Black Ballet - Black ballet artists share their experiences in the art Page 6
Wednesday, February 22, 2023 – Volume 36 • Issue 17
@tccthecollegian • collegian.tccd.edu
DISTRICT
Board of trustees invite students to speak ALEX HOBEN
editor-in-chief alexandra.hoben@my.tccd.edu
The TCC board of trustees meeting this month was filled to the brim with students, most SGA representatives, to tell the board their stories and experiences regarding TCC. The room was abuzz with activity before the meeting was called to order, as students from across the district gathered. The main group of students were SGA members who came to the board meeting to talk about Community College Day. “I was just absolutely honored to have been invited and to experience the Community College Day trip to the capital,” Connect SGA vice president Anthony Guevara said. Guevara said the Connect group met with Sen. Tan Parker, and discussed education and other matters regarding community colleges. “We were able to touch subjects about student homelessness,” Guevara said. “As well as other services that colleges provide that may sometimes be underfunded and aren’t necessarily adequate enough to serve our student population.” Along with the Community College Day presentation, there were also students and alumni spot-
Ariel Desantiago/The Collegian
Trustee Shannon Wood applauds during the student presentations and stories at the February board of trustees meeting. lighted once again. They included NW alumnus Tomas Alejandro Silva-Cabrera, South alumna turned instructor Lela Anderson, SE student Van Hung Le, NE student Jade
DISTRICT
Scivally and Connect student Cynthia Jones. “TCC has opened doors for me to become a better person and progress in this country,” Silver-Cabrera
said. “It has also given me the opportunity to grow up in all aspects of my life.” In other board news, each item on the consent agenda was passed.
One of the items regarded the resolution and order for the election of districts four and five on May 6 of this year. These districts are
See Meeting, page 2
NORTHEAST
Abbott diversity memo sparks conversation on hiring to be all-inclusive HOPE SMITH
managing editor hope.smith393@my.tccd.edu
On Friday, Feb. 7 the Texas Tribune reported a memo written by Greg Abott’s chief of staff Gardner Pate announcing a warning against hiring based on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) disciplines. DEI is a common effort among places like business and school that aims to improve diversity of people in an environment, accommodation to those who may need it and a sense of belonging. This follows in line with affirmative action, which also puts a similar emphasis on hiring based on meeting quotas of people that have historically faced discrimination. For TCC, the Equity and Inclusion section of the website details TCC’s efforts and goals on inclusivity. Listed there as well are qualities like age, ability, cultural expression and ethnicity, to name a few. It states “Our goal is to sustain an equitable and inclusive environment that creates a productive learning community.” For NE student Abigail Defanti who identifies as lesbian, she said she liked the idea of bringing people in with the effort of diversity and inclusion as it could bring more like her. “I can’t think of anybody who reminds me of me, you know,” Defanti said. “So it would be great if I had a teacher, or other students that I knew, but I don’t really know anybody like that. So I would appreciate that if that were on every college campus, like an educator or student.” Defanti said she didn’t understand the opposition to DEI practices and disagreed with the memo’s author. “I don’t see the harm in bringing that in, I don’t know what his argument is against that,” she said. “God forbid people feel more included by having more representation in their workspace and in their school. I think it’s just another excuse. I don’t understand the opposition to it, I really don’t.” For some it was a step forward,
as a day after the announcement by the Tribune, conservative activist Christopher Rufo tweeted, “The fight against left-wing racialist ideology has just begun—and we will not stop until colorblind equality is the law of the land,” with an image of the memo written by Pate. NE student Jason Glover expressed his understanding of the reasons for the memo, saying people do deserve to have the right to have the same opportunity, and also acknowledged that the system should be altered if there are actual issues. “If it’s not broke why fix it? But in the case that it is broke, it should be fixed,” Glover said. Like Defanti, however, he also expressed his confusion with the statement.
I can’t think of anybody who reminds me of me, you know. Abigail Defanti NE student
“I don’t really understand what he’s trying to do to pass this ‘warning’ because it seems more like a political play,” he said. The memo itself states at the end, “As the head of your agency, you have a duty to follow the law. When a state agency adjusts its employment practices based on factors other than merit, it is not following the law.” Many Texas colleges besides TCC follow the same DEI practices, though the memo warned that, “rebranding this employment discrimination as ‘DEI’ does not make the practice any less legal.”
Ariel Desantiago/The Collegian
Student activities coordinator Ana Contreras dances to the beat at NE’s “Black History Month: One Time For The Second Line” event. The event was held in NSTU Center Corner.
Students, faculty celebrate Black history with a New Orleans dance XAVIER BOATNER
campus editor xavier.boatner@my.tccd.edu
NE student activities coordinators talk about the importance of culture at the Second Line Dance event. On Feb. 15, “Black History Month: One Time for the Second Line” was hosted in the NTSU Center Corner by TCC student activities coordinator Courtney Matthews and SO coordinator Ana Contreras. The event sought to teach people about New Orleans’ rich musical culture. Provided at the event were a variety of foods like the famous King Cake, a popular type of cake dressed in Mardi Gras-themed icing, available to attendees to eat while they danced along to the music. “One Time for the Second Line” was created as a way to help attendees learn something new about and potentially act as a stress reliever, said Matthews. “We created this event as a new way to center the Second Line and New Orleans,” she said. “It’s a great time for students, faculty, and staff to come and just
release any stress and any tension and have fun and move the body. It was great to also learn about all those elements like the brass band and Mardi Gras Indians.” According to New Orleans’s official website, the Second Line is commonly referred to as a “quintessential New Orleans art form.” The dance’s humble beginnings took shape as nothing more than neighborhood tradition in small African American communities. As time has passed, the dance has been used for multiple purposes. It has been used to help sell various forms of financial and social aid to former slaves and even became commonplace at weddings to symbolize the “beginning of a new life,” according to the website. Additionally, when the members of a certain African American community pass away, the dance is used in honor of said members and is often prominently featured at New Orleanian funerals. The dance had even been given the name “a jazz funeral without a body” by the community. The Second Line’s history is extensive and is an iconic element
of New Orleans culture. Teaching people that history was important to Contreras, especially during Black History month in particular. “I really liked the act of learning a new dance style,” she said. “It’s a cultural thing, and I think that’s really important today.” Matthews said TCC has gone about providing a number of good culturally-themed events and raising awareness about what’s going on in certain communities well. “I think TCC is putting on a really great variety of different cultural months with the different festivals that they have on campus,” she said. “I think it’s just that we need more opportunities for people to learn about each other’s culture, and learn about what’s going on in our society.” She said she hoped that attendees would walk away knowing something about the history of the Second Line they didn’t know before. “I hope they [attendees] learn something new,” Contreras said. “I think that’s what college is all about, learning something new, learning a new culture, and learning where this certain dance comes from.”