Real Talk: A Diversity in Higher Ed Podcast

After talking with Ala and Dr. Meyerhoffer last week, we couldn't wait to continue the allyship conversation at the student level. Today we hear from recent Southern grads about their experiences while students and perspectives on allyship since graduating.

Gabriela Vazquez is a first-generation student-turned-graduate and graduate intern for Southern's Office of University Access Programs. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Gabriela's outstanding athletic and academic performance landed her at Southern, where she earned her undergraduate degree. She is currently pursuing a M.B.A. in Finance.

Camryn Arpino-Brown is also a first-generation student-turned-graduate and AmeriCorps VISTA for Southern's Office of University Access Programs. As an undergraduate, Camryn served as an Orientation Ambassador, Orientation Coordinator, Resident advisor, and Diversity Coordinator. She was also involved in OLAS, N.A.A.C.P., SGA, and S.I.S.T.A.S. In her final fall semester, she co-hosted the university's Black Lives Matter March. In May of 2021, she received her bachelor's in psychology, also earning the prestigious Henry Barnard Distinguished Student Award, the Ingrid Washinawatok El-Issa Service Award, the University Leadership Award, and the Diversity Scholar Excellence Award.

BUT who comes out just once? Honestly... Here's a hot take on National Coming Out Day 2021!

“Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”

                                                              - Dr. Steven Covey

If you’ve wondered how to wade into the current social justice conversations but aren’t sure where to insert your voice, the answer just might be: don’t. Yet. In this episode, we talk with Ala Ochumare, youth program director of the New Haven Pride Center, and Dr. Cassi Meyerhoffer, professor of sociology, about what it means to become an ally to your peers and contribute to the causes you believe in.

Cassi Meyerhoffer received her Ph.D. from The State University of New York at Buffalo. Her research and teaching interests are in the areas of systemic racism, racial residential segregation, and the role of race in American policing. She is currently working on her book: American Racism: Law Enforcement, Residential Segregation, and Public Education. Dr. Meyerhoffer’s recent work has been published in Journal of Urban Affairs, Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, and Sociological Forum.

Ala (she/her) has spent that past thirteen years working for a variety of organizations and advocating for various minority communities and systematically oppressed groups.

Ala is one of the founding members of #BlackLivesMatter New Haven and one of the facilitators of the Marsha P. Johnson Summer Camp for LGBTQ+ Black and Brown Youth organized by a group of community organizations including City Wide Youth Coalition. In addition to her work at the New Haven Pride Center, Ala works as a Community Recovery Assistant in Crisis and Respite and Long-Term Services programs for Continuum of Care INC. in New Haven. Ala recently completed a year-long fellowship for community organizers through CEIO, is a CT Core Organize Now! New Haven Chapter leader, and was recently accepted to the Yale University and Southern Connecticut State University CARE New Haven Health Leader program.

It's Season 3. We're back. And we're all in a bit of a weird place as we work toward a new campus "normal." Oh -- and Jamil got a new job!

Let us know your thoughts and questions for this season at [email protected] and @realtalkscsu on Instagram .

Connecticut high schools will be required to offer African-American, Black, Puerto Rican, and Latino studies beginning in Fall 2022 – becoming the first state in the nation to do so.

Here to discuss the significance of this new law, signed into effect in December 2020, is Carlos Torre, professor of curriculum and learning and former president of the Board of Education for New Haven Public Schools.

Torre earned a master's in education, a certificate in advanced study, and a doctorate of education from Harvard University. He is also an elected member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences of Puerto Rico, which awarded him the Academy’s Medal of the Academician.

The podcast team debriefs last week's conversation on transgender rights and adds some personal experiences from the college campus.

You keep using that word... I do not think it means what you think it means...

Yes. We're pulling from our good friend Inigo Montoya to help us spell out the "T" in LGBTQIA+, because some of the misconceptions we're hearing today are truly inconceivable...

As the transgender community continues to fight for public space, at least 28 state legislatures are weighing measures that would bar transgender youth from participating in sports or receiving medical treatment. Our guests help break down the political context, possible implications of passage, and some of the myths that are reinforced about trans identity in these conversations.

Karleigh Chardonnay Webb is a journalist and contributor to Outsports, a trans organizer for the Party for Socialism and Liberation, a competitive cyclist, runner, and multi-sport athlete, and a staff operator for Trans Lifeline.

Eliot Olson is a queer and trans New Haven-based organizer currently attending Columbia University virtually while working at the New Haven Pride Center as the Transgender, non-binary, and intersex program officer and serving as the Waterbury, CT based non-profit Life In My Days Director of Development and Communications.

The podcast team debriefs last week's conversation on cancel culture and adds some personal experiences from the college campus.

Afraid of being cancelled for saying the wrong thing? Our podcast guest D Howden thinks that's much less likely to happen than you think... Today we'll explore the deep roots of cancel culture and its displaced meanings in the modern media landscape. We'll also talk about the real victims of cancel culture, how the tables can be turned, and the close relationship between platforms, power, and accountability to differentiate between public repercussions and actual "cancellation."

D Howden (they/them)

D is a queer, gender non-conforming autistic human who supports victims and survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. They have been doing this work for about five years, and part of their role is around PREA, the Prison Rape Elimination Act. They also actively participate in mutual aid and community care to uproot white supremacy in themselves and in their community. They live in Oregon, and yes, they love the outdoors and flannel.

Mentioned in today's show: Adrienne Marie Brown: We Will Not Cancel Us

The concept of home is fluid for many undocumented students in America, especially in today's political climate. What role can higher education play in helping to stabilize policy for students? And more broadly, why do policy decisions change from administration to administration? All that and more on today's episode, featuring:

Dr. Carmen Coury is an Assistant Professor of Latin American History at Southern Connecticut State University where she teaches courses on Colonial and Modern Latin American history.

Dr. Coury has employed archival research and oral histories to uncover the histories of individuals at the margins of state power (and beyond the nation’s borders) who often elaborate alternative visions of the nation, which are often rooted in local and regional experiences and which often serve to break open univocal and linear official national stories.

She is in the early stages of researching her second monograph, which will examine the historical origins of Costa Rica's whiteness mythology and its more contemporary consequences, especially, for the nation's Indigenous and Afro-Caribbean citizens.

Esteban Garcia serves as the co-chair of the Dreamers Action Alliance at SCSU and is on the board of directors for Connecticut Students for a Dream. Esteban has helped SCSU respond to the needs of students by identifying and breaking down barriers faced by undocumented students and their families; engaging the campus community in conversations about immigration issues, and educating the community about the realities of being an immigrant in the United States; and advocating for policies that support students at the campus, state, and national levels.

Dr. Loida Reyes is an Assistant Professor of Social Work at Southern Connecticut State University. Before joining the university in 2018, she worked as a program manager for the state of Connecticut's Department of Children and Families for 25 years.

Learn more about Southern's commitment to supporting undocumented students.