1 ISSUE 89.17 UNION COLLEGE APRIL 8, 2015 EXAMINING DIVERSITY 2 HUMANS OF UNION COLLEGE BY NIGEL SUMERLIN AND EMY WOOD EXAMINING DIVERSITY “Itage diver Safter-long look at phy issues afecting our campus. Read the other ar clocktower.ucollege.edu/safe-and-sound/introduction. 3 NIGEL SUMERLIN In 1947, Jackie Robinson be- came the first African American in major league baseball to break the color barrier. Wataru Misa- ka made NBA history when he played for the New York Knicks in 1947 as the first Japanese man to play. Sonia Sotomayor was ap- pointed the first female Supreme Court Justice in 2009, and in 2008, Barack Obama was elect- ed as the first African American President of the United States. As a country founded on princi- ples of freedom and equality, The United State’s track record has been bleak. Genocides, segrega- tion and internment camps are just a few of the dark blots in our history. But in 2015 we are well on our way up the progressive slope towards becoming a nation who embraces diversity in every facet of American society, ranging from the workplace to the House of Representatives. Yet the journey to diversity has been tedious. More than 200 years since our country’s birth we are far from being a country where all cultures and ethnicities feel safe to express themselves. The key to reaching the goal of diversity lies in education, where the minds of young Americans are more malleable and open to accepting ideas and experiences. Working to create environments who accept students from diverse cultures and backgrounds not only creates safer schools to allow the enrichment that diversity brings, but also benefits students who are unfamiliar with other cultures. “I don’t think a college education FEATURED ARTICLE: SAFE & SOUND A look at Union College’s racial diversity through the decades EXPLORING WHERE WE’VE BEEN 4 would be complete without some kind of [cognitive] dissonance going on, without some kind of searching and saying ‘okay, what are my values, versus what are mom and dad’s values?’” said Dr. Linda Becker, Vice President of Student Affairs at Union College. In recent decades, Union College has made substantial progress towards becoming a campus that has achieved ethnic diversi- ty among its students. In a US News index ranking universities and colleges across the country, Union has earned a place at the top of the list among colleges in the Midwest region. Unfortunately, Union has not always had reason to boast. Kyle Berg, a senior Language Arts Ed- ucation major at Union College, wrote the award winning essay last year “Racial Discrimination and Segregation at Union College from the 1930’s to the 1960’s,” revealing a shameful piece of history at Union. Administrators during this period had tainted mindsets from a dangerous era in which diversity was vilified rather than encouraged. Some of these appalling pieces of history in- cluded forcing African American students to sit in the last three rows in the Rees Hall chapel, only allowing African American students to sit with Caucasian students in the cafeteria after re- ceiving an invitation, segregating dorms and discouraging interra- cial relationships as recently as the late 1960’s. Their policies of discrimination tore deep wounds into the college that have only recently begun to heal due to the diligent efforts of a new genera- tion of progressive faculty, staff, and students. Part of this process has includ- ed a letter of apology to Oscar, a member of our community whose father attended Union College during a period of segregation and hostility toward diversity. Dr. Mark Robison, who directed “Fifty Years Later,” was approached by this man after the FEATURED ARTICLE: SAFE & SOUND A prt this is never finished as long as there people who ar tempted to elevate some humans above other 5 CELEBRATING WHERE WE’RE GOING It takes everyone to create change EMY WOOD performance of this play, which focused on the successes and fail- ures of the civil rights movement of the 1960’s. Their conversation, along with Kyle Berg’s exposi- tory essay, inspired Humanities Professor Chris Blake to write an apology letter to the alumnus in collaboration with Union College students J-Fiah Reeves, Stefani Leeper, Josh Ayala and Sean Hendrix on behalf of Union College for the discrimination he endured at Union College﹘a college that claimed to represent Jesus Christ. Although Union College has made significant progress towards making our school safe for diver- sity, the work isn’t over. A project as important as this is never fin- ished as long as there are people who are tempted to elevate some humans above others. Healing has begun for the wounds of the past, but it isn’t enough; we also need vigilance for the future. We, like the students who wrote the apology letter, must take the ini- tiative to avoid complacency. It’s up to us to welcome and encour- age diversity on our campus. Nigel is a freshman psychology and history major. With today’s technology, it’s eas- ier than ever to immerse yourself in other cultures. You can learn another language at the click of a mouse or experience world cui- sine any day of the week. In 24 hours, you could be on a plane to a sandy beach located at the FEATURED ARTICLE: SAFE & SOUND 6 other end of the world. Right now though, you’re not on a sandy beach in Turkey, immers- ing yourself in another culture. Instead, you’re in college, where it’s expected that you “broaden your horizons,” “grow your world view” and “become a diverse and well-rounded student.” The need for all of this? To prepare you to compete in the business world. “Study after study shows that diversity in the business world unlocks innovation and drives market growth,” claims Huff- ington Post in the article “Di- versity is America’s 21st Century Strength.” It should come as no surprise then to say we’ve reached the point of being a global commu- nity, where the need for diversity is stronger than ever. “Nowhere is the growing accep- tance and practice of multiracial relationships more common than on college campuses,” shares Aja Frost in her USA Today article, “Today’s College Students See No Problem With Multiracial Relationships.” However, as Nigel Sumerlin mentions in his article, it wasn’t always this way. Even for Union, the need to accept others and expand worldviews was foreign not long ago. Now, as we move forward in the 21st century and work to put our sheltered past behind us, the expansion of diversity is direct- ly ahead. Still, we run the risk of being far from being a place where all ethnicities feel safe. To keep Union at its lead of being diverse, we as the students have to remember our past and where we came from to continually work forward in expanding our ideas. While it may sound simple, perhaps a three course model to taking action would be: recog- nize, educate, celebrate. Administrators already recognize the need for a diverse campus. Recruiters gather students from across the world. Our financial department offers more scholar- ships than any other Adventist college and a multiracial commit- FEATURED ARTICLE: SAFE & SOUND 7 tee is being established to exam- ine areas where bias may exist on campus. Now, we, as the students, need to be at the frontlines of harnessing the power in variety on campus by being involved. Participation is the key to any change, and in the area of diversity, it’s the only relevant “solution.” “The one enemy of diversity is not recognizing it,” said Ricky Amimo, a junior health sciences major from Kenya. He points out a critical factor of potentially losing your cul- ture while trying to blend with society. Of course, that’s a normal part of wanting to “fit in,” but its something of which we should be aware. “When you think about diversi- ty, you need to have something to compare it to,” said Amimo. “You just can’t have a monoto- nous of uniform community. You need variety.” But why such a need for variety? US News claims,“Learning from people whose backgrounds and experiences differ from your own sharpens your self-knowledge and self-insight by allowing you to compare and contrast your life experiences with others whose life experiences differ sharply from your own. By being more self-aware, you are more capable of making informed decisions about your academic and profes- sional future,” claims US News. Essentially, the goal is to expand our viewpoints beyond what we think we already know. Luckily, we can have this variety by consciously doing more than just celebrating cultures, but making them a part of our lives. Attending events, expanding our social circles, traveling or eating foods we don’t know the names of are just a few examples. Luckily, we have the chance to do all of this right now, in college. The challenge is just to take ad- vantage of these opportunities. “We come into the world with our parents’ biases. We tend to grow up with a set of values, per- spectives, and tastes that we think everybody has until we start to FEATURED ARTICLE: SAFE & SOUND 8 broaden our perspectives. There’s value to looking from a differ- ent viewpoint,” said Dr. Linda Becker, vice president of Student Services at Union College. “The broader our understanding of what different perspectives are, the better we are able to value who we are and respect the other person, which is a huge gift of education.” Don’t think that this broadened perspective will come as a part of our education without any action on our part as the student. The Mr. and Mrs. World Pageant wouldn’t be possible without par- ticipating countries. The recon- ciliation apology letter, as Nigel spoke of in his article, wouldn’t have been possible without four students’ initiative to take a stance. The Adventist Colleges Abroad program wouldn’t exist without the desire to experience oth- er cultures. Even classes such as COMM 425 Intercultural Communication would lose its emphasis if students weren’t willing to contribute towards the conversations. The bottom line? Diversity takes action and the action needs to come from those who seek to experience the most from the diversity﹘us, the students; the minds who mold society. We live in a society that, while diverse, will still pressure us into conforming. The moment we stop seeking opportunities to continually celebrate our differ- ences is the moment our progress comes to a standstill. Celebrate who you are, and cele- brate who others are. Together. If you have an idea for celebrating your diversity on campus, share it. That’s how we move forward. Whether it’s through speaking at a V2 about your cultural back- ground or giving a testimony, let your voice be heard. Don’t settle for OK and we’ll continue being the diverse cam- pus known as Union College. We may unite, but we are anything but uniform. After all, with 886 students and 29 countries repre- sented, there’s plenty of diversity on campus. Emy is a sophomore studying communication. FEATURED ARTICLE: SAFE & SOUND 9 ON CAMPUS SCHOLARSHIP MAKEOVER Union introduces new four-year renewable scholarships EMY WOOD Union College just announced a new scholarship that will be implemented for new freshman students next year﹘and it will be 100 percent renewable all four years. That’s quite the shift from our current scholarship plan, which dropped to 50 percent renewability after freshman year. I sat down with Nadine Nel- son, Union’s vice president for Enrollment and Student Finan- cial Services to discuss the new scholarships and what it means to current and future students. This new scholarship sounds like it could really help Union appeal to new students. How does it work? Nelson: Starting next school year, Union College will offer new 100 percent renewable scholarships to incoming freshman for four years. Each scholarship level is based on a student’s high school GPA and ACT/SAT test scores. So whatever scholarship new stu- dents qualify for, they can now get that same amount for three more years. We have also introduced two new scholarships for high academic achieving students with a high school GPA of 3.75 and above and ACT scores of 29 or above. This chart lays out the details. Union is also offering a new scholarship for freshmen who plan to enroll in nursing. Stu- dents who indicate their interest in nursing, follow the pre-nurs- ing curriculum and have a high school GPA of 3.0 and a 20 ACT 10 ON CAMPUS will be able to receive an addi- tional $2500 scholarship renew- able for three more years. Why is Union changing the scholarship program? Nelson: We all want Union to continue to grow and offer many more students the great oppor- tunities each of you have. Union College’s long term strategic plan calls for us to increase enrollment over the next 10 years﹘30 stu- dents by 2019 and 110 students by 2025. In order to do that, Union needs to find new ways to attract students and be com- petitive with other Adventist and regional colleges. We hired a consulting company who specialized in reviewing institutional financial aid, and they told us that we were one of the only schools not renewing scholarships at 100 percent and that we could increase our new student enrollment by changing our scholarship program. As we reviewed this information we discovered that Union is the last Seventh-day Adventist col- lege in North America to begin offering four-year, 100 percent renewable scholarships. By changing our scholarship 11 ON CAMPUS program, we now plan to offer the best value collegiate educa- tion in Adventist education. Why is Union only offering the new scholarships to freshman? Why can’t I get it, too? Nelson: Union would love nothing more than to give every student these scholarships imme- diately. But it is going to cost an additional $1 million when the new scholarships are fully imple- mented. To be able to fund the new scholarships we enroll more students. That’s why we have to phase the scholarship program in slowly. Next year the new plan will have minimal impact on the college budget because we are giving the freshman the same amount as before. The following year we will start to see increased costs because those freshman students will become sophomores. Instead of cutting the scholarship in half as we do right now, their schol- arship amounts will remain the same. Then how will Union pay for this? Nelson: Implementing the new scholarships one class at a time will help ease the strain on the budget. The consultants project that this aggressive scholarship plan will increase our enroll- ment enough over the next four years to cover the extra cost. We truly hope and pray that is what happens so that it doesn’t create an extra budget constraint to our campus. Well, what’s in it for us? Nelson: First off, a strong and growing Union College benefits everyone. As we grow, we are able to add or strengthen services, programs, facilities and staffing to better serve all of our students. I know our students are really interested in a newer recreational facilities and we really hope that with an increase in enrollment can help infuse our institutional budget with the resources we need to continue to make im- provements to our campus. Secondly, every current student will still continue to receive all the scholarships they were guaranteed when they enrolled. Current students get their 12 ON CAMPUS scholarship renewed for nine se- mesters (4.5 years) instead of the eight semesters (4 years) that new students will get. New students are also no longer eligible for church matching funds. Towards the end of our conversa- tion, Nelson expressed her gratitude towards the campus, saying, “I am blessed to be a part of the Union College family along with each of you. Thank you for helping make Union Col- lege a great place to study, work and thrive. Thank you for work- ing together to encourage other students to join this amazing learning community.” Emy is a sophomore studying communication. 13 APRIL SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT 5 6 7 8 8:00am Regisa - tion fall Begins 2:30-4:00pm LEAD Committee Development Junior Porolio Confneces 9 10:30-11:30am F 10 8:00pm Vesper Sunset 11 ASB Talent Show Sunset 8:02pm 12 Nar Week 13 Nar Week 3:30-5:00pm A 14 Nar Week 15 Nar Week 16 Pry Nar Week 10:30-11:30am Ay 17 Pry Nar Week Div of Science and Mathematics to NE A 8:00pm Vesper Power Pac Sunset 18 Pry Nar Week CVC:Power Pac 8:00pm V2 Club Night Sunset 8:09pm UPCOMING EVENTS THUMBS UP | THUMBS DOWN To guys not being able to wear earings - Troy Walbert To Aquafina water - Kyle Smith To Dapper Dan’s birthday - Alex Hirst To beaches - Dmitri Mankarios 14 The Clocktower encourages reader feedback and strives to maintain accuracy. If you have comments, email us at cltower@gmail.com. The Clocktower is published weekly during the school year by the Associated Student Body of Union College, 3800 S. 48th St., Lincoln, NE 68506. The opinions expressed are the opinions of the writers and are not to be construed as the opinion of the editors, Associated Student Body, Union College or the Seventh-day Adventist Church. For more content, follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ ClocktowerASB or visit us at http://clocktower.ucollege.edu. Steven Foster Natalie Bruzon Vernée Norman Elena Cornwell Alexis Carnduff Zack Posthumus Brittany Houchins Natalie Bruzon Megan Bolton Melisa Inkelaar Michael Steingas Katie Morrison Roderick Stickle Debbie Pinto Emy Wood Jordan Zy Abner Campos Naomi Prasad Nigel Sumerlin Derek Baker Christian Dye Kyle Berg Kevin Niederman Editor-in-Chief Assistant Editor Copy Editor Copy Editor Copy Editor Layout Editor Online Content Editor Social Media Editor Photographer Photographer Sponsor Culture Reporter Humans of Union College Lincoln Reporter On Campus Reporter Opinion Reporter Religion Reporter Senate Reporter Special Interest Reporter Sports Reporter Technology Reporter Wellness Reporter World Reporter WE ARE #CLTWR Yeah, we’re going to need you to speak up. Like us, hate us or anywhere in between, we’d love to hear why. Have a story you’d like to pitch? We’d love to craft it. Did you just make a big breakfast? Tell us why your mother’s German waffle recipe is better than Paula Deen’s. Basically, write us. Voice your opinions by emailing cltower@gmail.com and add to the conversation by connecting with us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ClocktowerASB and online at http://clocktower.ucollege.edu. WE C 15 HUMANS OF UNION COLLEGE -Inonge Kasaji, Senior, Social Work Humans of Union College is compiled by Roderick Stickle “Is that something you struggled with your freshmen year?” “I don’t think it’s something you struggle with, I think it’s something that later you look back on and you’re like, ‘I could’ve utilized my time a little better.’ Like your freshmen year you’re like, ‘I’m having fun, things don’t matter.’ And then you get to your junior and senior years and you’re like, ‘oh crap!’ Like, it mattered. So yeah, like, twenties are really important, I’m just going to throw that out there. Your twenties and college career are super super super important. Like, get stuff, get internships, put yourself out there to get jobs. Don’t be in this little bubble where you’re like, ‘I’ll be fine.’ And then your senior year is where you’re trying to get all these internships and jobs and whatever. It doesn’t work that way. You got to start doing that earlier, and I wish I’d known that my freshmen year. That’s where I messed up.” Hey, hay seen our saf’s pr Read The Clocktower online at http://clocktower.ucollege.edu. We’ve got even moror you online---with an update on ISIS and spring f Sory, ther ISIS sprashion, though. “Dating On-The-Line” by Kyg “Should You Jail Br by Chrtian Dye “all Kill You” by Jor “ IRR with a side of par ” by Stef