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March 3, 2021

A note from the Dean Dear Staff and Faculty Colleagues, I hope you are enjoying a little sunshine and preparing for more consistent spring weather. It does feel like the promise of the season is upon us. Strangely, we are about to hit the one-year mark after the pandemic's official start. This time around, we are not sending the students home but, instead, asking those students on campus to stay in residence. As we look forward to the week of March 15, I encourage us to think together about ways to use the week of no graded assignments and a rest day to take a pause--without sending the message to students that we are creating a window for them to take a de facto spring break. Faculty received a note yesterday from Ken Anderson with a reminder on the rest day and the week of no graded assignments with suggestions on how to maintain course momentum. ​As a Hoosier, I confess that March Madness is my favorite season of the year. Ironically, this year, the NCAA men's basketball tournament will be played completely in Indiana, but few if any Hoosiers will get to enjoy it in person. We all look forward to when we can safely gather in person. I hope you can enjoy, in your own way, the beauty of March. Best, Doug

Oxford in the news

Pearl Dowe, Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Political Science and African American Studies, was quoted by History Channel in the article "Why the 19th Amendment Did Not Guarantee All Women the Right to Vote: Despite the adoption of the 19th Amendment, many women of color, immigrant women and poorer women continued to face barriers at the polls." Emory News Center covered Dowe's selection to serve in an advisory capacity in the article "Dowe named to Kamala Harris Project’s advisory board."

Faculty and staff appearances

Oxford College Chaplain Lyn Pace was a guest on the podcast Share the Love Stories hosted by Amelia Arthur. Pace discussed his work on the college campus, the COVID-19 pandemic, and social unrest over two episodes. You can listen to "Love on a College Campus-Part 1-From a Mother to a Mother" and "Love on a College Campus-Part 2-Pandemic and Social Unrest" on the podcast website.

Laura Gafnea, director of community relations, and Michael Martin, lecturer in biology, were interviewed by Seth Hawkins with the Georgia Forestry Commission for the Georgia Arbor Day Proclamation and Celebration video.

Alumna named Luce Scholar

The Henry Luce Foundation announced Yazmina Sarieh 18Ox 20C has been named a 2021-2022 Luce Scholar. This selective and prestigious program will take Sarieh on an immersive experience in Asia beginning in August 2021 where she will work in her interested field on the system of refugee resettlement and aid. Emory News Center covered her honor in "Two recent Emory graduates selected for prestigious Luce Scholars Program." Read more about the Luce Scholars Program and this year's class of scholars on their website.

Director of Operations for Biden-Harris Transition speaks to Oxford students March 4

Join the Oxford community for a talk with Emory University alumnus and attorney Awenate Cobbina 02C on Thursday, March 4, at 7:30 p.m. During this Oxford Studies event, Cobbina will discuss his unique career experiences, including serving as vice president of public and business affairs for Pistons Sports Entertainment and the Detroit Pistons, and before that his six years with the Obama White House as special assistant to the president and policy advisor to the Office of the chief of staff. Attendees will also be interested to hear from Cobbina about his current role as the director of operations with the Biden-Harris Transition. Zoom event link

Second conversation on race and allyship on Friday, March 5

White Oxford faculty and staff who wish to be allies of people of color are invited to the second conversation focused on race and allyship at Oxford on Friday, March 5, from 1:00-2:30 p.m. via Zoom. At this event, Donna Troka, director of diversity and inclusive pedagogy at the Center for Faculty Development & Excellence, will offer a brief presentation defining allyship, followed by structured small group discussions facilitated by Oxford College staff and faculty members, and then a brief concluding large group discussion. *Please select "Add to Calendar" in Susan Newborn's recent EaglePost announcement to signal that you plan to attend or email Susan Newborn to RSVP. In advance of the meeting, please read two short pieces — Austin Channing Brown's "Dear Nice White People" and Peggy McIntosh's "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack."

Southern Circuit Film Series: Warrior Women

The Southern Circuit Film Series continues with the virtual screening of the film Warrior Women available for the Oxford community to view March 7-11. Co-directors Christina D. King & Elizabeth A. Castle will participate in a recorded Q&A following the screening. In the 1970s, Madonna Thunder Hawk became an activist for Native liberation by establishing the culturally based and parent-controlled We Will Remember Survival School as an alternative to government-run schools. A leader of the American Indian Movement, Thunder Hawk has advocated for Native rights most of her adult life, and now her daughter Marcy Gilbert, a mother herself, has joined the fight. Together they have been at the forefront of issues including the Dakota Access Pipeline protests and the preservation of Indigenous cultural values. Through oral histories and archival material, Warrior Women explores activism, motherhood, intergenerational trauma, and resistance from the emergence of AIM to modern Native sovereignty. “The film is rooted in a community-based oral history project on Red Power women's activism that has been 20 years in the making,” says King, an enrolled member of the Seminole Tribe of Oklahoma. “As an Indigenous collective film team, we are interested in pushing the visual boundaries of traditional documentary filmmaking to create an experience that better conveys how Indigenous women actually see and engage with the world.” Learn more about the film on its website. This event is made possible through the Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers, a South Arts program. Since its inception in 1975, Southern Circuit has brought some of the best independent filmmakers and their films from around the country to communities throughout the South. The program is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Nominations open for Oxford-based Sammy Clark scholarship The Sammy Clark Scholarship, named for Oxford's longest-serving chaplain, is given to a rising sophomore student each year and presented at the annual All-College Awards Ceremony in April. Learn more about the scholarship and recommend a student using the online form. Students do not nominate themselves for this award, so leaders rely on faculty and staff to nominate. Please help with this important process and nominate by Wednesday, March 24. Please contact Oxford College Chaplain Lyn Pace with questions. Alumni in the news Keesha Veronica Boyd 96Ox 98C was interviewed by NBC News for their feature "Women in charge: Comcast NBCUniversal's Keesha Boyd."

Longtime staff member Monica Lemoine retires

Residential Education & Services (RES) and the Office of Religious & Spiritual Life (ORSL) wish Monica Lemoine a farewell full of gratitude upon her retirement from Oxford College effective February 26. Lemoine served Oxford for almost 24 years. In her crucial role in supporting the RES team, she was one of the first smiling faces students encountered when entering the campus life suite. She was a great support system to the department's student workers throughout the years and enjoyed being a part of their college experience. She enjoyed working closely with the RES team and often hosted get-togethers at her home. She often assisted with a variety of projects on the RES team during staff transitions or integration of new software, and she was always up for a new challenge. Lemoine was invaluable and instrumental in keeping the RES team on track and organized — not always an easy task. Given her experience, she agreed a few years ago to support ORSL also. RES, ORSL, and Campus Life will greatly miss her kind-hearted demeanor, positive attitude, kindness, southern charm, and laughter but are excited for her next adventure. She is looking forward to spending more time outdoors and enjoying her new home in the north Georgia mountains. If you would like to send any well wishes to her, you may do so at [email protected].

MARCH

A Talk with Attorney Awenate Cobbina 02C hosted by Oxford Studies Zoom event link | 7:30 p.m.

Allyship at Oxford College a second conversation with interested Oxford faculty and staff Donna Troka, Center for Faculty Development and Excellence, provides a brief presentation To RSVP — email Susan Newborn or accept calendar invite via EaglePost Zoom event link | 1:00-2:30 p.m.

Southern Circuit Film Series: Warrior Women Screening link | available to view until March 11

Mary Hooks: Abolitionist Organizing in the time of Global Pandemic and Beyond 2021 Lyceum Lecture Series: Toward a Social Justice Spring   co-sponsored by Oxford’s WGSS program & Emory’s Studies in Sexualities   Zoom event link | 8:00 p.m.

Take a Break Tuesday hosted by the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life Oxford Student Center front plaza | 1:30 p.m.-2:45 p.m.

Jen Manion: Female Husbands: A History of Trans Teens 2021 Lyceum Lecture Series: Toward a Social Justice Spring   co-sponsored by Oxford’s WGSS program & Emory’s Studies in Sexualities   Zoom event link | 8:00 p.m.

Five Fridays with James Baldwin Film Series Screening of James Baldwin & William F. Buckley Cambridge Debate (1965)  Email Eric Solomon to RSVP and receive event link | 7:00 p.m.

Student Rest Day - no class

Take a Break Tuesday hosted by the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life Oxford Student Center front plaza | 1:30 p.m.-2:45 p.m.

To submit a news item for the next Campus Update, please email Ansley Holder.  The newsletter is distributed weekly on Wednesday.  Please send any submissions by Monday afternoon. Thanks for reading!