Issue 15 • Volume 125 Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019 www.thesandspur.org
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Staff positions slashed from women’s program
Diversity Council suggested increasing Lucy Cross Center’s staff and scope, but instead, both were reduced By Heather Borochaner
hborochaner@rollins.edu
D
espite recommendations to increase its size and scope, the Lucy Cross Center’s leadership positions and compensation for staff members have been cut, hindering its mission to promote gender equality through gender-inclusive events and discussions. The director position of the Lucy Cross Center was eliminated in the summer of 2018. The position is now a recommended responsibility for the director of the Sexuality, Women’s and Gender Studies (SWAG) program, a minor that analyzes social justice issues. “It felt as though we were being told it was supported, but it felt like it was being squeezed out,” said Dr. Jill Jones, associate
professor of English and former director of the Lucy Cross Center. The graduate assistant position was also eliminated, along with the course release compensation for the director position, which allowed the role to count as teaching credits for a faculty member. “To say there is still a faculty director is a misrepresentation. If the compensation for a role is eliminated, the role is effectively eliminated,” said Dr. Margaret McLaren, current coordinator of SWAG and original co-founder of the Lucy Cross Center in 2010. “Unfortunately, that role is a big job (bigger than the time that a course release compensates for) so it is not feasible for a faculty member to do this without the necessary release time,” said McLaren in an email. The position and course re-
lease removals came after the Diversity Council, at the request of President Grant Cornwell, completed a task force evaluating gender equity at Rollins. At the beginning of each year, Cornwell works with the Council to develop a charge for the year. He said that he is concerned about gender equity at Rollins; “I believe we should have a robust, supportive program for women’s identity and professional development,” said Cornwell. At the end of its study, the Diversity Council recommended that the College provide more funding, support, and staff to the Lucy Cross Center, but instead, all three areas were reduced. The task force collected data in the fall of 2017 and the spring of 2018 from faculty, staff, and students about their experiences regarding gender equity and ‣ See LUCY CROSS Page 3
Courtesy of Scott Cook
The Lucy Cross Center supports social justice issues through inclusive events.
Art piece reimagines America’s complex #MeToo founder to visit campus later this month history with interracial relationships
Master’s student Holly Jefferies’ thesis explores race using personal anecdotes, historical documents By Maura Leaden
P
mleaden@rollins.edu
rinted scrolls hang on the walls of Carnegie Hall. The modge podge of black, white, and red fabric and text appear overwhelming at first, but upon a closer read, the viewer is transported through decades of history relating to interracial relationships in the U.S. The five scrolls featured in Carnegie Hall, the English department’s headquarters, illuminate Holly Jefferies’ captivating prose in a reflective stream of consciousness, a style that eliminates punctuation. Jefferies earned both her bachelor’s degree in 2014 and a Master’s in Liberal Arts Studies in 2018 from Rollins. “Reimagining the Narrative: A Contemporary Creative Collection of Interracial Perspective” is a five-piece installation that Jefferies completed for her thesis
project in the summer and fall of 2018. The artwork is nearly floorto-ceiling in length. The first scroll from the left, “No Margins,” reads: “That is the difference in race I think That I can walk away from another race and my husband can walk away from another race but he does not and I do not It is the very thing that makes us different and the same and vul-
nerable and strong and in love.” Combining stream of consciousness and poetry, Jefferies contemplates the narrative of interracial relationships across history, specifically the absence of voices. It invites viewers to do the same. “We don’t know what that voice would say, or look like, or sound like when there is an ‣ See ART Page 8
Tarana Burke will shed light on movement’s role in combatting sexual assault and harassment
Courtesy of Tarana Burke
Tarana Burke visits Feb. 27.
By Christina Oliviera
T Enzo Romano
Holly Jefferies wove personal anecdotes and historical documents into her project.
coliviera@rollins.edu
arana Burke, the founder of the hashtag #MeToo, will come to Rollins on Wednesday, Feb. 27 to talk with students and the community about the social movement’s origins and intentions. The event will consider the creation and implementation of
the movement, which aims to bring to light the pervasiveness of sexual assault and harassment. Burke started the hashtag movement in 2006, but it did not receive wide recognition until 2017 after actress Alyssa Milano tweeted it in response to multiple sexual misconduct allegations against Harvey Weinstein, film producer and Miramax founder. Abby Hollern, director of the Center for Inclusion and Campus Involvement (CICI), said that the community is very excited to welcome Burke to campus. “She has done incredible work to create such a strong movement that has taken the world by storm. Her message is critical to the college population, and we’ve received a very positive response,” Hollern said. Burke’s hashtag and message raise awareness of the ‣ See #METOO Page 6