Coz McNooz Issue #77
Spring 2018
Dear Johnston Alums!
W
e’ve made it through another year and graduated a class of 52 students. Thanks to ongoing work with Admissions, we look to have another large incoming class in the fall. We’re looking forward to welcoming a class of about 50 – how fitting as we go into our 50th year! Current students have accomplished some wonderful projects this spring: an educational forum, the 3rd Annual Race on Campus Conference, contributions to the Redlands Review, awardwinning poetry, student-taught classes, Buff-Fest, myriad art and music projects, theses, work in the Johnston archive, and some facilitated conversations about the experiences of trans* students and students of color in Johnston and across the college… in short, we’re doing Johnston. This issue of the Coz updates you on current events and previews some of our upcoming projects for the 50th! I also want to thank Adam Ghovayzi, our outgoing Residence Hall Director. Adam graduated in 2012 and has spent 5 years contributing to our dynamic living-learning community. We’ll miss Adam’s IRA (Integrated Reading Association/Ireland for the Irish), Men Talk Laundry, and crosswords in Day Java. But we also have some good news! Through collaboration with multiple departments, we’ve restructured Adam’s position so that Admissions and Alumni goddess Maggie Ruopp (’16) can continue her work in those areas and also serve as the new Johnston Residence Hall Director. Join me in welcoming Maggie to the full time Johnston staff. If you haven’t met her yet, she’ll be the one with the blowhorn and whistle at the 50th renewal! Mark those calendars friends. We’ll set a place at the table for you on February 15-17, 2019. Cheers,
Julie
LA Buffalo Graze
by Matthew Thompson
“How was the Buffalo Graze?” they asked. “Oh, just lovely,” I replied, “It was so scrumptious, so joyous, and so cozy.” On March 17th, a dozen or so Johnston students, faculty, and alumni assembled at Daniel Kiefer’s home in Los Angeles for afternoon lunch and natter. Daniel prepared savory snacks and a dozen dishes, others brought sugary chocolates and drinks, and Yash brought big lemons. We learned about Johnston’s early years from a founding student, shared stories of (and plans for) life after graduation, and got a mini tour of all the books in Daniel’s apartment. Iyan captured the gathering in virtual reality—allowing us the opportunity to revisit the room whenever we desired (or as long as our iPhones keep working). Somehow, in the midst of the giggles and laughs that filled the after party in Daniel’s kitchen, even the dishes came away from the gathering cleansed, refreshed, and prepared to be dirtied again. For someone who hasn’t had the chance to attend Vintage Johnston, a renewal, or any other alumni event, this graze at Daniel’s home was a delightful taste of Johnston after Johnston.
If you’re interested in hosting a Buffalo Graze in your area, you can email our Alumni Coordinator, Maggie Ruopp, at margaret_ruopp@redlands.edu. She’ll make the invitations, send them to alumni in your city, keep track of who’s coming, and help with any other details that pop up. Get together with your fellow Johnstonians and start planning what you’re going to wear to Renewal.
Buffalo Books by Pat Harrigan
Since 2009, Johnston has gathered on Facebook for “Buffalo Books,” an ongoing “unsolitary reading project” in which we discuss a variety of books—mostly contemporary short stories, but also including the occasional novel and work of nonfiction. Founded by Sandy Shattuck (JC ’77), Jane Creighton, and Bill McDonald, the group has grown to nearly 120 JC alums, professors and current students. We began in 2009 with an Othello duo: Tayeb Salih’s Season of Migration to the North and Caryl Phillip’s The Nature of Blood. A small but determined subsection of the group then tackled Proust’s monumental In Search of Lost Time. Since then the group has read short story collections from Alice Munro, James Joyce, Lorrie Moore, George Saunders, Margaret Atwood, Frankie Rollins, Robert Aickman and Italo Calvino, as well as the Edwidge Danticat-edited anthology Haiti Noir, the collection of Iranian prose and poetry Strange Times, My Dear and Granta’s The Best of Young Brazilian Novelists. Longer works read include Dinaw Mengestu’s How to Read the Air, Viet Thanh Nguyen’s The Sympathizer, Laird Hunt’s Neverhome, Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita, Virginia Woolf ’s The Waves, David Mazzucchelli’s graphic novel Asterios Polyp, and Claudia Rankin’s timely exploration of race Citizen: An American Lyric. It has also become a Halloween tradition to read horror and weird fiction together each October, including selections from Ross Lockhart’s anthology The Book of Cthulhu, Ann and Jeff VanderMeer’s The Weird, and others. The reading pace is moderate, usually no more than a dozen or two dozen pages per week, and members can post as much or as little as they wish on the website. Not everyone in the group will choose to read every book; except for the members who volunteer to lead the discussion on a particular work, there are no expectations. All Johnstonians are welcome to join us! We feel that the group is an excellent way to maintain a connection between Johnstonians of all ages and walks of life, in a low-pressure, let’s-all-read-for-fun kind of way. If you’re interested, please search on Facebook for “Buffalo Books,” or email Pat Harrigan (JC ’94) at Pat_Harrigan@yahoo.com.
The Johnston Experience with Lily Gomez By M. G. Maloney ’03, Asst. Director of JC
This spring, Johnston was treated by Kathryn Green with a visit from Lisa Marie “Lily” Gomez ‘03. As a transfer student with life experiences ranging from working for AmeriCorps to being a competitive fighter and more, Lily drove to Redlands from her hometown of San Antonio, Texas in August 2000. With a cowgirl hat, Nokia phone, and a bag of martial arts gear, Lily was quickly recruited for Johnston’s unofficial “fight club.” In a twist, Lily ended up studying peace in Johnston, specifically: Social Justice, Sustainable Development, and International Peace Studies. “For me the Johnston experience was an opportunity to really take charge of what I wanted to study and experience first-hand what it was I was
interested in academically,” said Lily. Highlights from Lily’s riveting talk included stories about the three crosscultural experiences central to her degree: (1) Uganda, where she studied sustainable economic development and privilege; (2) Rwanda, where she learned about restorative justice in real time; (3) the former Yugoslavia where she met with students from the successful resistance movement. Speaking directly to Johnston’s current buffalo, Lily paused and said, “And they were like you all, when they overthrew the government by subverting fear. They did it non-violently.” To read more of Lily’s talk, look for an excerpt in the upcoming Johnston 50th book.
Trans Poet Visits Redlands by Daniel Kiefer
A
t the invitation of the Johnston Center, the poet Ely Shipley came to campus on March 26 and 27 to give a Kathryn Green lecture and a reading from his new book, and sit in on classes with a variety of students. His visit was funded in great part by ASUR Convocations and Lectures, Creative Writing, English, and Campus Diversity and Inclusion. Shipley graduated in 2000 with a Johnston concentration in creative writing, literature and women’s studies. After taking his MFA at Purdue and his PhD at the University of Utah, Shipley now teaches in the English department at Western Washington University in Bellingham. His first book, Boy with Flowers, won the 20007 Barrow Street Poetry Prize, and his second book, Some Animal, has just been published by Nightboat Books. Shipley’s Kathryn Green talk focused on his Johnston experiences, some fortifying and others hilarious. He described the comfort he found in Johnston, where his antithetical ways of imagining himself matched similar adventures in identity by other students. He praised the Johnston community as a sacred place, where encouragement of individual expression made all the difference in his coming out as lesbian and his transition into masculine gender. Then he asked the audience to write down a startling, funny, or cherished memory of their time in Johnston, and the reading of those reminiscences was a real delight.
Ben Wyeth by Mya Thomsen On February 22, 2018, Johnston Complex welcomed back a former Johnston student Ben Wyeth (‘05) to debut his new band, BRAND. When Wyeth was student, he was a member of the popular Johnston band HOCKEY, and spent the majority of his time working on lyrics and hanging out in the Jam Room. BRAND puts Wyeth back on lead vocals, accompanied by a background track and his guitarist Viper, who also sings backup vocals. The current Johnston community got to experience the band’s unique neo-punk sound and high energy levels while dancing to songs like “Acid Rock”, “Get Rich Die”, and “Century Angels”. All the music performed was off BRAND’s debut self-titled album (available on SoundCloud next month.) In fact, the show in Holt Lobby that night was the first time BRAND had ever performed for a crowd. Professor Tim Seber, perhaps better known as PhDJ, opened for the group, along with current Johnston musicians Cosmic Cactus, Busted Knucks, and (not ur) Babyg1rl. The event was open to all University of Redlands students and saw a great turnout. Not only are the BRAND members all incredibly talented, but each one took the time to speak and connect with students and faculty alike. Ben also gave a Q & A session earlier in the day in the Jimmy Room (complete with Cuca’s burritos) and shared his story – a Johnston student studying “Poetry and Songwriting” who found success in following his dreams.
Avery Osijima by Maddie Tschauner
Avery Osajima, the daughter of our friendly professors Keith Osajima and Sara Schoonmaker, visited Johnston in March to talk to the community about her work in tattooing as part of the Constant Hand Collective. With many current Johnston students interested in both tattoos and finding ways to make their art into their career, Avery’s presence was much anticipated and Holt Lobby was packed. Many of us in the community heard raves about her stick and poke tattoo art, so putting a face and connection to all the talk was a treat. Her openness and support was well received as she said, “I wanna make myself a resource to you guys.” She spoke about being a radical artist and prioritizing queer people and those of color in her practice. Avery feels the tattoo world is dominated by men and masculinity and she and her business partner try to create a space to counter that narrative. She explained how hand-poke tattoos take time and lend themselves to more intimate connections with people. She also got real about money and discussed how artists can support themselves financially. Avery provided her advice from the perspective of, “someone who is a little bit out of college, but not a CEO, or like, old.” Avery works out of her shop in Seattle, but also tattoos around the country when she travels, and even made a stop in Paris on Sara’s 2018 May term travel course “Consuming Paris.” During her trip to Redlands, she gave tattoos to a few lucky Johnston students and faculty. Surely, Avery is a valuable resource to Johnston and, since her imprint has been left on many Johnston bodies, she was officially deemed a Buffalo. You can see her work on Instagram @averykiyo.
RACE ON CAMPUS
The ROC Keynote Panelists: Richard Aviles, a graduate student studying Social Work at USC. Richard also led a workshop called “Dance and Intangible Heritage of the Body”; Xiadani Juarez Diaz, a third year Johnston student, and a member of the ROC collective; Giana Mitchell, a first year Johnston student and a member of the ROC collective; Leo Juarez, a sophomore at Hartnell College; Amani Kaur, a student at Grover Cleveland High School.
Presenters and attendees of the conference take a moment in between panels to sit out on Bekins Lawn and get to know one another.
The third annual Race on Campus (ROC) Conference was held on April 28th and 29th on the University of Redlands campus. This year the conference was planned and executed by the Race on Campus collective, a nonhierarchical group of students from both the Johnston Center and the wider university. The conference was billed as an Academic Festival with the theme Radical Celebration. To read more about The Race on Campus Conference, check out this Bulldog Blog post by U of R student Taylor Matousek. (link: http://www. redlands.edu/bulldog-blog/2018/may-2018/ race-on-campus-promotes-unapologetic-selfacceptance/)
California State University, Los Angeles students (from left) Del Wenn, Stephen Fossett, and Amiri Mahnzili discuss the racial discrepancy in college graduation rates in their talk “Pan Afrikan Studies: Multidisciplinary Approach to Education.”
SAVE THE DATES Vintage Johnston
The 12th Annual Vintage Johnston Wine-Tasting and Dinner will take place on Saturday, October 13th at 6:00 pm at the Orton Center on the University of Redlands campus. Come for the good wine and the conversation, stay for silent and live auction items and a chance to win raffle prizes. All proceeds from the dinner benefit the Johnston Student Project Fund. If you can’t attend the dinner but would still like to donate, you can send a check to the Johnston Center.
50th Renewal
Johnston is turning 50 and we need you to come celebrate with us! President’s Day Weekend, February 15th-17th, 2019, we’ll be throwing the biggest party of the year. There will be an archival art show, readings from the new Johnston book, mini-courses taught by alumni, faculty, and current students, panels, community meetings, dinners, music, dancing, and time to reconnect with fellow Johnstonians from all generations. Mark your calendars and start making your travel plans now–and keep an eye out for an official Save-the-Date email, as well as a link to register for the event.
THANK YOU TO OUR DONORS: So much of what makes a Johnston education and especially our living-learning community vibrant comes from the generous gifts of our donors. Contributions to the Building the Johnston Community Endowment have enabled us to create collaborative learning and creative spaces; contributions to the Study Abroad fund have assisted students with the financial burdens associated with Study Abroad and May travel courses; contributions to the Community Service and Activism Fund support the annual Race on Campus conference and other student activism projects; and donations to the Director’s Discretionary Fund have supported our development of new outreach and recruitment strategies to move us toward our goal of a truly diverse student population, develop a digitization process for Johnston archives, support the content development of the Johnston 50th book, etc.; and the Kathryn Green Endowment helps us to bring alumni speakers, artists in residence, and class facilitators. We want to thank the following 2017-18 donors and encourage you to consider Johnston in your giving plans. Eric & Marilyn Adler Kathryn Adorney ‘75 & Neil Rindlaub Eric Ardinger ‘93, ‘97 Mike & Jean Bauer Nancy Best ‘80 Robert Bicher Michael Blumson ‘04, ‘07 Douglas & Judith ‘65 Bowman Thomas Bowman ‘78 David Bragg David Braxton Peter Broffman ‘72 Kendrick Brown & Hideko Sera Olav & Siri Bryn Ryan Byrne ‘95 Mark Carlson ‘74 Donald ‘73 & Ashley ‘73 Cash Margaret Connell Isobel Contento Theresa Cullen ‘78 & John Sartin Tanya Doriss ‘98 David Fite & Lynn Swanson Jonathan Garcia ‘16 Susan Goldschmidt ‘77 Lee ‘75 & Nancy Goodman Gary ‘70 & Joan ‘73 Gray
Matthew Gray ‘05, ‘07 & Lindsay McNicholas ‘05 David Greenlee ‘72 Debbie Heap ‘73, ‘86 Arthur Horowitz ‘76 Lyle Hymer-Thompson Alexandra Jacobs Maya Joshua ‘16 Daniel Kiefer Patricia & Jack Kohlmeier Leonard Kreppel & Martha Nutman Mark & Barbara Lauer Kimberly Lawton ‘77 Greg Lieberknecht ‘74 & Patty Mintz Robert Marshak & Judy Kelly Nathaniel Mason ‘96 Tim & Myriam McAdams Thomas McClung ‘69 Pressley McCoy Bill & Dolores McDonald John McKently ‘71 Lisa Metzgar ‘93 Autumn Nazarian ‘98 Barbara Nordstrom ‘73 James O’Donnell III ‘95
Kevin O’Neill Yasuyuki & Judith Owada Daniel Rand ‘83 David Raynolds ‘83 & Sharon Bolles ‘82 Lisa Beth Robinson ‘91 Jake Rogers ‘10 Shannon Ryan ‘94 Lawrence ‘79 & Patricia Singer Timothy Stutman ‘00 Alva ‘77 & Jenny Svoboda Julie Townsend Michael Vavru ‘14 Heather Ways ‘75 & Gerald Sgro Brianna Wilkinson ‘17 Kay Yamamoto We apologize if your name has been misspelled or has been unintentionally omitted. If you have any questions about this listing, please contact Laura Gallardo, Director of Donor Relations, at 909-748-8152.
HARRIET BLUME written by Bill Mcdonald
Many Johnstonians will be saddened to learn of the passing of Harriet Blume on January 31, 2018. Harriet came to Johnston in 1971 when her husband Frank joined the faculty, and from the beginning she was a mentor to students and an ardent supporter of the College. Her B.A. in sociology from Oberlin attuned her to alternative education, and an undergraduate semester at Fisk University reinforced her devotion to civil rights and social justice. The early years she spent in France led to her lifelong love of the country she visited annually well into her eighties. She taught French, English and German at Crafton Hills College and, after retirement, continued to tutor students privately in French, ESL, literacy, and piano. She also undertook a wide variety of volunteer work, among other things, working with the homeless, and helping to lead a meditation group with prison inmates. Harriet’s life was a testimony to her deeply felt Quaker values of peace, integrity, equality, simplicity, community, and stewardship of the earth. She sought and found the inner light of good in all people, and her warm and genuine smile raised the spirits of all who knew her. Among the many moving tributes Harriet received was this from alum Greg Lieberknecht:
“I first met Harriet Blume when I was 20 years old and struggling with my options around the Viet Nam war. I joined the Redlands Quaker Meeting and there she was. That was 48 years ago. For all that time Harriet was a calm, strong, ethical, marvelous presence in my life. She was a vital part of my extended family. We have lost a treasure from our community. I just hope I can lead my life in a way she would appreciate, in the way she has taught me, with serenity and love for all.�
Who better to identify potential Johnston students than Alums? We want to find more students who seek an individualized and integrated college experience, who value community and collaboration as well as academics, and who are passionate about their interests… in short, people like YOU. If you know of high school students who might be interested in a Johnston-style education, please encourage them to visit Johnston. And, if you know of a high school whose pedagogical model seems similar to Johnston’s, please let our admissions c o o r d i n a t o r, Maggie Ruopp (margaret_ ruopp@ redlands. edu) know about it!
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