5 minute read
The Future of Intercultural
- DESMOND TUTU
Rev. Dr. Lena Crouso
James Udo, SNU Student
PRISONERS OF HOPE
BY EMMA WRIGHT ('20)
I
n the spring of 2018, it was announced that Rev. Dr. Lena Crouso would serve in the new position of Vice President for Intercultural Learning and Engagement at Southern Nazarene University (SNU). This change has prompted a new focus on the tapestry of diversity and interculturality on SNU’s campus, transforming the ways in which SNU students, faculty, staff, and alumni build relationships with others as well as providing hope for the future of SNU.
The area of Intercultural Learning and Engagement, including the Center for Student Success, Access and Opportunity Programs, and the Center for Service and Global Engagement, is casting a vision for SNU, building this vision through four foundational lenses: diversity, inclusion, equity, and justice. Through these lenses, Dr. Crouso hopes to “create bridges of cultural affinity” through “God’s inclusive love,” beginning on SNU’s campus and translating into the world. This vision has already begun to take shape as students, faculty, staff, and alumni have been working together to create learning opportunities and begin conversations that participate in the ministry of reconciliation.
Dr. Keith Newman, President of SNU, was one of the main facilitators in the development of this position, seeing the need for leadership to create “a compelling vision for biblical diversity.” Included in this is “deepening ethnic diversity, promoting racial unity, and advancing intercultural understanding in the pursuit of university-wide excellence.” A crucial part of this vision is partnering with faculty and staff to transfer this vision into the classroom and on campus.
Misty Jaggers, Associate Vice President for Student Success, has become a prominent voice at SNU in bridging the gap between faculty, staff, and students. As she heads the Center for Student Success, she works closely alongside Dr. Crouso, saying:
“The hope of Intercultural Learning and Engagement is to create an environment that truly reflects the diversity of God’s Kingdom and fosters an intercultural, culturally responsive campus community. This work cannot be done by one person and cannot be done by one isolated area on campus, but it must be woven into all that we do.”
As a bridge between the faculty, staff and students, the Center for Student Success is embodying the tapestry of diversity on SNU’s campus.
In March of 2019, Dr. Pam Bracken and SNU student Evetta Soma led the “Ain’t I a Woman!” program, partnering with Oklahoma Humanities to create a three-part event that highlighted innovative African-American women who shaped our society. Sharing her motivation for bringing such a learning opportunity to SNU, Dr. Bracken said: “It really seemed time to celebrate diversity at SNU, since over a decade we have seen steadily rising rates of minority students join our community, in both traditional and professional programs… Core Ensemble's intentional embrace of difference in the arts made the ‘Ain't I a Woman’ performance a fit for where we are today.”
“Ain’t I a Woman!” was an incredibly successful and well-attended event. Soma commented on the success of the event, discussing the importance of her identity, identifying as “half Japanese and African-American,” and her deliberate involvement on campus in the planning of this event. She went on to say, “It was also really special because it talked about… black women (Sojourner Truth and Fannie
Misty Jaggers, '01
Deanne BrodieMends, '05
Lou Hamer, for example) who made some valuable steps in society that not everyone knows about.”
Students and professors alike are building spaces for healthy discussions about diversity, inclusion, equity and justice, engaging both the outer and inner community in the process.
Along with Dr. Crouso’s new position, SNU has created a new student executive position that serves on the Student Government Association alongside three other students on their staff. Recently voted to become the first student in this position is James Udo, a sophomore nursing major from Nigeria.
“My hope is that I can meet with people who feel like they are an outsider here on campus… discussing with Dr. Lena about how we can [better] these issues.” Udo embodies the future of SNU, leading the student body to be challenged in the ways that they think of others and each other.
Deanne Brodie-Mends, a 2015 graduate of SNU, has become involved in the discussion about race, speaking after the “Ain’t I a Woman!” performance as well as at a “Small Changes” talk. Brodie-Mends is one of the many people associated with SNU who is inspiring
Evetta Soma, SNU Student
Guest Speaker at "Ain't I a Woman!"
further conversation as a means of shifting the culture towards a foundational focus on interculturality. Her hopes and dreams for transforming our communities align greatly with the new vision for Intercultural Learning & Engagement, stating:
“My desire is for us to look at the people we come in contact with every day as a brother or a sister. If we are to call ourselves a community of believers, then we must educate ourselves individually and collectively. We must work to look past our own needs and wants and genuinely love others the way that Christ loves us.”
These learning opportunities, discussions, and positions are all a part of a larger goal: to create a diverse, inclusive, equitable, and just community centered on the love of Christ. The future of SNU requires an intentional community willing to become “prisoners of hope,” bound to the possibility of the future. Laying the foundation for the future, students, faculty, staff, and alumni are continuing to hope, daring to change the culture of SNU’s campus and the community it is surrounded by through God’s inclusive love.
