Effect of Facebook outages, B1
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Live performances return to Luhrs, D1
Raiders beat West Chester, E1
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Reporting truth. Serving our community.
Volume 65 No. 6
Tuesday, October 12, 2021
SGA holds meeting in Shippensburg University’s Gilbert Hall Matthew Unger Asst. Web Director
Noel Miller/The Slate
The annual ACT Rally was held during Diversity Week this year and ACT unveiled the “A Quilt to Cover Us All” project. The 100-panel quilt was created by different student groups to show SU’s diversity.
ANNUAL ACT RALLY: A quilt to cover us all is a ‘mosaic of diversity’ Henry Mooney Asst. News Editor
There was an air of appreciation during this year’s ACT Rally. ACT, standing for Ask, Communicate and Teach Tolerance, is a campaign at Shippensburg University that seeks to stimulate healthy conversations about race and confront racial injustice. This year’s ACT rally also coincided with Diversity Week, an event that seeks to represent Shippensburg University’s mantra of “One Campus, Many Cultures.” The focal point of this event was the 100-panel quilt put together by different student groups and organizations from the university. Outside Gilbert Hall, students and faculty alike gathered to appreciate the quilt
that had been sewn together by the many student groups and organizations at Shippensburg University. The ACT rally had a large variety of speakers this year, including SU President, Charles Patterson; Kapri Brown, Assistant to the Director in the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs; Lance Hines-Butts, Shippensburg University student; Manuel Ruiz, Director for the Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Equity; and Diane Jefferson, Director of the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs. Each speaker had their own remarks on Diversity Week and what it meant to them. Brown began the event with an opening statement about the quilt on display. “This quilt represents the unity at Shippensburg we
Are you ready to vote? Municipal Elections are Nov. 2 Many students are away from home during elections and will need to apply for an absentee ballot. The deadline to register a mail-in or absentee ballot is Oct. 26. Register for a mail-in or absentee ballot at: www.pavoterservices.pa.gov/OnlineAbsenteeApplication/#/OnlineAbsenteeBegin
Municipal elections may not be as flashy as a presidential election, but they are just as important. Those elected will directly impact the laws and daily life of the community you live in.
have here,” Brown said. Next to speak was the Patterson. Patterson had insights and appreciation about Diversity Week. He also had specific remarks about the quilt that was the star of the event. “This quilt wraps itself around this family that I’ve become a part of,” Patterson said. Patterson gave advice on how students can become more connected to others on campus. “We have to have uncomfortable conversations, but good conversations,” Patterson said. He said it best when he called the quilt a “mosaic of diversity.” After the president, Lance Hines-Butts took the stage. Hines-Butts was the student who created diversity week on campus. At the event, he
recalled the amount of work it took to get Diversity Week off the ground and make it what it is today. He spoke about the long hours and huge amounts of work required to get Diversity Week to work. “Diversity Week isn’t an idea, it’s a vision,” HinesButts said. At the height of the rally is when Hines-Butts asked the crowd to form a circle and hold hands with someone they did not know. He used this circle as an example to demonstrate the diversity on campus. The final speaker was Diane L. Jefferson, the Director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs on campus.
Keeping with their initiative to “reach out to students where they are,” the Student Government Association (SGA) held their Oct. 7 meeting in Gilbert Hall, the home of Multicultural Student Affairs. Riley Brown, SGA president, began the meeting thanking members of the SGA for their continued work. “It’s great to be here in Gilbert Hall. I’m very excited that we were able to come here,” Brown said. “We are in Diversity Week, which is great to see as well, seeing our ‘one campus, many cultures’ theme throughout the week with all of the different events going on.” Brown reminded those in attendance that SGA is continuing to reach out to students to hear concerns and to create tangible solutions as part of SGA’s 12 committee structure.
During the officer reports, Chase Slenker, the vice president of budget and finance, said mandatory budget training for student groups is in November. Multiple items of importance were brought up during the meeting. The need for increased vaccination rates on campus, the need for more membership on the food committee and the importance of mental well-being among students on campus were all discussed. Four motions that passed during the meeting granted committee voting rights to members of the Student Life Committee, the Info Technology Committee, the Diversity and Inclusion Committee and the Budget and Finance Committee. Another motion approved a conference allocation request for the Disciple Makers’ fall conference. The next SGA meeting will be held on Oct. 28.
Noel Miller/The Slate Read the full story at theslateonline.com.
The quilt, made of more than 100 hand-sewn panels, seeks to represent the vast diversity of Shippensburg University
Manuel Ruiz seeks to empower students and promote diversity Henry Mooney Asst. News Editor
Shippensburg University recently hired a new Director for the Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Equity. Manuel Ruiz has worked in higher education for 20 years, and before coming to SU, worked at McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland. “I’ve been here for six weeks and I thoroughly enjoy it here,” Ruiz said. His office “handles all things diversity related,” he said. When asked why he wanted to work at SU, Ruiz spoke highly of the school. “It aligns with my interests. I love the institution. I like its mission statement of putting students first. Without students, we don’t run an institution,” he said. Ruiz shared the question that will shape the focus of his work, “We have some-
Manuel Ruiz thing good here, but how do we make it better? That’s what this administration is looking at currently.” He is very focused on making himself available for students to speak with and wants to build meaningful relationships within the campus. “I think students appreciate when you are authentic and transparent with them,” Ruiz said, “I think
it’s important that students see that human side of us.” Ruiz wants students to feel comfortable talking to him, and wants to create an open community for students and faculty on campus. “My mission is to empower students to step out of their comfort zone and be comfortable with the uncomfortableness,” Ruiz said. His mission is also to empower students to understand internationality on campus. To fulfill this goal, Ruiz will need the help of students.“I want students to be change agents,” Ruiz said, “I need students to be willing to engage in critical discourse and be transparent.” He wants students to “live and breathe the message of this institution.” Ruiz is very focused on student engagement on campus. Student involvement is important to him, and is
critical for Ruiz to reach his goals. Ruiz talked about what he plans to do during his tenure. He wants to instate the first social justice institution on campus for student leaders as well as faculty. In addition, he plans to introduce a new event on campus: “Social Justice Talks.” The talks will be confidential and provide students with a space to ask questions, share experiences and learn from each other. “It’s important to have a presence in any role. It’s important that you get out and listen to students,” Ruiz said. He plans to instate these Social Justice Talks after fall break, and they will be open to any and all students. Ruiz has a challenge and a piece of advice for every student here, “Do something that you’ve never done, and it will be life changing.”
