Colby, Not Bow Will Host Diversity Conference This Y^ the Origins of the Discretionary' Fund

since CoHege Published by the stU^f ^€^^wy 1877 PCB aims Colby, not Bow will host The origins of the te improve diversity conference this y^ discretionary ' fund j P-yghi. By SUZANNE SKINNER fund was offered to the College in 1981 By KATIE HAMM ' . the beginning of the summer. In ence here was so well-attended is MANAGING EDITOR by the Mellon and Hewlett founda- Center CONTRIBUTING WRITER the e-mail Groggel said that Colby because it was so well-organized tions. In order to participate in the had many good ideas and would and orchestrated," ! Groggel said. Since 1981, the Colby president has endowment program, the College had £y ALEXIS GRANT In conjunction with Colby's on- like to host the conference this "We hope that Colby participation had control over a Presidential to raise $100,000 to $250,000, and the ASST. NEWS EDITOR going efforts to emphasize the year if Bowdoin did not object, will be as high as; it could, be by Discretion Fund. Money for the fund foundations promised, depending on I importance of diversity, the Hafler said. having it here this year." comes from an endowment given to how muchthe College raised, to match r " The Pugh Community Board's pri- Colby-BatesrBowdoin Diversity "The student government here Groggel believes the second the College by the Andrew W. Mellon the amount of money either two-tor mary purpose is to affirm cultural dif- Conference will return to campus talked about it, and no one was conference at Bates was not well- and William and Flora Hewlett foun- one or three-to-one. ferences on campus and educate the this spring. opposed to letting Colby take it. attended because of poor publicity dations. According to Mary Bates, program cpmmurdty on multicultural issues. This will be the third confer- We want to keep a good relation- at Colby. In the past the fund has been used assistant of the liberal arts program for , The organization, which has been in ence shared by the schools and the ship with Colby and Bates. Since "More advance notice would to support specific programs and ini- the Mellon Foundation, Colby was ¦ the works since last spring, is now up second !time m Colby wanted to have been nice," Groggel said. tiatives the president feels are of partic- given $100,000. .' and running. The group met for the three years that hold the confer- Groggel is hot discouraged by ular importance. ...- , "The foundations' purposes in giv-; first time Friday,Sept. 13 to brainstorm Colby will host jfg*The student ence, we felt that the paltry attendance at the last Most recently, the fund has been ing the money in this 'restricted' way ideas and goals for the upcoming year. the event. Colby we shouldn't conference and hopes students used to support the Colby Cares About was precisely to supply presidents, • The group will provide direction first hosted the government step on their will be enthusiastic about the con- Kids program, the Waterville Opera with completely discretionary finan- tor the Pugh Center, Colby's space conference in toes,.". Hafler ference returning to Colby. House, the Chamber of Commerce and cial resources to advance important ¦ here talked about it devoted to multicultural communica- March 2001, and said. , , , . Although it is still several the Main Street Project. presidential initiatives," Adams said. / . tion and understanding. Through lec- Bates held the and no one was "The number months away, SGA has already The discretionary fund was used to To ensure the ideals of the grant are tures, concerts, performances, exhibi- event in March opposed one goal of the begun discussing the event. help pay for several diversity initia- upheld, - former Colby College tions, workshops and special events, 2002. This year it to letting conference is to Two possibilities for keynote tives, including diversity training for President William D. Cotter had to the organization hopes to more fully was Bowdoin's Colby take it... <® •*» educate students speakers include Cedric Jennings head residents and members of the biennially report to both foundations . utilize what the Pugh Center has to turn to put on about issues sur- and author Ron Suskind. Jennings Student Government Association, for the first five years of the fund's offer. the conference. 33 rounding diver- is the main subject of "A Hope in aspects of the Strategic Plan, the existence. After that initial period, ! "The first meeting of the PCB was a "The student sify," Groggel the Unseen." The novel was writ- Multicultural Affairs Committee and a Cotter was asked to report to the huge success," Jessica Beetz '05, who is government [at — Jason Hafler said. "It will con- ten by Suskind and read by first- United World College visit. College's trustees and the foundations years over the summer. "Some of the recent needs and pri- every three to five years. one of the nine student members, said. Colby] showed a Bowdoin SGA pres. tinue the "All the students on the board are gen- lot of interest in progress of creat- The book describes Jennings's orities I have been pleased to recognize The foundations do specify that the »^ jiinely dedicated and very motivated. hosting it. Bowdoin was not as ing a campus climate that is safe life as a black student and his are those in the community that are grant is designated for renewal pur- .Everyone had creative and interesting interested," Gretchen Groggel, and inclusive of all students." struggle to succeed. important to the relationship of the poses and is not to be used for activi- ideas. There was a Iot of open discus- Student Government Association Hundreds of students attended A committee open to all inter- College to the city and to the health of ties typically included the general col- sion on the mission of the group and president said. the 2001 conference, which includ- ested students will be formed later the dty, which is of course a matter of lege budget. The fund is also not to be on how we will go about attaining our Jason Hafler, Bowdoin student ed a keynote address from actor in the year to plan the conference. great interest to Colby," Colby College used to cany on any activity indefi-r goals." government president, said he Danny Glover. President William D. Adams said. nitely. ; • ' "We started generating ideas," Co- received an e-mail from Groggel at "One reason the first confer- The endowment that supplies the Chair'Julia Steele '03 said, "and the list of. people [we hope to bring to Colby] fc . is totally motivating and has the k .potential to be really cool." Sexyal \ _ The PCB is made up of both faculty SGA creates Arnie Yasinski appointed assistant to Continued on Page 2 Assay If Task Force the president for diversity initiatives By KATIE HAMM members of the Task Force. By KATE RUSSO CONTRIBUTING WRITER "Members will be appointed by I am very interested in the ideas sur- NEWS EDITOR ifvr My aim is to Parliamentarian Kate Hughes, rounding-diversity." The Student Government though she is taking recommenda- "I am conscious that I am doing get the most^ Association has recently created a tions from us [SGA] and from Dean Interest in diversity issues at this as a white male," Yasinski said, complete of Sexual Assault Task Force. The Kassman. My idea is to have the stu- Colby has led administrators to con- "but I plan to be sensitive to that list I can group will research ways to prevent dent voice dominant," Groggel said. sider what changes can be made issue." complaints and rec- sexual assault on campus and pre- "The number-one goal will be to among institution "higher-ups" to Yasinski is interested in the rela- sent its findings to the administra- reduce sexual assault on carripus," ensure Strategic Plan initiatives are tionship between dominant and sub- ommendations that tion. Peter Brush '03, president of carried out. ordinate groups on campus; mean- have been brought Sturtevant, who brought the motion The first of these ing, the groups that write the to SGA, said. The task force will also changes came Tuesday, rules and those that follow f orwardin recent e are so "take a look at how administration Sept. 10, when Colby them. ymrs rfV p eople deals with sexual assault. We need College President "It is more of a cultural many to look at the policies they have and William D. Adams thing that has grown over ' 33 that get away with see whether they actually adhere to appointed time. It does not mean a dom- the policies," Brush said. Administrative Vice inant or subordinate individ- —Cheshire Calhoun BATES: If s ual," Yasinski said. [sexual assault], "There are so many people that President and Professor Chair of Philosophy The f irstf emale difficult get away with this, its bullshit," of English W. Arnold "The dominant group on a situation Brush said. "If s a difficult situation, Yasinski to the newly- W. Arnold campus," Yasinski said, refer- president in and there' s no clear- and there's no clear cut way to fix created position of spe- Yasinski ring to the administration,and sentation are integral to improving NESCAC at Bates. it." cial assistant to the pres- faculty, "needs to take more diversity at Colby. cut way to f ixit "Sexual harassment is a really ident for diversity initiatives, responsibility. We need to educate Yasinksi plans to foster under- hard thing to track down, but I'm "The primary purpose of the posi- ourselves rather than having tlie sub- standing of "micro-aggressions" and not sure if Colby is going about it the tion is to provide administrative ordinate groups telling us what we how they negatively affect the com- jj right way," Jessica Martin '03 said.

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