Social issues
Students come together for change
Photos by Lee Ferris
With candles raised in solidarity, dozens of Mount students, faculty, and staff joined together to take part in the annual Take Back the Night march.
As dusk rolled in, they gathered on the Dominican Center steps to hear from keynote speaker Katie Koestner, Take Back the Night founder. She shared how her experiences during college led her to become a trailblazing activist against sexual violence, starting a nationwide dialogue about date rape and accountability.
After Koestner’s address, the audience walked across campus, their candles lighting the way, in honor of survivors of sexual violence and to express support for their healing journeys. As they walked, students read poetry pieces related to sexual violence and the importance of empowering survivors.
Koestner shared a similar message with the audience, emphasizing how powerful their own voices can be: “You don’t need anything, except a voice,” she said, “because silence is the easy way out.”
Take Back the Night is a nationwide event that takes place at college campuses to raise awareness to end sexual violence in all forms, including sexual assault, sexual abuse, trafficking, stalking, gender harassment, and relationship violence.
History and race through the lens of poetry
Photo by Lee Ferris
Chet’la Sebree, assistant professor of English at George Washington University, discussed her poetry and her journey to amplify underrepresented voices during an inspiring presentation to Mount students.
Chet’la Sebree, assistant professor of English at George Washington University, discussed her poetry and her journey to amplify underrepresented voices during an inspiring presentation to Mount students.
Sebree authored Mistress, winner of the 2018 New Issues Poetry Prize and nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work-Poetry. Sebree wished for the book to “give voice to voiceless experiences.” And so, she focused on Sally Hemings, an enslaved woman who was owned by president Thomas Jefferson.
Sebree read several poems from Mistress, including “Paper Epithets, December 1802” and “Extraordinary Privilege, 1792.”
After his wife died, Jefferson spent about two years in Paris, bringing along Hemings as a servant. It was over these years that Jefferson began an intimate relationship with Hemings, who at the time was a teenager. Jefferson enticed her to return with him from France – where slavery was illegal and she was considered a free person – in exchange for freeing the children he had fathered with her when they reached adulthood.
The talk was sponsored by the Writing Center; the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; The Kaplan Family Library; and the Division of Arts and Letters.
Addressing LGBTQ+ health needs
Photos by Dean DiMarzo
In recognition of Pride Month, the Desmond Center for Community Engagement and Wellness hosted a discussion on the health disparities of the LGBTQ+ community in Orange County.
Part of the Desmond Center’s ongoing Health Equity Talks series, the presentation was the first to be held in the college’s newly renovated Guzman Hall. It was co-sponsored by Cross Valley Health and Medicine and the Orange County Human Rights Commission.
The event was presented by Cross Valley Health and Medicine’s co-founder and Mount alumnus Christian Plaza, MBA MSN, FNP-C, PMHNP. Plaza and his husband, Cross Valley Health co-founder Dr. Paul I. Saladino, M.D., established the mission of providing care for diverse Hudson Valley communities.
“Even though we may identify ourselves as LGBTQ+, we don’t necessarily have the same priorities, the same values, or the same belief systems,” Plaza said. “We cannot make an assumption and just say that even though we’re still part of this community, that we are just all this, or all that, but that we vary.”
He added, “There’s so many subpopulations to work with. Really being on top of their care and understanding, you can provide the best care possible.”
Emily Gursky ’23 and Rosemarie Budhwa contributed to this article.
