfer student; what was that transition to University of Michigan like? It was strange, because I’m from the area. So It’s familiar and completely alien at the same time, because campus is this massive dense, overlapping network of 47,000 students that I never had access to as a high school student. The politics, the social norms, they’re all different. I just plunged myself into as many things as I could. The way I see them connecting is, especially at Michigan with all the resources and opportunities and how incredible people are and how smart people are, everywhere you go is like a big exchange of ideas, energy, emotion, whatever you want to call it. These are three places I saw having really heavy and really sincere institutional impact and weight, and where I thought I could do the most good with the skills I had, especially in CSG and BSU which are new to me this year. They have such a wide net on campus. A lot of people know that they are around, and so for me, being able to lend my creative hand and my creative voice and spreading the message and pushing the agendas of these orgs for students, especially black students who are pretty underserved at Michigan, that was really important to me to be able to impact those spaces while they impacted me. We both win at the end of it.
What’s your earliest memory with dance and how did it evolve as you grew up? Back when Missy Elliott was popping, I was in elementary school. She just came out with that song, “Lose Control.” My elementary school in Ypsilanti, did this cute thing where they would have kids dancing in the morning to a song, and they would play it on the morning screen on the TV. So my first memory with dancing was when I finally got picked for one, and they put on “Lose Control” by Missy Elliott, and something just clicked in my brain. I think the video is still out there. I look like a complete idiot. I had no coordination or rhythm, but I just couldn’t not move. It was electric. Ever since then, dancing has been that for me. I just love it. It was the first time I remember not caring about my surroundings and just moving and dancing and tapping into that. Since then, I think I’ve gotten a little better. What’s changed for me is that at first what sparked my interest was just dance as an expression, as a form now I’ve learned way more. I’ve taken classes in ballet, in modern, in African dance. I try to dabble in every form. I live mainly in hip hop and b-boy, which is where my heart lies. I like writing, I like photography, I like all of that stuff, but nothing is as pure of an expression as getting to dance. Using your body as an instrument, nothing is as fulfilling or special to me. If I had to drop everything else out of my life, and I love all of that stuff dearly, and just dance I totally would.
Who’s your favorite designer? I’m a huge Commes des Garcon obsessive. Rei Kawakubo is my favorite designer ever, and the stuff she did with Commes des Garcon as a couture brand and other offshoots is just unprecedented in the style world and she’s everyone’s favorite designer’s favorite designer. She’s never been scared, she’s been fearless and does exactly what she wants to do, how she wants to do it and has worked consistently every day in that office since the brand’s inception. I actually got the book from the retrospective they did at the MET in New York. The work she does, it’s so weird and strange and ugly and confusing and beautiful. I want to be able to do that and leave a legacy like that. I don’t want to be palatable all the time, I don’t want to just be generally likable. I want to be able to push a conversation and push an envelope in my personal style and in everything I do. What are you most excited about coming up for Alpha in the future? We just got done with our Alpha week, and that was really huge. We had a whole week of programming, [and it was] really successful. Organizations in the NPHC take their Founder’s Day really, really seriously. Our Founder’s Day is this December 4th, and we’re doing a big celebration. We’re going to do a step and stroll presentation. It’s going to be a huge, awesome day of events. Of course we have, in January, our tribute to Martin Luther King, who’s a member of our fraternity. We do this big event for him, and we typically step at the basketball game in honor of him. For Founder’s Day, Alphas are everywhere, because everyone takes it seriously nationally, internationally. Alumni come back, we all hang out. We throw a big party. For our tribute to Martin Luther King, a lot of the times we see people come out of the woodwork to honor him. Because Epsilon is the one who campaigned to get the bust of him in Angell Hall. So we take it very seriously as far as that celebration.
What advice would you give to others trying to join Alpha or younger members already in the fraternity? It’s not an easy organization to join. We have small pledge classes because of that. If you want to be an Alpha, learn about the fraternity, learn about the values of it, see how it aligns with who you are, and see if you can contribute to that legacy. Then just come to the interest meeting and come talk to us. Easy as that. For broader campus involvement, just because Alpha is kind of secret, whether it be CSG or BSU the biggest thing is to just put yourself out there and reach out to people. I’m a big extrovert, and it’s not easy for everyone, but if you do your best to create any level of relationship, you’ll always be surprised by what you find. And there’s space for everyone, there really is. I had to navigate that myself. Always reach out, always tattoo yourself on everything, everywhere you go. Try to leave a mark and have a mark left on you, and campus will be easier. Would you say the same for people who are trying to mix their creative passions with their campus involvement passions? A lot of times people think that they don’t [mix], and that’s another thing that I’m really proud of. I was able to take all the stuff I was really into and force it to link up and align. If you have things you are passionate about and are interested in, don’t think of them as separate from your involvement on campus, or your job, or whatever. Try to think about how you can integrate and apply those skills and those passions and ignite those spaces with them. I took all the stuff I was into that none of these organizations were really doing to my knowledge. I pushed into those spaces and made it work by collaborating with other people and creating a vision and a plan. Especially for Alpha, that’s really worked. My line brothers were really cooperative and the chapter was on board. They were like, ‘Okay, we’re going to do this. We’re going to rebrand’. I’m lucky enough and humbled by how much they trusted me with as far as that branding. I wouldn’t be able to do it without all of them to help make my ideas better.
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