PIPERS IN-DEPTH
FALL 2016
STORIES ABOUT Hamline STUDENTS Featuring: Lupita herrera Sarah bliese Alex Chang Blythe Baird Spectrum and many more...
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Pipers In-Depth is a publication that prides itself on telling the true life stories of members in the Hamline community. We aim to feature a diverse group of students, faculty, staff and organizations in each issue so our readers can recognize the unique interests and experiences of the people in the Hamline community. Hamline is a unique place where many extend their talents beyond the borders of our campus. As a publication we are devoted to in-depth reporting of the members of our community and their impact on and off the Hamline campus. It is our mission to make this evident with our audience. Our dedicated and talented staff has worked together to bring you a publication of the highest quality. As always, we are devoted to telling the true life stories of Pipers In-Depth. Co-Editors-In-Chief Travis Whitt & Cloe Gray
Managing editor Sean Hanson
Layout Editor Elena Czarnik Deeter
Rebecca Higgins Maryam Sharif Noah Topliff
Contributors
Alexie DeMarais Sam Verner Sydney Elwood
Sophia George Tijqua Daiker Franny Eggan
Table of contents 4........Lupita Herrera 6........Jordan Schiffler 8........Patti Klein 10......Spectrum 12......Blythe Baird 15......Sarah Bliese 18......Kathy Burleson 21......Andrea Vircks 22......Jim Zebrowski 24......Elizabeth Gregorio 26......Aaron McKain 28......Alex Chang
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Lupita Herrera: Student Leader in Social Justice By Franny Eggan
Lupita Herrera, an activist and student
at Hamline University, experienced a culture shock when she moved from the Southside of Chicago, a city vibrant with diversity, to the predominately white Fairfax, Minnesota. Herrera’s was one of the few non-white families in the city of Fairfax. She often felt she lost her culture while trapped within the small white town. She remembers in elementary school when a teacher asked the class to draw a picture of the President of the United States. “Everyone drew someone white and I was the only one to draw a black person,” Herrera said. “I remember the teacher picking it up and staring at it. She did say something at the time, but I didn’t know English so I don’t remember what she said.” The racial divide she felt was a cause for confusion throughout her life. After she graduated in a class of only 60 people, Hamline University, with its diverse population in the heart of the Twin Cities, became her new home, and a place where she could pursue her interest in anthropology. “I’m the first one to go to college in my whole entire family so just lasting all four years and getting a degree is what I want to accomplish,” Herrera said. “Sometimes that seems like such a hard task to do because I don’t have many people in my family to have done that.” As a first-generation college student Herrera makes it a priority to not only do well in her studies, but also speak out about the love she has for her culture and those who share it. Hamline is where she began to reclaim her identity while also becoming a social justice advocate. Herrera’s initial passion for creating change started when she took a J-term course about indigenous voices, where she was introduced to the idea of environmental racism. When we take away the land of indigenous voices, we destroy their culture and silence their voices, according to Herrera. The course sparked her interest for the Environmental Studies program as a way to complement her Anthropology major. The program showed her the interconnectivity of racism and its impact on the environment. “It’s hard to get people to believe in police brutality, so how do we get people to believe that the air or water is
bad? It’s not a visible thing.” Herrera has been working to make this issue, among many others, visible on Hamline’s campus and in the surrounding community. She has used what she has learned about environmental racism to start conversations with people like Congressman Keith Ellison, who represents the 5th Congressional District in Minnesota. In the midst of heartbreak and outrage in the days following the death of Jamar Clark, Herrera found herself outside the 4th Precinct with hundreds of other protesters. Contrary to what the media portrayed she described it as “peaceful and warm.” She handed out hand warmers and food and stood in solidarity for Clark and his family. This experience was another stepping stone in becoming a student leader in social justice. She continues this leadership within the many student organizations at Hamline and in the Midway community. Herrera is on the executive board of the Hispanic and Latino Organization (HALO), a New Student Mentor, a founding member of the Hamline Environmental Action League (HEAL) and works closely with the Multicultural Alliance on campus. “To be a good leader you have to create leaders.You can’t just be a follower,” Herrera said. As an executive board member of HALO and a founder of HEAL, Herrera understands that being a leader is not about being number one, but rather about coming together to create change. “I find motivation in all our campuses leaders,” Herrera said. Herrera’s involvement in HALO has been her greatest and most beloved accomplishment this year. “HALO is a space for me to be around people that look like me. There is a magic to being around people that share the same culture,” Herrera said. HALO has been a resource that Herrera has used to learn about herself and where she comes from. She wants others to join so they can share this pride for the Hispanic culture. The organization has grown as a result of the behindthe-scenes work by her and her executive board members. This year, HALO worked to spread the word that anyone is welcome at their events and can join the organization. “You don’t have to identify with a certain organization to
5 be a part of it. No one is not enough of whatever,” Herrera said. Herrera is excited for the future of HALO and pushes for more Latinx and Hispanic people to come represent and celebrate their identity. She and her peers in HALO are ready and willing to create a bigger organization, but they need help from more students and administration to do so. President of HALO, Evelyn Pechous, expressed how inspiring Herrera’s role has been in HALO and how she uses her other experiences outside of the organization to enrich and build upon it. “Lupita is really passionate about not only empowering the Latinx community, but she is really passionate about so many different social issues,” Pechous said. “Something she really cares about is environmental racism which is really inspiring to see a Latina take that on.” The community Herrera finds within HALO, and the many other organizations she is involved in, have become more like little families. They give her the space to talk about social justice and her cultural identity. Herrera’s favorite part about HALO is the connections she has made with others. “It’s great to be around people who know what foods you’re talking about, who know what Spanglish word you just said, and just around people who care to keep the culture alive.” In between her full class load, activism and weekly organization meetings, Herrera stresses how important it is to find time for yourself. “It’s okay to be surrounded by people but still make time for yourself. If you’re going into this type of work you have to be prepared to give up some things,” Herrera said. Herrera’s main piece of advice is learning that it is okay to say no sometimes. Mental health and self care is important for this type of work, according to Herrera. When overwhelmed, she finds the most support from the Hedgeman Center and the Multicultural Alliance. Herrera’s activism on campus is only the beginning. Her willingness and passion to create change is continuing to make a positive impact here at Hamline University. She encourages other students to jump in. “Lupita is driven and passionate and strong,” Kalli Wilson, Herrera’s good friend, said. “I know that she will make a difference in this world.” Herrera is making a difference through her involvement in multiple organizations outside of Hamline, such as the Environmental Justice Organization of North Minneapolis and Neighborhoods Organizing for Change. These organizations have acted as pathways for Herrera to explore her passion for social progress. She emphasizes that change moves beyond the bounds of Hamline. “If you want to see change you have to see it in yourself,” Herrera said. “In order to create change you have to immerse yourself in it.”
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Jordan Schiffler: The piper who does it all
7 By Sophia George Jordan Schiffler, a senior from Phoenix, Arizona, truly embodies what it means to be a Hamline Piper. At the beginning of each school year Hamline has a matriculation ceremony for new students on campus. During these ceremonies students are often told what it means to be a Piper and are encouraged to be involved on campus, try new things and to give back to the community. It is clear that Schiffler took what was said during her matriculation seriously. Since her first year on campus Schiffler has maintained the spirit, the motivation and the attitude of a model Piper. In talking to people that know Schiffler it is evident that when they hear her name they immediately think of all the different things that she has done throughout her time at Hamline that have made campus a better place. Not only is Schiffler involved with several organizations on campus but she also carries a strong presence in the classroom. Schiffler is a double major in Biology and Public Health, two challenging and time consuming majors on campus. After graduation Schiffler plans on taking a gap year off and then returning to school to pursue her Master’s degree in Public Health. After Schiffler receives her Master’s degree, she hopes to work in either Pediatrics or Preventive Medicine as a Physician’s Assistant. During her junior year, two rather exciting things happened to Schiffler. First, Schiffler connected with a Hamline alumnus who was working as a Physician’s Assistant in a pediatric setting, a position that happens to be Schiffler’s dream job. Schiffler was able to shadow this woman and gain valuable insight about her desired profession. Schiffler felt that this experience was the perfect motivation to push her through the last year and a half of her undergraduate studies. Later that year, Schiffler received the R. and H. Jenkins Scholarship award from the biology department for her outstanding performance and leadership in biology courses, showing her that her efforts were being noticed. This award brought to light the remarkable impact that Schiffler has made on the biology department. Schiffler is one who always puts others before herself. Julia Albrecht, a senior, who has shared several courses with Schiffler has experienced this first hand. “She is a super-leader because she takes the initiative and puts it upon herself to help other people learn, Albrecht stated. “She puts together study sessions and invites everyone to come. She is able to make everyone around her better which I think is a really incredible gift.” When asked about her motivation for success in academics, Schiffler credited a lot of her accomplishments to Professor Betsy Martinez-Vaz of the biology department. Schiffler mentioned that Martinez-Vaz, “inspires a higher level of thinking and always believes that I can succeed in everything that I do. She pushed me to do things that I didn’t know I was capable of.” Schiffler took Martinez-Vaz’s words to heart and has now taken on the role of the motivator. She pushes her peers to succeed academically and reminds them to always believe in
themselves. Schiffler has an impressive resume when it comes to her involvement and leadership within student organizations on campus. This year alone Schiffler has been involved with the Homecoming Committee, Hand in Hand, Programming Board and the New Student Mentor Program. Schiffler became involved with Hand in Hand, a mentoring program for students at Hamline Elementary, her freshman year by volunteering to be paired with an elementary student. Now, as a senior, she is the president of the organization. Schiffler finds joy in leading this organization because she has a passion for seeing kids succeed. As an older sister to four younger siblings Schiffler has become accustomed to helping younger children not only with schoolwork, but also with building their confidence. This program allows Schiffler to make a positive impact on a number of young students’ lives. Schiffler decided to be a part of the Homecoming Committee this year because she wanted to transform the campus in a way that had never been done before. Schiffler was the head of the campus-wide decoration committee, a position that she was very excited about. Schiffler feels that one of the great things about Hamline is that “if you truly want to make a change, you have the ability to.” For Homecoming week, it was her goal to “make the feel of campus different and get as many people as excited as possible.” Tina Vang, a senior and resident assistant (RA) in Manor Hall, has known Schiffler since their freshman year.Vang has seen the creative side of Schiffler and has been a witness to some of the many things she has made happen on this campus. When discussing how Schiffler made this year’s Homecoming so special,Vang stated, “She was really committed to advertising it. She went to every single staff meeting that RA’s had just to talk about the changes that she wanted to make. She wanted to make Homecoming more campus oriented and get people involved who usually aren’t.” Schiffler’s peers have described her as having an energy that is so strong and positive that it gives her the ability change the mood of any room she walks into. This is one of the many reasons that makes Schiffler an impactful New Student Mentor. New Student Mentors are tasked with the job of helping first year students become accommodated with campus and giving them advice that will allow them to be as successful in their time at Hamline. One of Schiffler’s many goals at Hamline is to get everyone excited about the different events that take place on campus. Schiffler felt that by being a New Student Mentor she would have the ability to make sure that first year students were comfortable attending school events and being involved in different clubs and activities. When asked if there was a message that she wanted to spread to all Hamline students, Schiffler stated, “There are going to be times that you want to quit, but once you get through those times it can only go up from there.You just have to know that you can do it.” While Schiffler may not know each individual student at Hamline she still believes that if they put their best foot forward, they can achieve anything.
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Patti Klein of Title IX
by Alexie DeMarais
Approachable, caring and strategic are three words that Patti Klein would use to describe herself. The Associate Dean of Students and Title IX Coordinator has been working with residential life and students since her freshman year of college. Her interactions with students and seeing Title IX’s impact has motivated her to continue her journey in taking action against sexual violence and working in residential life. Title IX is a federal law that intends to end discrimination on the basis of sex and gender. Title IX is huge in the way it applies program equity, in STEM fields, sports and organizations. It applies to discrimination in gender, gender identity and expression. As openly expressed on Hamline’s campus, it is also deals with sexual harassment and sexual misconduct. Title IX continues to evolve with the help of students, faculty and Klein. Klein joined the Residential Hall Association at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville in her freshman year of undergraduate studies. After a year of planning programs on campus and encouraging residence halls to be involved in on-campus activities, Klein took the next step and became an Resident Assistant. During her time as a RA, Klein dealt with a number of personal cases as a first responder that led her to the topic of sexual violence and consent. Unfortunately, survivor/victim understanding was nonexistent. “The only true information we had on the topic was the Salt and Pepper video, ‘Let’s talk about Sex,’” Klein said. Klein saw the negative impact of sexual violence on the relationships of her residents and peers. With a bachelor of science in elementary education and a minor in math, Klein decided she wanted to try teaching before going to graduate school. And though she was offered a teaching job, her father had informed her of a position at Clarke College as a Director of Residence Life and Student Activities. She ultimately chose the position at Clarke College and was told by a mentor that she should stay for a few years, but then she should continue her education in graduate school. However, after four years at Clarke college Klien left to continue her education at Iowa State University. At Iowa State, Klein continued her involvement in residential life as a Residence Hall Director. During that time she also took on multiple roles, including teaching practicum, orientation practicum and as a summer conference coordinator. She also achieved her Masters of Science in Higher Education. After her time at Iowa State, Klein moved to Minnesota to work at the University of St. Thomas. Nine years later Klein came across the position of Director of Residential Life at Hamline University. Klein made the move to Hamline because of its social justice aspects, commitment to scholarship, leadership, service and diversity. After working for six months as the Director of Residential Life, Klein also took on the position of Assistant Dean of Students. In these roles, Klein offered support to students, staff and faculty, oversaw campus events, and managed residential hall information and staff. One staff member she worked closely with was Javier Gutierrez. They’ve worked together since 2003 and when Klein moved into the role of Assistant Dean of Students they worked together on crisis management and various other emergencies. “I have a lot of respect for Patti in who she is and the work she does, she really puts the students first,” said Gutierrez After nearly four years, Klein went on to be the Assistant Dean of Students for Campus Living. Klein and her colleagues created orientation programs like “Piper Preview” and “Piper Passages”. They were able to hear from students, including RAs and New Student Mentors, who shared insight and ideas in what orientation should be. Klein helped implement programs such as Green Dot and the “It’s on Us” campaign were Klein’s role as Associate Dean of Students and Title IX coordinator, for which many on campus know her now, came in July 2014. By creating Hamline’s Title IX office, Klein is responsible for its presence on the campus and in the Hamline community. She oversees prevention programs, training and the policy implementation. Klein has wanted, since being an RA, to create a sense of community on campus and Hamline is no different. Klein believes that talking about sexual violence is only the beginning. Prevention program training such as Green Dot and the “It’s on Us” campaign are “teaching our community to step in. Knowledge is power,” Klein said. Klein believes that by talking about consent, sexual violence and respect the community can be informed and aware. Klein believes that the student culture is beginning to shift. Recognition leads to a community’s awareness and reception of sexual violence. The sense of community a campus creates is crucial, and Klein wants Hamline to be “a landing place” to help students have the experience they want in a place where students feel that it is safe to be themselves. Talking about issues is only the beginning, “we need to build a community,” said Klein.
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Spectrum: Creating Safe Spaces for StudeNTS By Rebecca Higgins
“It can be hard to move through this world, even on Hamline’s campus, as a queer and trans person. Spectrum has provided my safety net and my home,” Chandler Daily stated, an executive board member of Spectrum. Spectrum is an organization on campus that supports LGBTQIA identities on-campus. LGBTQIA stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual. Spectrum’s goal is to respond to and serve the evolving needs of LGBTQIA students. Spectrum is always changing to meet students’ needs. Hattie Hsu, an executive board member of Spectrum, expanded on the kind of support offered by the organization, saying, “Every year that [support] looks a little different. Different people come in from different perspectives and as each year passes, there’s more visibility, there’s more awareness, there’s more effort being put into LGBTQIA rights. As the world evolves to be more accepting of LGBTQIA people, the needs of the community are changing. I think that’s really positive that it’s always evolving.” Spectrum’s inclusive community forms the foundation upon which support systems are built. Executive board member Daily stated, “I think it’s a lot about bringing students together and creating networks together. Giving them a space to meet different people and get connected to their community and history across campus and in the greater world.” However, social support is not the only way Spectrum aids LGBTQIA students. One of the most recent ways, the organization has assisted LGBTQIA students at Hamline is through Coming Out Week, a celebration of coming out as LGBTQIA. This takes place annually on the week of October 11. It was kicked off with a candlelight vigil that provided a safe space for students to confidentially share stories held in the Bush Student Center Chapel. Spectrum also had Queer Sex Ed that discussed harm reduction, an approach to reducing risky sexual behavior. Another event Spectrum hosted for Coming Out Week was Queer Cabaret, in which queer and trans musicians performed various pieces. Spectrum also welcomed Mia Mingus, a social activist and public speaker to give a keynote speech titled The Magnificence of Choosing Each Other and Our-
selves. In her speech, she negotiated questions regarding what it means to “come out,” and how people choose themselves and others. This keynote speech was co-sponsored by Spec-
trum, Sexualities and Gender Diversity, Disability Resources, FUSION and the Chronic Illness Awareness and Support Group. Spectrum collaborates with other organizations within the multicultural alliance. The multicultural alliance consists of the Hispanic and Latino Organization, Asian Pacific American Coalition, Hamline African Student Association, Hmong Student
11 Association, FUSION, Hamline Indigenous People Society, Students for a Free Tibet, Students of South Asia, Hamline University Student Congress and Spectrum. The multicultural alliance strives to create opportunities for its members. “One goal I have for this school year is to maintain close ties with the other organizations in the multicultural alliance,” Daily said. “Our connection to those other organizations is really important to us.” By being part of the multicultural alliance, Spectrum engages in discussions on how to make Hamline a more accepting space for marginalized students, extending its support to students outside the organization Similarly, students with LGBTQIA identities benefit from Spectrum’s existence, regardless of whether or not they attend a meeting. Daily expanded on this by stating, “Statistically speaking, having a student organization dedicated to giving support to queer and trans students gives other queer and trans students--even if they never attend a meeting or event--higher graduation rates, higher levels of engagement, higher levels of grades, et cetera.” All are welcome to attend Spectrum meetings and events, regardless sexual or gender identities. This creates a safe place for those who are questioning their identities or do not wish to share their identities to join the club. Hsu urges those interested in Spectrum questioning their identity or are uncomfortable identifying as an identity to, “Please come. We really just want to be friends. That’s one thing that is really exciting to me and having people know that I am here for them and to support them and Spectrum is here for them and to support them.” Daily expanded on this by mentioning that there is no pressure to speak at any Spectrum event or self-identify. He urges questioning students and those that do not wish to identify themselves to come to Spectrum, as they will meet others that share common interests beyond that of gender or sexual identities. Since Spectrum is based off of its members’ needs, there is more freedom for them to express themselves. As Hsu earlier described, Spectrum is about creating a safe space for students and is shaped by their needs and desires. Members are allowed to give speeches, create events or whatever they wish. For example, one Spectrum member created an event that focuses on aromanticism and asexuality. This freedom within the club extends to the executive board. The executive board consists of five people selected by general members at the end of the academic year. The executive board members have the same amount of power, allowing more collaboration to take place in regard to how best to support general members. A general member that wished not to be identified stated, “I was nervous going into this school year how I was going to meet people. However at my first Spectrum meeting, I discussed with the executive board and other members and I knew I found my niche on campus.” This student went on to encourage all students to go to Spectrum’s meetings. Spectrum has biweekly meetings on Tuesdays at 4:00-5:00 in GLC 110W. Also if you missed Coming Out Week or enjoyed it, Spectrum will be hosting Rainbow Week during Spring semester. “Spectrum is more than every other Tuesday at 4:00 P.M. in GLC 110 West, Hsu said. “It’s my community. It’s my family.” The Spectrum executive board would like to thank t. aaron hans, who has assisted them to accomplish all they have done.
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BLYTHE BAIRD: Full-time Student, Part-time Badass By Tijqua Daiker
Blythe Baird is trying to change the world. Toni Morrison once said, “All of that art-for-arts’-sake stuff is BS… [art] has to be both: beautiful and political at the same time”. Baird is a poet who performs primarily at spoken word competitions such as Button Poetry Live. She was the youngest competitor in the 2014 National Poetry Slam, and has performed at the College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational. She intends to wrap politically charged ideas inside the form of personally driven poetry to combat social injustices. Through her art, Baird strives to “empower others to be deliberate with their truth and to use their personal experiences to make a greater cultural impact.” Baird does not believe home is a place, but a feeling. However, she grew up just outside of Chicago. She is the youngest of three siblings. Her brother, Ben, is 30, and her sister Jessie, who taught her how to read. She described her parents as “complex and old and trying.” In her poem, When the Fat Girl Gets Skinny, she speaks about her father carrying her before and after photos in her wallet. Baird’s mother is a recurring topic of interest in her art. In her poem, The Lesbian Reevaluates, Baird states that her mother had told her that she never would have had her in the first place, if she knew Baird was going to be gay. However, her mother also told her she “wished on a million stars for her.” The self-described “full time student, part time badass” is a 20-year-old writer and junior . Baird serves as the president of the Coffeehouse Slam, Hamline University’s mostly monthly poetry slam competition. She is responsible for choosing the venue, selecting features, and hosting the slam every month. Her role as president allows her to share her work as well as expand her awareness through creating a space in which others are able to share their politically charged writing. She thinks of herself as a “super typical college student” despite achieving publications or features by The Huffington Post, Ashton Kutcher, and Everyday Feminism, among others. A sure fire way to accomplish what Baird has accomplished, in her opinion, is “to just sign up for everything, and not question why everything is burning.” In other words, Baird can attribute a many of her accomplishments to impulsivity. She had no intentions of being president of the poetry slam. When Baird realized the previous president of the Hamline poetry slam, Lewis Mundt, she stepped up to the role impulsively. This is one example of, apparently, many. Her planner is a list of chaotic constellations of responsibilities and impulsive obligations splayed across the calendar. When asked if she has always been so busy, she responded by stating, “I made my first to-do list at 6 years old.” Balancing her hectic schedule is more than a tool to make sure Baird is in the right places at the right time; her need for time management has led to a radical act of self-care: this year she’s learned to say no.
13 Baird admits she has always had an issue with “people pleasing”, an obstacle given her primary goal: to change the world. “I think that, if you are not a straight cis white man, you are conditioned to be selfless to a fault,” Baird said. She spoke on the expectations to “be everywhere that everyone else wants me to be, to be every person that people want me to be” as something that has shaped who she is today. She recalled her idolization of Demi Lovato, which she retrospectively referred to as her “huge lesbian crush.” Baird described herself as wanting to be Lovato so badly that she would lie about her favorite songs just to match them with Lovato’s. She tried to change her personality traits into Lovato’s in an
effort to become the singer. Baird is working on becoming uniquely herself, and aims to empower others to do the same. Forgiving herself for being imperfect has been another way Baird has taken steps against people pleasing. She cannot always do all that other expect her to do. Sometimes she is not on time. Sometimes she is not able to make it to class. Sometimes she cannot return your messages for a few days. However, Baird understands people are multifaceted. “So I can fuck a bunch of shit up [one day], and the next day I can do everything perfectly and it doesn’t make me any less or
14 better of a person,” Baird said. At the end of the day, that is what Baird wants: to be a good person. It is quite the tall order, so she has broken it up into smaller tasks. Look at the big picture and do not get bogged down in the details. Plan ahead and set goals. “The large umbrella goal is to try and change the world. Everyone wants to change the world. The smaller umbrella goals are to empower the people in my life,” Baird said. “I feel very strongly about facilitating an environment where people feel supported and loved and understood.” It is a complex desire. Baird’s mother had wished on a million stars for her and used to sing her to sleep. Had she known Baird’s sexuality, however, her mother would not have had her. Baird described family as “one’s first blueprint for communication through people.” She described her parents as trying, which could be interpreted as “they are doing their best,” yet can also be synonymous with taxing. To Baird, one’s family is where one learns how to love and be loved. Homophobia is part of the house she grew up in. Family is why she says, “I am still learning that love isn’t how much I’ll let you take from me, that I don’t need to suffer to be loveable.” Words have a way of creating the sort of impact that has a long carbon footprint, so to speak. Baird acknowledged the impact of her parents as well as the impact of her own words. She has felt responsibility for names who appear in her inbox, names she cannot even connect to a face. Most notably for Baird, was the 14-year-old girl who ate breakfast because of her poem “When the Fat Girl Gets Skinny.” The 14-year-old’s story plucks at the heartstring of a crucial moment of The Blythe Baird timeline. At the exact moment she decided she was interested in Slam poetry, Baird described herself as having just “bullshit her way through recovery” and reeling as Sierra DeMulder (the coach for Hamline’s 2016 Slam team) hit her with the line, “Your body is not a temple.Your body the house you grew up in. How dare you try and burn it to the ground.” Through this single poem, she not only made the decision to truly start recovering from her eating disorder, but came to the realization that she was worthy of better. After hearing DeMulder’s poem, her first thought didn’t house a desire to make other feel empowered the way that she
had, but a desire for her to feel that way again. She delved into slam poetry shortly thereafter. She was sixteen years old when she first went to Slam Camp, an academic summer camp held in June at Indiana University in Bloomington. She described herself as “not good,” but the list of her publications suggests that is no longer the case. Baird is now in a position where she can see how her words impact not only her, but those around her. “I try to avoid writing about drugs that much. I avoid writing things I’m ashamed about. I’m very conscious,” Baird said. “I don’t want to write about how fucking hard it is to quit cigarettes because I don’t want a thirteen year old to read it and start smoking cigarettes because they think it’s fucking poetic.” She is very apprehensive of the impact she has on others, and for good reason. Baird has quite the impact on other people. Ashley Arsenault, a slam poet who represented Hamline University alongside Baird at the College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational in the spring of 2016, described the way that she was impacted by Baird both in the poetry scene and in her personal life. “We met in a Women’s Studies class, but I had seen her perform before and wanted to introduce myself,” Arsenault said. “I was super intimidated by her at first because she was so genuine and because of that she was so powerful.” When Arsenault made the Hamline University Slam Team by placing in the top three during the 2016 Grand Slam, which invited all the winners of the previous slams to slam for the opportunity to travel to the College Union’s Poetry Slam Invitational. Since then, Arsenault stated that Baird “really took me under her wing” and helped her become the poet she is today. Baird inspired Arsenault to feel empowered in her writing as well as her life. When asked if Baird will change the world, Arsenault said, “She’s already changed the world in my eyes. She has so many young people looking up to her already and she’s only getting started.” Through her art, Baird has already been able to empower another. Her politically charged ideas presented gift wrapped in personally driven poetry are already beginning to combat social injustices. Baird is determined to be deliberate with her truth and to use her personal experiences to make a greater cultural impact. She will change the world.
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Discovering her success; Sarah Bliese’s story at Hamline Cloe Gray
Sarah Bliese loves a challenge. She puts her skills to the test by taking on the problem of identifying harmful substances in medicine used all over the world. Bliese chose to pursue science degrees after enjoying biology and chemistry in high school. “I was a straight-A student in high school,” Bliese said. “Science made me work for the A and challenged me to understand and learn.” During her time at Hamline she has contributed to the development of a paper analytical device that can detect substandard pharmaceutical drugs in partnership with the University of Notre Dame. The paper analytical device is a low cost substitute to the $30,000 high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) instrument used as the “gold standard” for pharmaceutical analysis by the Food and Drug Administration. According to Bliese, HPLC instruments are expensive to use and maintain and are not portable, making it difficult for people in developing countries to detect what is in their medications, as sometimes there are filler substances in the medicine, making them less effective and/or more harmful. The paper-based card Bliese helped to create can detect over 60 different pharmaceuticals. Bliese has spent the last two summers conducting research at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, studying subpar pharmaceuticals. Deanna O’Donnell, Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Hamline University, recommended Bliese apply for the research opportunity.“Faculty have opportunities that come across our desks and will seek students out who show initiative and those students that take ahold of that really thrive,” O’Donnell said. “I kept my eyes open for someone who would be a good fit, and Sarah stood out from the crowd in my analytical chemistry course.” This past summer while at Notre Dame, Bliese had the opportunity to travel to Kenya and England as an international component to her research experience. Bliese spent two weeks as an HPLC technician at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret, Kenya. She was responsible for installing and fixing the instruments, along with analyzing the data the instruments
16 collected. Working at the teaching and referral hospital was an “eye-opening” experience for Bliese. “I wasn’t prepared for the visuals of what I was going to see,” Bliese said. “I was warned that if I started to feel lightheaded in the [patient] ward I had to leave because the smell was really strong.” Bliese was allowed to see the female patient ward in the referral hospital. Bliese said referral hospitals are places where people are sent when their village doctors cannot treat them. “A lot of people there are dying. This specific hospital releases more people than those that pass away, but not by much,” Bliese said. Bliese said she remembers IV bags hanging from “straightened-out” hangers, and remembers it was common to see two patients assigned to one twin bed. She compared the medical care in the United States to what is available in Kenya. “When someone has tuberculosis [in the United States], you are quarantined. [In Kenya] multiple people are put in the same room and they just keep a window open for them.” Bliese recalled how difficult it was for doctors at the referral hospital, and while the official language in Kenya is English, the business language is Swahili and many tribes have their own languages. “I have a deeper appreciation for what the doctors there did,” Bliese said. “Aside from limited resources there, there can be a language barrier too.” Bliese experienced first-hand what it was like to run out of resources while she was in Kenya. She remembers the hospital having frequent power outages, and she also remembers having to travel to eight different stores to find one tool she needed. “The doctors there are trying to solve a problem too big to solve. Their struggles are harder and they do it anyways. And for that, I have great appreciation and respect for them,” Bliese said. After spending two weeks in Kenya, Bliese traveled to London for a conference and experienced culture shock. She was able to drink the tap water and had a private bathroom. Though Bliese couldn’t use tap water in Kenya to even brush her teeth and slept under mosquito nets, she said London “didn’t amaze” her in comparison to her experience in Africa. “Kenya has such a culture to it and the people have such amazing stories.” What did amaze Bliese about London was the conference she attended on the quality of medicine with students and researchers from all over the world, which she described as a “phenomenal experience.” Bliese has attended numerous conferences and poster sessions while she has attended Hamline, and has had the opportunity to speak at a press conference about her contributions to the paper analytical devices at the American Chemistry Society’s Chemistry for Life conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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“Sarah is one of the most hardworking people I know and I admire that in her,” O’Donnell said. “She’s not only really intelligent and knows a lot about this area of science, she’s really good at teaching people, too. Students really respect her.” Bliese’s leadership not only shines in the classroom, but in other areas of involvement at Hamline. She was the yearbook editor for three years, has worked in the student involvement center since she was a sophomore and has been involved in the Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK) National Honors Society since her sophomore year. This year she is serving as ODK’s president, with previous experience as the organization’s secretary. Lydia Yahnke, a Hamline alumnus and close friend of Bliese, spoke highly of the impact Bliese has made on campus. “As a person and student, I would describe her as someone who is immensely intelligent, with a strong work ethic and wonderfully honest,” Yahnke said.Yahnke also described Bliese as “extremely loyal” and a “fantastic friend.” “She’s a person everyone should get the chance to meet because she makes an impact; not many people do that. And she’s certainly made an impact at Hamline and will continue to do so,” Yahnke said. “I’m very fortunate to have gotten to know a lot of people at Hamline,” Bliese said. “Coming from a small town I had a narrow view of the world and I’m proud of being as open to new experiences as I am now.” Bliese grew up in Alexandria, Minnesota and described it as a “a small town where everyone knew everyone regardless of if you wanted them to or not,” and as a town where “some people never leave.” Bliese is the first in her family to attend a four year university. “It was always expected that I was going to go to college. I came to Hamline and dove in right away,” Bliese said. “I wanted to see what was out there and what I could be.” And Bliese did just that. Her next stop after Hamline is a graduate program in analytical chemistry at the University of Notre Dame. “There are certain students you are really excited to see what they’ll do but are sad to see them go, and Sarah is one of them,” O’Donnell said. “Hamline is going to look back and be really proud of her in the future.”
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Kathryn Burleson: Creating a Holistic Approach to Science Education academically, which allowed her to further her studies in the sciences. In later years, she would attend the College of St. In recent years, there has been an ongoing conScholastica, where she graduated with a degree in versation within the scientific community, especially Biochemistry. Prompted by a desire to help people, amongst educators, on how to link sociological theoshe would go on to pursue a PhD in Molecular, Celries to the natural sciences. It has become important lular, Developmental Biology and Genetics from the to look at the human condition from a more honest, University of Minnesota. There, she began research, representative and holistic perspective; one that primarily in developmental biology; she developed an incorporates the many differences in sex, gender and interest in ovarian cancer, the topic upon which she demographic racial populations. More attention has been paid to the lack of diversity within the scientific completed most of her research. While the cancer research was intellectually stimufields, where it is imperative to have individuals that can speak to diversity. Hamline University prides itself lating, she found that it lacked emotional gratification, on being an educational institution that leads in diver- due to the isolating nature of lab work. Instead she enjoyed working with people, preparing presentations sity in both theory and practice. It would come as no surprise that Professor Kathy Burleson is a proponent and discussing ideas more. The postdoctoral training program at the University of Minnesota required that of diversity at both the institutional and instructional she take courses in Preparing Future Faculty Prolevels. Professor Burleson grew up in Hibbing, Minnesota and grams, and it was taking part in these courses that spent her childhood taking part in Girl Scouts and the she discovered her path. She applied for a number of teaching positions, and chose Hamline for its small 4H club. It was joining these kinds of organizations and helping her mother, an elementary school teach- size, liberal arts curriculum, and the opportunities to er, who spent summers teaching community education design courses around her interests in the human body. classes in the sciences, that cemented her interest in Burleson began her tenure at Hamline University as the natural sciences. Burleson said she never felt discouraged from pursuing these topics, and she excelled a Visiting Assistant Professor before being hired as a By: Maryam Sharif-Abdinassir
19 Senior Lecturer in the biology department, where she teaches courses in anatomy and physiology, introductory level biology courses and the biology of women. She is involved in a number of diversity initiatives on campus and is constantly on the lookout for ways to create a more inclusive educational experience. Through her volunteer efforts with the Women’s Resource Center, ranging from aiding in the operations of the center to teaching workshops in gender education, Burleson was eventually selected to be the director in the Fall of 2014 , and has remained so ever since. Amy Hehir, a Women’s Resource Center student intern, said, “I find Kathy to be very passionate and compassionate about the various issues that we are working towards... most of the ideas that are generated for events that the Women’s Resource Center gets involved in..Are generated by her.” Hehir also stated, “She [Burleson] really understands women’s reproductive health, and how necessary it is to raise awareness about the oppression of women’s reproductive rights...I find her to be a very compelling director.” The Women’s Resource Center holds programs and workshops on women’s issues as well as the issues of all oppressed peoples. These educational events are held throughout year, and the center also has a library, where students and staff can check out books on a wide range of topics including sexuality, and women’s reproductive health. “The Women’s Resource Center is here to provide, health and safety for women and all genders, we are gender inclusive, it’s supposed to be a safe space for people to come in and take condoms or tampons. Or seek help in terms of help outside with resources,” Hehir said. “We do a ton events, it’s like our main thing...that we get the word out there. We did Take Back The Campus in October, which was about spreading raise awareness for domestic violence against women and against all people.” When taking a macroscopic look at Professor Burleson’s career trajectory, it all seems so purposeful, in the sense that her interest in science and her interest in people have each informed the work that she is currently doing. She is passionate about the impor-
tance of diversity of thought and experience, both in the medical and scientific fields, and the way in which science courses are taught. Burleson said, “It’s not just the biological pieces that we understand about science--the factual stuff. It’s also about the social implications of the science. This impacts the kinds of questions asked by the scientist, and the kinds of research that gets funded.”
“I’ve had the privilege of working with Professor Burleson all the time on all kinds of projects,” said Ryan LeCount, assistant professor of sociology. “She [Burleson] is a real champion and leader in thinking about inequality and diversity in the natural sciences.” Burleson and LeCount worked together on a number of committees outside of academics and got to know each other. It was then that they chose to pursue this interdisciplinary work. It occurred to them that perhaps students studying the natural sciences
20 did not have a complete understanding about the way social factors affect health outcomes, and perhaps the sociology students did not have the grounding in the natural sciences that is needed to better understand the influence of biological or genetic factors. Close to 40 students from Burleson’s anatomy and physiology class and Professor LeCount’s sociology class are working collaboratively on a poster project looking at obesity, race and intelligence, sex and intelligence, and both sex and race effects on athletic ability. This is their second year collaborating, and some 80 students have taken part in total, they have ten posters completed each year they’ve done the collaboration. “We asked students to look at the peer reviewed academic research, to select a topic of some kind of physiological characteristic having to do with stratification or inequality and we gave them umbrella categories…conceptions about the differences between athletic performance due to race or gender” LeCount said. In studying the relations between these topics, the interdisciplinary group of 80 students has been able to explore the issues from both a biological and sociological perspective. In doing this, they are better able to see the complexities in determining the variables that lead to an improved understanding of the human body, gender dynamics, and the qualities for which we assign race. According to Professor LeCount, this project gets students to think “what is it about the physiological unique characteristics of this body--instead of thinking about the social forces that are around that body— that shape these outcomes, and vice versa. Often sociology students only think only about the external stuff, and may not have the acumen when it comes to thinking about –the unique physiological characteristics of this body.” This begs the question: are stereotypes in the world based on factual biological determinants? Or can sociological theories better explain the biases of under-
standing each individual’s body, and the bodies of others? Burleson hopes this collaborative project will be presented at an anatomy and physiology conference in the spring of 2017, and that it will show educators at other liberal arts colleges the importance of including social indicators of health and how they too can include this in their health curriculum. Burleson is also in the preliminary stages of another collaborative project with Professor LeCount, in which they look at the ways in which the human body is represented in anatomy and physiology textbooks. Through their research, they have found a pattern of textbooks’ authors using white male bodies to represent the human body for all major organ systems except the reproductive system. Part of their project includes a survey, in which students are asked to look at a series of images that represent each organ system. The students are then asked to rate the images based on which ones they like the most and which ones they like the least, and explain why. Burleson and LeCount plan to examine this data through content analysis and determine if there is an underlying bias that contributes to the way in which the human body is represented in textbooks. Through this research they hope to “have conversations with authors so that their books are more diverse and reflective of not just gender diversity, but racial diversity, age diversity, all kinds of diversity, and we can start changing textbooks and changing our field,” said Burleson Interdisciplinary work like the collaborations done by Burleson and LeCount’s classes allows students to look at the external factors that influence physiological characteristics. This approach teaches students to embrace diverse experiences and influences in regards to explaining biological factors and diminishes the likelihood for biologizing difference and absolving greater societal inequities.
Andrea Vircks:
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Evolving Hamline’s Safety & Security Department By Sophia George From the beginning of her tenure at Hamline, Andrea Vircks’ main focus has been to create the safest environment possible for all students on campus.Vircks’ passion for keeping our campus safe simply comes from her desire to “help people, and serve our community.” Vircks especially enjoys working in a college setting because she has been able to “connect with students and see the impact that Safety and Security can make in their lives.” Vircks is currently in her second year as Director of Safety and Security at Hamline University. A native of Glenwood, Wisconsin, she has previously worked at St. Catherine University as the Assistant Director of the Safety and Security Department before accepting the position here at Hamline.Vircks received both her bachelor’s degree in Communications and her master’s degree in Organizational Leadership from St. Catherine University. She then went on to complete a certificate in Dispute Resolution from the Hamline School of Law. While Vircks has been at Hamline for a relatively short amount of time she has come to love Hamline’s environment.Vircks appreciates how “welcoming and nice everyone is around campus, and the fact that people are interested in learning more about Safety and Security.” Vircks plans on continuing to educate the campus and community about Safety and Security, and is planning on holding a self-defense class in the near future.Vircks is aware that students want to be prepared to defend themselves if they are ever put in a bad situation. She feels that by holding this class it will allow both students and their parents to feel more comfortable about their overall safety. Vircks is involved in several different organizations outside of Hamline that have contributed to her being the successful director that she is today. The first organization that Vircks is involved with is the International Association of Campus Law Administrators (IACLEA). IACLEA provides educational resources, advocacy and professional development services to those who oversee campus security. Vircks is also a member of the Ramsey County Sexual Assault Protocol Team. This organization is comprised of “various constituents in Ramsey County, including nurses, those who work in higher education, investigators for the city of St. Paul and attorneys.” The organization “discusses how we respond to cases of sexual assault and how we best work together to support the victim.” Vircks feels that by connecting to the Hamline-Midway community as much as possible, she will only better herself and
strengthen the bond that Hamline has with the surrounding areas. Safety and Security staff have seen first-hand the positive impact Vircks has had on the department and the University. Angel Arevalo, a student officer in the Safety and Security Department, has noticed a huge change in the vigilance of the employees since Vircks was appointed. Arevalo has been working with the department for three years and he stated that since Vircks has been in charge “this is the most prepared that I have felt.” Vircks has increased “training for defensive tactics and emergency situations, and she also increased vehicle checks.” Tom Malone, a sergeant for Safety and Security, has also noticed a dramatic difference since Vircks has been at the helm of the department. Although Malone has only been with Safety and Security for a year and a half, he has been working various law enforcement jobs for over 30 years. In that time, Malone has “had some good bosses and some bad bosses, and Andrea is definitely in the top two.” Malone has noticed that “the campus has a new respect for the Safety and Security department, and that is fully because of Andrea.” Not only has the campus gained more respect for the department, but the “morale of the office has gone up about a hundred percent.” Vircks “has brought fresh ideas to the department” and is always thinking of ways to continue to improve. Malone greatly appreciates that “her door is always open and she is always willing to sit down and talk.” Although Vircks spends most of her time at Hamline working from eight in the morning until six at night, she loves to spend as much time as possible with her family, especially her four-year-old daughter, Teagan. Vircks has brought Teagan to several different events around campus and has enjoyed sharing the campus with her. Although it is clear that Vircks has already made a positive impact on our campus she is not complacent with stopping there; she is already looking towards the future.Vircks feels that the Safety and Security department is “currently in a building stage; we have a really solid foundation of staff and we are able to continue to build upon that. We can now start doing more outreach and more programming and things that we haven’t done in the past.” Vircks is especially excited because “the staff is engaged and they work hard and they are supportive of one another.” Vircks said, “I don’t do anything alone. Without the support of my staff, I would not be able to accomplish anything. I am very appreciative of them and all that they do.”
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Jim Zebrowski:
Make the Big Time Where You’re At By Sam verner
23 “My biggest goal is to do the best job I can where I’m at.” A noble cause, and one that can be seen in Jim Zebrowski’s effect on the Hamline Piper Football team. Zebrowski came to Hamline just after Head Coach Chip Taylor’s inauguration. After a five-year stretch at the University of Minnesota as a Quarterback Coach and Passing Game Coordinator, Zebrowski became the Offensive Coordinator at Hamline. With his explosive play designs and aggressive play-calling, he brought Hamline to their first 3-0 seasonal start in just under 20 years. Zebrowski, a Strongsville, Ohio native, began his career as a coach right out of college. He taught at Preble Shawnee High School, where he coached football and baseball. He planned to teach middle and high schoolers and to coach at the school at which he found himself--he never foresaw being a coach full-time. His teaching experience helped morph his coaching style to one that is best-received by athletes. After securing his first job, he looked into Master’s programs, with which he could hopefully find himself a coaching position. After many rejection letters and the threat of disillusionment, Zebrowski found his way to Southern Illinois University Carbondale, where he secured a job as a graduate assistant. During his time there, he switched from graduate assistant to tight-end coach, and then to quarterback coach. In a profession with a high risk of layoffs and immense turnover, he looked for other options. From Division I to Division III and back again, he racked up experience in four different positions at seven schools in the entirety of his career. His resumé, like many college-level coaches, is expansive. Zebrowski takes pride in the goals he sets for the team. Being in such a tough career path with a high turnover rate, Zebrowski takes it upon himself to never be worried about the future. “Never look for the next job,” he said, for in the realm of football coaching, living in the moment is the best way to be successful. For him, always looking for the next opportunity takes away from what can be accomplished in the present. For Zebrowski, coaching has as much, if not more responsibility regarding the maturation of his athletes as teaching does for his students. Caring for, being invested in and having the student or athlete’s future in your best interest are excellent motivators for the best teachers and the best coaches, according to Zebrowski. As a coach, work ethic is important at every level.
Coach Zebrowski takes this to be a strong indication of how successful a coach will be. The amount of time put into the game plan correlates strongly to the success of the team as a whole. All is for naught, however, if the best interest of the athlete is lost. “Are you going to give your best to let all the kids on the team be successful?” Zebrowski said. Building relationships with other coaches is something that Zebrowski does not take for granted. In his six months at Hamline, he said he has found a good balance between him and the rest of the coaching staff. “The relationships here are awesome,” Zebrowski said. “If I have a chance to go see my kids play, I can go see my kids play. As long as the job is done, there is a lot of freedom.” Having three kids of his own--one playing at the collegiate level--he has experience not only as a coach, but as a parent of an athlete. That joint relationship, he said, gives him insight into how to act as a coach, acting as he would if the players were his own children. In terms of success, Zebrowski has started his time at Hamline with a bang. After pushing Hamline to its first win over Gustavus Adolphus College in just over a decade, Zebrowski has views for success beyond statistics. “I hope I can keep learning all the time,” he said. “I don’t have all the answers, but I try to keep learning all the time. Having coaches that think they know everything is hard, because there’s hardly any room for change.” Sophomore Quarterback Justice Spriggs works with Zebrowski very closely; the two come together to ensure a successful game plan each week. Spriggs attributes his personal and team success on the field to Zebrowski’s knowledge of the game. “Anything he says we can trust is going to work,” Spriggs recounted. “He’s been everywhere, seen everything and knows what will work.” “We’ll set up extra meetings, talk over the game plan, go over what the defense is trying to do to us. Being on the same page, I mean that’s huge for me. He knows what I’m comfortable with and I know what he thinks is going to work.” Both Spriggs and Zebrowski find that mutual respect and the ability to work together is what takes them from a player-and-coach team, to one cohesive unit. Zebrowski’s philosophy of helping athletes reach their full potential will continue to keep the Piper football team on track for success in the seasons to come.
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Elizabeth Gregorio works in the pool and in the lab By Sean Hanson
Early risers know the chilled bite of Minnesota mornings during the autumn and winter months. Students’ breath puffs before their faces in small wispy clouds as they bury their noses in grey and burgundy scarves. The wind whips upon them as they hurry down Alumni Way for a warm coffee and breakfast at Anderson Center. The cool air freezes uncovered hair—newly wetted from morning showers—into a frosted brittle shell that thaws in the heat of Anderson’s fireplace while they peruse the day’s newspaper. Junior Elizabeth Gregorio, familiar with the cold’s effect on drenched hair, takes the inconvenience in stride as she finishes her morning swim practices. As a member of the Women’s Swimming and Diving team, Gregorio spends many of these early mornings in the pool training with a rigorous work ethic. She is an experienced swimmer, having participated in the sport competitively since sixth grade. From the start of her swimming career she resolved to work for an edge over her opponents by improving her technique. Gregorio looked to the internet for that edge in seventh grade. With the help of Google, she discovered a study that piqued her interest. Performed by a group of graduate students from Johns Hopkins University, the study showed that spreading one’s fingers could generate more power with each stroke, and thus generate more speed in the pool. She implemented the strategy and remained unchallenged on it until reaching collegiate competition. “I got to college and I was at swim practice, and my coach told me, ‘Your fingers are too far apart. Put them together!’” Gregorio said laughingly. “I told him, ‘Coach, there’s science behind this!’ And he said, ‘I don’t care, put your fingers together and swim the right way.’” Ryan Hawke, the very same coach, commended Gregorio’s commitment to the team despite his disagreement on matters of technique. “Elizabeth is very passionate about swimming and so she is very focused in the pool and often stops by the office to talk about swimming on her own time as well,” Hawke said. “She is very deliberate in her technique and pushes herself in every practice.” But Gregorio would not concede the point easily, and so she committed to investigating the matter further through research. In fact, Hamline’s unique research opportunities were her primary motivator in picking the Midwestern school, which was far afield from her hometown of Milford, Connecticut.
25 “I knew I wanted to do research,” Gregorio said. “I was looking at research opportunities at different schools. Hamline provided the opportunity to apply for funding for an idea that you could develop with a professor.” And apply she did, enlisting the help of Professor Kevin Stanley, a visiting assistant professor in the Hamline physics department. “Part of my interest in research has been in the qualities of water, like the cohesion and adhesion and pressure differences that essentially give an object a larger surface area,” Gregorio said. “Another part was that my coach told me I was wrong, and I didn’t think I was wrong. I wanted to disprove him.” Her research project, performed this past summer of 2016, was a simplified version of the finger-spreading problem. She constructed a “four-slot system,” each slot a kind of rectangular prism to simulate a finger. The slots were connected by wire that held them as close together or far apart as Gregorio liked. The simulated fingers were submerged in a water tank and attached to a pulley system that controlled the rise and fall of the slots to simulate the movement of a swimmer’s hand through water. Gregorio modeled this system on a program called ANSYS Fluent to monitor the various pressures around the system. “The idea was to match up what we see saw in the water tank to what the computation was on the computer,” said Gregorio. The results were not what she and Stanley expected. “We expected that if there was a larger surface area, there should be a larger pressure difference between the top and bottom of the slots, which is not what the results showed,” Gregorio explained. “This confused us, but we think the problem is that we were not using the right turbulence model—or the right parameters under the umbrella of that turbulence model—to have the computer solve what it’s being asked.” Despite the error in methodology, Gregorio is far from done with the problem. The ongoing research into the simulation is becoming her Honors project, and she will continue to work on it through the end of her senior year for the culmination of her undergraduate degree in physics. But more than just indulging her curiosity in the science of her sport, her summer research has given her insight into future subjects of interest. “I think that when I go into the industry to work on something like this, I would rather be the person developing the turbulence models and parameters and how the program itself works than using it to see whether or not it’s working,” Gregorio said. “Software engineering, really.” Gregorio’s ambition extends well beyond her research. She inhabits several leadership roles on campus as a tutor, a member of the Chemistry Club board, a Teaching Assistant for the General Physics courses and one of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee’s (SAAC) representatives for the Women’s Swim Team. But perhaps most impressively, she is spearheading an effort to form an organization for women in science and engineering that will span the entirety of schools under the umbrella of the Associated Colleges of the Twin Cities (ACTC). “There’s not a lot of other women in the physics department. My hope is that the club will give them a community, a feeling of having other people to talk to and share experiences with,” Gregorio said. Ela Engen, a junior, friend and peer to Gregorio, commented her own hopes for the group. “I feel that if this organization is done well it could have positive impact on the women involved,” said Engen. “It would be a great networking opportunity and I hope it works out.” In addition to becoming a great networking tool for undergraduate students, Gregorio also hopes to broaden the group’s outreach to middle school girls via programs held at each of the ACTC schools. The programs would engage girls in science-themed activities and fun projects much in the vein of programs that Gregorio herself participated in when she was young. “I did the exact same thing at Yale when I was in middle school four times a year on Saturdays,” she recalled. “It would be a different theme every time. There was a ‘quantum world’ for which we got to tour their particle accelerator. There was an ‘extraterrestrial world’ for which we made rockets and telescopes. There were all these different kinds of themes that would give kids a taste of what they liked.” Her proposal for the organization’s direction has been well-received by female professors at both Hamline and other ACTC schools, with Professor Rita Majerle of Hamline’s Chemistry Department having signed on as the group’s advisor. Gregorio’s inclusive leadership is not only a testament to her commitment to Hamline’s values and mission, but also to her work ethic. A self-described “workaholic,” she credits her hometown swim coach, Ann McCann, with instilling this ethic within her. “She is the most challenging coach,” Gregorio said. “She demands a lot from her swimmers, but not just in the pool. She expects us to be working hard in every aspect of life. Her mentality was, ‘You put in the work, and then you get better.’ That has driven me throughout everything.
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Aaron McKain: Pushing Students to be the Innovators of Tomorrow By Noah Topliff By equipping students with the tools of Rhetoric and instilling within them the confidence to pursue their ideas, Professor Aaron McKain is striving to create a community at Hamline University that pushes students to be the innovators of tomorrow. Born to two young parents in Omaha, Nebraska, McKain grew up in what he described as “an old crappy suburb,” complete with Section 8 housing, poor working class families and “legitimate weirdos.” The kind of weirdos like Vietnam Vets who have bottle rocket fights with neighborhood kids, and families in which kids set the house on fire. “It was a good place to grow up,” McKain said. In high school, McKain spent time on the debate team, something he would consider doing in college but would ultimately decide against. After high school, McKain went on to study Political Science and English at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. Upon completing his undergraduate studies, he applied to law schools and English programs alike for graduate school. McKain said, “Political Scientists were too stodgy, but were studying the right things, and that literary people had all the right methodologies, but were talking about things that were much less immediate.” McKain wanted to bridge the gap between his areas of study. When he applied to Ohio State University, he was informed that those methodologies had been bridged all of 2000 years ago and had been referred to as “Rhetoric” ever since. During his time as a graduate student studying Rhetoric at Ohio State, McKain published a textbook with some of his colleagues that designed an undergraduate
curriculum focused on teaching civic engagement. His work on the textbook would foreshadow his later work. Upon finishing graduate school, McKain got a job writing speeches for a “delightfully brilliant weirdo” who was trying to raise a large sum of money for Ohio State by creating a sense of community throughout campus. This was something McKain admired about him. In addition to his job as a speechwriter, McKain went on to teach at Ohio State for a number of years. Six years ago, McKain was drawn to Hamline due to the University’s commitment to first generation students. Additionally, as a scholar of Rhetoric, McKain saw coming to Hamline as an opportunity to work with a school that was open to digital media and interdisciplinary work, which would give him the opportunity to teach a variety of classes. Having already been exposed to the high level of research at Ohio State, he had a sense of what a big school could or could not do, and wanted to see what he could do at a small school. McKain saw that Hamline’s small campus made it easier for undergraduate students to form a culture, which was exactly what the “delightfully brilliant weirdo” had been trying to do. “These buildings are just brick and mortar, and these are just stupid pieces of paper that we’re handing you. It’s only what you all imagine the stuff means that creates any meaning for it,” McKain said. Currently, McKain’s class load includes Digital Media Theory, Professional Communications, Ethics and Literary and Cultural Theory. These are all filtered through the lens of his training in Rhetorical Theory, Narrative Theory and Law.
27 In his classes, McKain is focused on interdisciplinary work. When asked about why this focus is so important to him he responded by stating that, “it’s the only work you can do.” With that in mind, McKain is interested in “how you take the Humanities folks who know a lot about texts and culture and how things circulate, and know a lot about analytical lenses, and how you take that and apply it to things like digital media theory, american politics, data ethics, bullying laws and first amendment rights.” For this reason, McKain is not worried about the potential curricular changes at Hamline. “The more you’re forcing the faculty to talk to each other and the more you’re forcing the students to have cross-disciplinary conversations, the better off everybody is.” In addition to interdisciplinary work, it is important to McKain to bring rhetorical strategies to his students. ¨If we know knowledge is going to change over everyone’s lifetime and we know everyone is going to have 15 jobs, or whatever the projected number is now, if you are taught methods and ways of understanding how methods are formed, which is what rhetoric is all about, well, then you’re always ok,” McKain said. “If you can figure out how a particular discipline or how a group of experts think, or what their rules of logic are, or what their rules of persuasion are, or how they put their arguments together...then you’re alright. No matter what, you have the chops to see how people are playing the game. They’re all just games.” For McKain’s digital media students this idea becomes centered around the idea of anticipating what the next ¨thing¨ is in data ethics, art, video games, fiction or other media. McKain believes that “this is the most important thing for students to do and it’s hard to give students the confidence to do it.” He says that student’s best shot at anticipating the next big “thing” is during the first five years after finishing college. In that five year window, McKain spent much of his time earning a Ph.D, something there is “no way” he would do today. “The only reason you got a Ph.D or became a professor, if it’s 1998, was that there was no other way to get published,” McKain said. McKain believes that with the advent of the internet there are a million ways to get published without a Ph.D. However, McKain acknowledges that the ease of publication comes at a cost. With this ease of publishing, the massive amount of work turned out on the internet has begged the question of how valuable a piece of work is into a highly debated topic. McKain believes that as people get deeper into the online world, where anyone and everyone has a say and can quickly and easily get their thoughts and ideas out to
the public, it becomes increasingly important for people to get in touch with their physical communities. McKain acted upon this in his work with Professor Josh Guimela in the Digital Media Arts Department at Hamline University. One of McKain and Guimela’s projects that exemplifies the idea of getting in touch with physical communities through art is the “dronesTruck” project. Guimela discussed the central idea behind the project, describing it as being “an entity through which you can operate within the neighborhood or community to address contemporary issues in digital media through art, such as performances, art exhibitions or making media.” One of the first art projects that McKain and Guimela worked on for dronesTruck was an installation at a house in the Midway community during Halloween. The project used sinusoidal waves as a metaphor for the inaudible frequencies that we swim in every day, and combined those with the technique of binaural beating to create a disorienting experience for visitors. Guimela elaborated that the project was done in an effort to create the experience of existing in a world where people are constantly exposed to a wide variety of frequencies that are affecting their bodies in a number of unnoticable ways. In the Spring of 2016, Mckain, Gumiela and the Public Advocacy In Practicum collaborated on an art exhibition, referred to as “Operation Como.” The students from McKain’s class put out a call to artists all over the world asking for sound art exhibits in which the source material dealt with or used the electromagnetic spectrum in some way. The responses they received came from artists all over the world, with as many as 13 countries being represented. A jury consisting of Guimela, Alison Baker (a Professor of Sculpture at Hamline University), and Isabella De La Cruz (a student from McKain’s class) juried all of the work that was submitted. The exhibition was held at Como Park Shelter in St. Paul. McKain finds it important to stress that it is essential for artists to cater to audiences available through the internet. When 22-year-old graduates with good ideas and access to the internet have a seemingly infinite number of ways to get their ideas out into the world, McKain sees it as his job to give them the confidence to pursue those ideas.
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Alex Chang
A Leader in Social Change By Sydney Elwood
29 Alex Chang, a Biology major and active leader in the Hamline Community, is always smiling and ready--ready to be helpful, engaged and welcoming to any person he encounters. Those who have had the good fortune to work with him closely speak of his friendliness, positivity and dedication to his values. Diversity and inclusion are the principles that drive him. As he goes into his second year, he has already become deeply involved in making the Hamline community more diverse, more accepting and more inclusive for everyone. He is a quiet, engaged leader in social change, and one that will continue to be influential in his remaining years at Hamline. Though he was born in Houston, Texas, Chang was raised in Wisconsin. He grew up in Green Bay, a city of about 100,000 people, yet lacking in diversity despite its size. Chang identifies as Cuban, Chinese, German, Polish, Danish and Swedish. As a person who is multiracial, growing up in Green Bay presented Chang with serious challenges that would later shape his character. He learned personal lessons early on about the importance of inclusion and acceptance. Chang’s first encounter with racial adversity was in middle school when people thoughtlessly used racial slurs, a trend that would continue throughout his high school years. “The main thing about this is that these people were not bullies, these people have been my friends since elementary school,” Chang said, “We grew up together, we played football together, we had sleepovers, we went trick-or-treating; however, that did not matter. They thought it was funny or they were just acting like their parents would.” Chang faced a different kind of pressure because of his racial identity. There were people of color in his life who held high expectations for him to be an example of a “model minority.” Chang said, “[Others] put pressure on me to be the one breaking the glass ceilings. I did not ask for this.” Unbeknownst to him at the time, those pressures would inspire the work he does now to make anyone feel welcome within their community, regardless of racial, sexual or gender identity. As the Vice President of the Hispanic and Latino Organization (HALO), Chang has strived to create a wel coming environment for HALO members where they can be a part of an open community they identify with. HALO is dedicated to cultivating fellowship among its members, as well as helping members form professional relationships with local organizations and corporations. Chang’s mission also includes educating Hamline community members on Hispanic and Latino cultures through immersive and fun events. For example, HALO annually hosts culturally rich events on Cinco de Mayo and during Hispanic Heritage month. Chang said, “HALO… is a platform to help stop people from feeling the stress and pressure of racism, like I did in my youth.” Chang coordinates with other clubs and organizations on campus that are focused on culture, diversity and inclusion to build connections for the members of HALO with other like-minded people on campus. For example, he took on a leadership role within Fusion, a group that is the “fusion of two organizations--one centered around multiracial identity, and the other on transracial adoptee identity--that used to be separate entities on campus a few years ago.” Fusion seeks to promote discourse on social, political and cultural problems that concern multiracial and transracial adoptee students through a support network, as well as sponsoring fun events that educate the Hamline community on issues these students face. Fusion also positions itself as a resource to all students who seek to learn more about racial identity. Many people who identify as multiracial, a transracial adoptee or both struggle with the same identity issues that can be discussed in the safe and accepting community in Fusion. Chang is instrumental in creating that safe place for those issues to be addressed. For this academic year, Fusion is planning on hosting a panel of multiracial and transracial alums to give current students more insight on their experiences at Hamline as undergraduates as well as their life after graduation. “When I experienced racial hate, I vowed that I will do my best in whatever capacity I can to stop the future generations from feeling the pain I felt,” Chang said. “HALO and Fusion educate people in a way that brings people in, to start a way for people to be educated. So we are the first line of cultural education, a place I am happy to be at.” Although Chang is a leader of multiple organizations on campus that are focused on racial issues, he is personally committed to making everyone feel welcome and understood. “When I came to Hamline, I really did not know about gender identity or sexual identity,” Chang reflected. “So it was nice to expand my knowledge on that, so I can refer to people how they want to be referred. Because they’re people.” It is because of this respect for people, simply because they are people, that Chang has become well-known for his friendly nature.
30 His inclusive nature is something that impresses those around him, as testified by Sharonda Pugh, the Associate Director of Multicultural Student Programs. Over the ten months she has known Chang, Pugh has worked closely with him as an advisor for Fusion and as a director for the Multicultural Pathway program where he was a student mentor. She has also worked with him on programming events in collaboration with other multicultural organizations on campus. “He’s probably the most conscientious student that I’ve ever met,” Pugh said. “He cares about people, things and ideas...He does things that are socially just and things that mean stuff to people.” While she agrees that Chang is a quiet, reserved man, Pugh sees that he is engaged in what he does. When asked how Chang has been such a valuable member in the Hamline community, Pugh said, “He cares about Hamline… He wants everyone to be aware of the things they’re not aware of, and he’s always trying to learn more himself.” This passion to be more aware and involved is what has made him a valuable resource--a leader on our campus. Chang can also be found in the fast-paced environment of the Piper Grill, which is one of two jobs he holds on campus. The other is a Teaching Assistant position for the Principles of Ecology and Evolution lab section. Chang enjoys his role in the classroom, and he is considering becoming a professor in the field of biology. Graduate school is in his sights, but he is still finding time to be present and enjoy his remaining three years at Hamline. Because of his involvement on campus, Chang earned the “Outstanding First Year” award. This prestigious title is awarded through the Hedgeman Center to one student each year who has shown dedication to scholarship, service and leadership. “He’s humble and deserving,” Pugh said. Chang learned from his childhood experiences that positivity is essential when facing adversity in any form. Chang’s mindful work in HALO, Fusion and other organizations and programs on campus exemplify his dedication to others and to the Hamline community. “I’m happy that I chose Hamline every single day,” Chang said. “The opportunities to learn aren’t just in the classroom. [They’re] all around.”
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