CAF RECAP 2019 -2020 VOLUME 1
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
02 About CAF 03 Staff & Interns 05 Fields Fellows 07 PUMP 09 Heritage Months 13 Cultural Graduations 14 Brave Voices Project 17 Key Events & Collaborations Try clicking on the sections above to go to the corresponding page.
Right The Carl A. Fields Center’s current location at 58 Prospect Avenue.
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ABOUT CAF Our Namesake Dr. Carl A. Fields was born in Columbus, Ohio, and grew up in Brooklyn. He began his career at Princeton in 1964 as Assistant Director of Student Aid. Fields introduced a surrogate family hosting program that paired black students with community members, helped develop the Association of Black Collegians, and organized a noteworthy conference that addressed black students’ experiences at predominantly white universities. As assistant dean of the college, Fields implemented policies and practices that increased enrollment and retention of students of color, and was instrumental in establishing the Third World Center. By the time he left the University in 1971, more than 300 people of color were enrolled as undergraduates. Fields passed away on July 20, 1998, at the age of 79.
Above Interior of the Carl A. Fields Center’s current location.
The Carl A. Fields Center (CAF) was created in 1971 as a result of student prompting, originally as the Third World Center. The Center was established to support students of color, who were arriving at Princeton in increasing numbers, but also to create greater awareness and understanding among all members of the campus community. For more than 30 years, the Third World Center played an invaluable role in providing a social, cultural and political environment that was responsive to issues of ethnic and racial diversity; that addressed the needs and aspirations of students of color; and that enriched the Princeton experience for all students. By 1995, many students expressed growing concerns about the ambiguous nature of the center’s name. For many, the name was problematic—even divisive. The center’s student governance board decided to address these concerns in 2001. After discussions, surveys and meetings with students, alumni and administrators, the governance board recommended that the center be renamed in honor of Dr. Carl A. Fields, who at Princeton became the first African American administrator in the Ivy League. On April 13, 2002, Princeton’s trustees approved the change, and the center became the Carl A. Fields Center for Equality and Cultural Understanding, effective July 1, 2002. In the fall of 2009, the CAF moved to a new home at 58 Prospect Avenue. The new building was designed to facilitate the Center’s broad range of activities, which are open to Princeton University and its surrounding communities.
CAF’s Ten Year Anniversary in 2019 In the fall of 2009, the Carl A. Fields Center moved to its new home at 58 Prospect Avenue, taking up residence at a former eating club. In the fall of 2019, the CAF celebrated its tenth year at its current location with a social media campaign and a poster series (as seen to the right).
In the fall of 2009, the Carl A. Fields Center moved to a new home at 58 Prospect Avenue. This marks the 10th year of the Fields Center at its current location.
fieldscenter.princeton.edu | fieldscenter@princeton.edu cafcenter_princeton fieldscenter
ABOUT CAF | 02
STAFF & INTERNS Tennille Haynes Director
Jes L. Norman
Program Coordinator
As Director of the CAF, Tennille works closely with deans and center directors in developing a co-curricular program that enriches Princeton’s academic life. She serves as an adviser and educator for students and as a resource for faculty and staff on issues of diversity, inclusion, social justice and community. Additionally, she helps organize workshops, trainings and retreats for student organizations and campus affiliates that focus on topics related to race and ethnicity, class, civic engagement and leadership development.
Program Coordinator
As the CAF’s Program Coordinators, Jes and Victoria help coordinate and sustain programs relating to the CAF’s mission, and provide programming, outreach, and education on campus. They also help students, staff, faculty, alumni and community members who use the CAF, and assist in advising student organizations and supervising the CAF interns.
Thanya Begum ‘23
Ashley Hodges ‘21
Thanya is a Computer Science major and a CAF publicity intern, primarily designing posters and flyers (and the CAF Recap). The CAF for her is a place where people of all kinds can come together to celebrate each of their backgrounds, while also cherishing the beauty of difference and diversity.
Ashley is an African American Studies major and a CAF publicity intern. For her, the CAF feels like a home—not just someplace on campus. She can walk in there and see so many familiar faces that bring her joy. By working as an intern, she’s put so much love into the CAF, so she can’t help but feel like it loves her back.
Victoria Yu
Our Interns The interns at the CAF are undergraduate students who assist in the development, planning, and publicizing of the CAF programs. This year there were three interns on the Programming Team and five on the Design and Publicity Team. We asked each of them if they had a word or emotion that encompassed this past year at CAF. They answered with warm, thankful, tranformative, growth, grateful, enlightening, and educational. 03 | STAFF & INTERNS
Javin Lu ‘22
Lutfah Subair ‘21
Saran Toure ‘22
Javin is an Anthropology major and a CAF publicity intern, focusing on photography and film. To him, the CAF represents a dedicated space on campus for bringing together difference and affinity. He’s always blown away by the sheer array of events and dialogues that the CAF brings to the Princeton experience every year, and the fact that he gets to capture them all.
Lutfah is a Public and International Affairs major and a CAF programming intern. This year, she helped create programming for the CAF’s heritage months by seeking input from the Princeton community and handling logistics. The CAF means a lot to her specifically because it has been one of the very few spaces on campus that she’s been able to be her full and unapologetic self.
Saran is a Politics major and a CAF publicity intern, specializing in social media engagement. This year, she’s worked on revamping the weekly newsletter to make it more engaging to community members. For her, the CAF is a place on campus where she can be in community with people who are passionate about social justice and dedicated to diversity and inclusion on campus.
Kat Powell ‘20
Christina Moon ‘22
Jude Muriithi ‘23
Kat is an African American Studies major and a CAF programming intern. She leads the CAF’s Black Girl Book Club, a reading group centered on black feminist literature. For her, the CAF is a place to gather and be in community with people who are welcoming to everyone. She studies here, jokes with friends here, or has hour-long conversations on the beauty of being a Black woman thriving in the world. To her, CAF is like a second home.
Christina is a Sociology major and a CAF publicity intern. She is excited for the next part of the Brave Voices Project as her involvement is not just design, but also meeting students and alumni and being a part of the interview process. For her, the CAF is somewhere she feels comfortable being able to celebrate who she is and her experiences, and also grow as a person by helping others do the same (through organizing events, working on projects, etc.) and learning from them.
Jude is a Computer Science major and a CAF programming intern. He spearheads the CAF’s Wellbeing Series, which are events meant to uplift students and motivate them to focus on and maintain their own wellbeing. For him, the CAF is an anchoring point in the never-ending journey towards greater cultural awareness and understanding within Princeton’s student body, and hopefully from within the student body to the world as a whole. STAFF & INTERNS | 04
FIELDS FELLOWS 2019-20 Cohort Aaron Cohen ‘22 Amy Abdalla ‘21 Amy Amatya ‘21 Anecia Henry ‘23 Aneela Kanhai ‘22 Ari Riggins ‘23 Brittani Telfair ‘22 Brooke Johnson ‘22 Chaya Holch ‘21 Erica Dugue ‘21 Hilcia Acevedo ‘23 Jacy Duan ‘21 Kennedy Collins ‘22 Kennedy Miller ‘21 Lauren Johnson ‘21 Londy Hernandez ‘23 Mahishan Gnanaseharan ‘20 Morgan Lonergan ‘23 Nathan Poland ‘20 Nazifa Chowdhury ‘20 Nina Grant ‘21 Preeti Chemiti ‘23 Priya Vulchi ‘22 Reina Coulibaly ‘23 Riley Martinez ‘23 Saran Touré ‘22 Sim Chopra ‘23 Simran Khanna ‘22 Sydney Pargman ‘23 Tiffany Huang ‘23 Tomi Lawal ‘20 Trivan Menezes ‘23 Turquoise Brewington ‘22
05 | FIELDS FELLOWS
The Fields Center Fellows Program is a peer education program aimed at training student leaders who will advocate for and educate the Princeton student community about diversity, inclusion, and social justice. They accomplish this work by providing workshops, dialogues, and discussion opportunities on campus centered on diversity, inclusion, and social justice. Fellows also serve as informal support for students who experience discrimination and bias. See below and to the right for a selection of the projects Fellows worked on this past fall.
Fields Fellows Theater Project As their project, Fields Fellow and student director Jacy Duan co-lead and worked with a group of 15 students on campus to produce a full-length theater show for Fall 2020. The production aims to center marginalized voices and the lived experiences of students of color through theater.
South Asian Student Initiative The Fields Fellows worked on a semester project in collaboration with a Residential College Adviser that aimed to create more engagement and make strides towards developing a South Asian community on campus. The need for more South Asian student engagement led to the development of a six-part series to be spread throughout the Spring semester with the topics: Kashmir, The Future of Dalit Rights, South Asian Society at the Intersections of Gender, Religion & Sexuality, South Asian history/literature/art (especially South India or non-Indian countries), and personal narratives about South Asian identity.
Right Fall 2019 FYRE poster informing first-year students about the Brave Voices program.
Brave Voices FYRE Program The Fields Fellows led the First-Year Residential Experience (FYRE) program, Brave Voices, which was a storytelling project that took place in all six residential colleges. The Fellows shared personal narratives that related to both their social and personal identities exploring race, class, immigration, religion and more. Participants reflected and shared more about the narratives, personal, and social identities of their fellow peers throughout the workshop.
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The South Asian Student Initiative - a discussion based group that facilitates a better understanding of South Asian identities on campus through events. What started as an informal conversation between a few students turned into this initiative. I hope it continues to grow.
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Mahishan Gnanaseharan ‘20
Roots Dialogues The Fields Fellows led a discussion centered on ancestry and intersecting topics of science, heritage, and technology. The Fellows facilitated a group of 10 students who engaged in a monthly discussion about the impact of colonization, migration, and science on heritage as it related to the 23 and Me ancestry test.
Talk With the Hun School The Fields Fellows led a discussion for 20 high school students from a local Princeton boarding school. They talked about identity, personal experiences, and struggles as marginalized voices on the boarding school campus.
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Through my role I have learned key skills for facilitation and listening, heightened my awareness of social justice issues, and, most importantly, applied the skills and knowledge to make a positive impact in my community. Nathan Poland ‘20
The students, who had taken the initiative upon themselves to reach out to our group, self-identified as mostly women, students of color, queer students, and low-income. The students wanted a place to share both the interpersonal and institutional discrimination and disregard they experienced on practically a daily basis at their school . . . They had never had a space to air such grievances uncensored before - and it was both a beautiful opportunity for community-building, as well as a deeply infuriating and heartbreaking moment for my colleagues and I as we learned what these students had been subjected to . . . We spoke about coalition-building strategies, ways they could garner support from the few teachers who are allies to them, and even from students at neighboring schools. It is a relationship we hope to keep building with the students . . . Erica Dugué ‘21 On The Fellows’ Talk With The Hun School
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FIELDS FELLOWS | 06
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY MENTORING PROGRAM 2019-20 Breakdowns Arab
Right Mentors and mentees broken down by race/ ethnicity.
Multiracial Asian/Pacific Islander American
Black/African American
Latinx/ Hispanic
The Princeton University Mentoring Program (PUMP) is an internationally certified mentoring program for students of color designed to assist firstyear students in their academic, cultural, and social acclimation to Princeton. PUMP pairs each first-year student (mentee) with a sophomore, junior or senior who serves as a peer mentor to help mentees navigate campus life and create a network of support. Each student mentor/mentee pair was also matched with a Princeton alumni of color mentor. For the 2019-2020 academic year, PUMP had 39 peer mentors, 37 mentees, and 37 alumni mentors. 2019-20 Workshops
Right Mentors broken down by class year.
Seniors Sophomores Juniors
• Time Management • Resume & Interview Tips • Networking & Professionalism • Personal Finance & Budgeting • Strategies to Channel Your Emotions During COVID-19
2019-20 Socials • Six Flags Fright Fest • Cookie Baking Study Break • December Holiday Social • Board Game Night • DIY Self-Care Social • Movie Watch Party
Below Group photo of the PUMP 2019-20 Cohort.
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Right Group photo from the 2019-20 Mentee Orientation.
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Imagine being able to provide the support you needed in your first year at Princeton. That feeling is incomparable. Ana Sotomayor ‘22
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At a place like Princeton, it’s so easy to get caught up in the stress of a bunch of extracurriculars and forget why you joined them in the first place. As a senior, I could feel myself feeling overwhelmed by the activities I was in, instead of using them as a creative outlet. Getting to know Imaan reminded me of why I had joined extracurriculars in the first place - to meet new people, to stay engaged with my interests and passions, and to push myself in new and exciting contexts. Binita Gupta ‘20
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Left Photos of nine of the thirty-seven PUMP mentor-mentee pairs.
Meet The 2019-20 Board PUMP Board members lead mentor and mentee recruitment as well as plan workshops and social events for both PUMP mentors and mentees. From left to right, we have Sydney Johnson ‘21 (Publicity Chair), Mayalen Brock ‘22 (Mentee Coordinator), Jean Luo ‘21 (Mentor Coordinator), Edelyn Lau ‘21 (Workshop Chair), and Anna Nguyen ‘21 (Social Chair).
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PUMP | 08
LATINX HERITAGE MONTH
The Fields Center advises and oversees the development of nationally recognized heritage month programs that celebrate the rich cultural, social and political contributions of diverse groups in our society. The first of these months is Latinx Heritage Month (LHM). LHM strives to increase awareness about Latino and Latin American histories, identities, cultures, accomplishments and contemporary issues. During the month of October, the LHM committee works closely with members of the campus and the surrounding community to address issues that affect Latinos and Latin Americans internationally, within the United States and on campus. Some of the programs organized for LHM 2019:
Above LHM 2019 calendar of events in poster form. Below Flags belonging to various Latinx countries at the 2019 Sabrosura Festival.
09 | LATINX HERITAGE MONTH
• Latinx Shabbat • Sabrosura Festival • Latinx in STEM • Latinx College Nights at Residential College Dining Halls • Latinx Fall Gala • LGBTQIA Dinner • Hermanitas Brunch • Jose Flores Talk (In Collaboration with Native American Heritage Month) • Cross-Cultural Dinner with AASA, PASA, PABW, PCC
Below Students enjoying games and food at the 2019 Latinx Gala.
NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH During the month of November, we celebrate the rich culture, history, political contributions and the worldwide contributions of Native American peoples. Members of the Native American Heritage Month (NAHM) committee also work closely with members of the student organization, Native Americans at Princeton (NAAP). Past programs have included public lectures, film screenings, drumming circles, and a campus-wide Pow Wow. Some of the programs organized for NAHM 2019: • Talk with Terese Marie Mailhot • Talk with Jose Flores (In Collaboration with LHM) • Raven Davis: Activism and Indigenous Solidarity • First Nations Alberta and Impact of Palm Oil in Indigenous Community • Cross-Cultural Indigenous Community Dinner • Informal Talk with Professor Tiffany Cain • Roots Dialogue with the Fields Fellows
Above NAHM 2019 calendar of events in poster form. Below Chef Luis Cordero presents a dish cooked as part of NAHM Residential College Nights.
500%
Increase from 40 the year before to 200 this year. The most successful programs in terms of attendence were the Raven dinner.
Below The tipi raised during NAHM 2015.
Below Students enjoying food during the Indigenous Community Dinner.
NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH | 10
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
Held on campus each February, Black History Month (BHM) celebrates the rich cultural, historical and political contributions of the African diaspora. Annually, BHM features an opening dinner with a keynote speaker, a talent showcase, panel discussions, film screenings, cultural performances and much more. Some of the programs organized for BHM 2020: • Community Dinner • Photograph Movie Showing • Soul Food Shabbat • Curl-Chella • Classism with the Black Community Discussion • Royalty Gala • Trip to National Museum of African American History & Culture • Faith, Spirituality, & Intersections of Race Talk • Afro-Futurism Talk
Above BHM 2020, or Black Future Month: 2020 Vision, calendar of events in poster form. Below A student panel discussing GenZ in the Age of Trump.
11 | BLACK HISTORY MONTH
Below Students at the BHM Community Dinner, enjoying conversation and food.
Below Students enjoying haircuts and dancing during Curl-Chella.
ASIAN PACIFIC ISLANDER DESI AMERICAN MONTH ASIAN
PACIFI C ISLA NDER DESI A MERIC AN MONTH
Taking place during the month of April, Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) Month is an annual celebration focused on promoting APIDA culture and history among members of the campus community. In the past, events have included cultural performing artists, lectures, banquets and more. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, festivities were conducted virtually by the CAF. Some of the programs organized for APIDA 2020: • Workshops With Sonalee Rashatwar • The Half Of It Watch Party • Art, Activism, Indigeneity Workshop
19 Above Cover photo of the CAF’s Facebook during APIDA month.
Participants in the Zoom call for the first Sonalee Rashatwar workshop.
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Participants in the Zoom call for the Art, Activism, Indigeneity workshop.
Below Flyers for three APIDA month events. The leftmost is for the first of two workshops led by Sonalee Rashatwar on the connection between race and the body. The middle flyer is for a virtual watch party of the new Netflix film The Half Of It, starring an Asian American lead. The rightmost is for a workshop led by Native Hawaiian Dr. Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio about the intersections of art and activism from an indigenous perspective.
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CULTURAL GRADUATIONS
The CAF works in conjunction with student committees and alumni affinity groups to organize multicultural graduation ceremonies that celebrate the accomplishments of students who have engaged in many areas of diversity at Princeton University. Five different graduations are coordinated through the CAF: • Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) Graduation • Latinx Graduation • Middle Eastern and North African Graduation • Native American Graduation • Pan-African Graduation As a result of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, cultural graduations for this year could not be held in their previous capacity. Instead, the Class of 2020 was celebrated through graduation videos for each of the ceremonies (found by clicking on the bullets above) and stoles that were mailed to students.
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Although the CAF Cultural Graduations will not take place this year, we are exploring opportunities to celebrate you in May 2021. In the meantime, the Carl A. Fields Center would still like to celebrate and honor your achievements by mailing you a graduation stole specific to the five celebrations . . . We want to reaffirm that the postponement of the 2020 CAF Cultural Graduations does not discount your hard work, accomplishments, and impact on your communities during your time at Princeton. We are proud of you and are with you during this difficult time! From the CAF’s Letter to the Class of 2020 Concerning Cultural Graduations Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic Native American (2)
Left Breakdown of cultural graduates by graduation. Some graduates were part of two different cultural graduations.
MENA (21) Latinx (75) APIDA (222) Pan-African (97)
Above Some of stoles given to cultural graduates in the past. 13 | CULTURAL GRADUATIONS
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Graduates in total registered for a graduation stole.
BRAVE VOICES PROJECT Thank You, Alumni Thank you to the following alumni who gave their voices: Ali Abunimah ‘93 Amina Yamusah ‘13 Anand Dharan ‘07 Andrew Chong ‘13 Brigitte Anderson ‘02 Brigitte White ‘00 Brittney Watkins ‘16 Cameron Bell ‘16 Chris Wheat ‘95 Courtney Perales ‘17 Darryl Chiang ‘90 David Marshall ‘93 David Mejias ‘98 Estela Diaz ‘14 Farah Amjad ‘16 Jamie Chan ‘03 Jeffrey Chen ‘13 Jenny Korn ‘96 Jihad Al-Jabban ‘14 Justin Gerald ‘07 Karen Powell ‘06 Kevin Hudson ‘97 Laura Coates ‘01 Marco Salazar ‘03 Mickie Cheng ‘94 Nicholas Wu ‘18 Rachel Younger ‘09 Ralph Aldredge ‘90 Savraj Singh ‘03 Sitraka St. Michael ‘11 Soraya Morales Nunez ‘18 Stacey Irizarry ‘95 Thanithia Billings ‘11 Yaromil Ralph ‘94
The Brave Voices Project is a multimedia project that strives to highlight the narrratives and experiences of Princeton alumni of color. In the summer of 2018, CAF student interns interviewed over 30 alumni of color from across the country who graduated between 1990 and 2018 and collected their stories. In October 2019, coinciding with the 10th anniverary celebration of CAF at its current location, a photo campaign and documentary were launched and shared on social media, the center’s website (found here), and included in several newsletters across campus. This project is just the beginning of the archiving of the diverse voices that have impacted Princeton’s campus. Thank you to the Office of the Provost’s Princeton Histories Fund for making this project possible.
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Above & Right A selection of the posters used as part of the Brave Voices Project photo campaign. The full set of posters can be found on the Carl A. Fields Center website (or here).
15 | BRAVE VOICES PROJECT
We asked these alumni to give three words to describe their Princeton experience. Some answered with difficult, challenging, daunting, educational, transformative, rewarding, life-changing, positive, eye-opening, heartwarming, supportive, fun, unique, profound, and an adventure.
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KEY EVENTS & COLLABORATIONS Taking place in Sept. 2019, Unpacking Princeton 2019 was a collaborative program designed to engage first year undergraduates and graduate students of underrepresented identities in acclimating to Princeton. One of the events was CAF’s Fields Day, an afternoon of food, caricatures, and meet & greets with cultural student organizations, CAF staff, Fields Fellows, and PUMP mentors.
Dr. Marc Lamont Hill is currently the host of BET News, a political contributor for CNN, and the Steve Charles Professor of Media, Cities, and Solutions at Temple University. In Sept. 2019, he joined Imani Perry for a conversation about Politics To Pop Culture. The event was co-sponsored by the CAF and the Department of African American Studies.
Above & Right Some of the CAF’s most significant events and collaborations from the 2019-20 academic year. To see a full list of the CAF’s events from this past year, visit the CAF’s website (or go here).
17 | KEY EVENTS & COLLABORATIONS
The Past Meets The Present: Race, Student Activism, and Higher Education was an Oct. 2019 event featuring Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, Dr. Stefan Bradley, and Dr. Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor in an interactive discussion focused on the history and impact of student activism, race, and the impact of marginalized students on the institution of higher education and its white supremacist legacy.
Below The CAF’s newly released poster in Princeton’s Residential Colleges, highlighting our core pillars and various programming.
Below Poster for Transgender Day of Remembrance. Co-sponsored by the CAF and other Princeton offices, the Nov. 2019 program aimed to uplift and center the lives and experiences of transgender and gender non-conforming individuals while remembering those killed as a result of anti-trans bigotry and violence.
Below Flyer for the Mental Health & Wellbeing Sessions with Dr. Jess Joseph for 2019-20. A part of the TigerWell Initiative, the drop-in hours (eventually virtual sessions) contributed to an increase in the number of students entering the CAF to meet with Jess and subsequently finding a place of solitude and acceptance in the CAF.
In Oct. 2019, the Thrive: Empowering & Celebrating Princeton’s Black Alumni conference hosted a reception and student/faculty panel at the CAF to celebrate 50 years of African American Studies at Princeton and the 10th anniversary of the CAF.
In Nov. 2019, Wilglory Tanjong ‘18 conducted a presentation about creating the African Hustle Series called Hustlers Across Africa. The Series is an online media platform that showcases the businesses young Africans are building across the African continent. Her travels to Accra, Nairobi, and Dakar inspired her to critically consider how young Africans in the diaspora, like herself, could take part in emerging African economies and contribute to the continent’s development and inevitable rise. The event was co-sponsered by the CAF and other Princeton offices.
Stay Updated Keep up with CAF events by signing up for the CAF newsletter or checking the Events section of the CAF website.01
THANK YOU
To Our 2019-20 Partners & Collaborators AccessAbility Center Campus Conversations on Identities Series Campus Dining Center for Jewish Life (CJL) Department of African American Studies (AAS) Department of English Department of Gender and Sexuality Studies (GSS) Graduate School - Office of Access, Diversity, and Inclusion Lewis Center for the Arts (LCA) LGBT Center Muslim Life Program (MLP) Office of Religious Life (ORL) Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students (ODUS) Office of the Provost - Institutional Equity and Diversity Pace Center Scholars Institute Fellows Program (SIFP) University Health Services - Tiger Well Women*s Center
Created by Thanya Begum ’23 10
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