Photo: A poster in Anderson Dining Hall for Native American History Month. In the future, The Director of Multicultural Affairs will handle programming for this and other campus celebrations of diversity.
Credit: Ross Hsu
Author: Ross Hsu
Chatham is currently interviewing candidates for Director of Multicultural Affairs, a new position within Student Affairs that will implement events and dialogues to educate about and celebrate diversity.
On Sunday, October 19, Chatham’s Black Student Union and R.I.S.E (Retain. Involve. Strengthen. Excel.) came together in Chatham’s Mellon Board Room to host “Tea and Treats.”
The event, which was held in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, was designed to not only raise awareness for breast cancer, but also to teach students how to take care of themselves and lower their risks of developing breast cancer in the future.
As students, who were encouraged to dress in business casual clothing, entered Mellon Board Room, they were met with several rounds tables decorated with pink and white tablecloths and balloons. There was also a long table along the wall with a sign-in sheet, breast cancer information pamphlets, and the tea, cupcakes, cheesecake, and other treats to which the title of the event referred.
Around 1.00 p.m., the event officially began with a welcome from Terlynn Olds, a representative of the Lambda Lambda Zeta chapter of the Zeta Phi Beta sorority, which meets at Chatham and helped to sponsor the event.
“It’s very important that we’re constantly educating ourselves on ways to protect ourselves,” Olds said, before thanking everyone for “coming out on a chilly Sunday afternoon.”
She then introduced Laura Kuster, a health equity specialist for the YWCA and the main speaker for the event.
After introducing herself, Kuster explained that the event was to be a workshop rather than a lecture and encouraged the approximately 15 students in attendance to speak up and participate in the discussion.
“People need to think about cancer as something other than a scary thing with scary treatments,” Kuster said to begin the discussion, because, “that is only one side of cancer.”
After giving students a brief overview of the anatomy and biology of breast cancer and passing around posters and visual aids to help the process, Kuster said, “we shouldn’t be teaching young women to be afraid of their breasts.”
She elaborated on this point by saying, “most of the time lumps are not breast cancer,” but rather they are cysts, which are common among young women and are harmless.
In regards to risk factors, Kuster said that being a woman, genetics, and aging are the three biggest factors. However she then pointed out that there are risk factors that people can control like smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, hormone replacement therapy, and a healthy diet and exercise. She also said that birth control slightly increases one’s risk for breast cancer but only for the duration of time during which it is taken.
Kuster went on to dispel certain rumors about breast cancer, including the belief that bras, certain types of foods, and getting hit in the breast can lead to breast cancer.
In response to this, Olds said, “I was hit in the breast and there pain so I freaked out and I thought I was dying!”
Everyone chuckled at this, but Kuster said that this was not an uncommon response, which is why women need to be educated.
The conversation then shifted to screening methods. After Kuster asked the audience why it was important to catch breast cancer early, Merissa Clark, a senior at Chatham, simply said, “so you survive.”
Despite the laughter than Clark’s response got from the audience, Kuster said that she absolutely correct, going on to explain that catching it early can eliminate the need for surgery or chemotherapy.
Kuster then said that there are three types of screening methods: the self examination, which all women should do regularly; the clinical breast exam, which should start when a woman turns 20 and occur every one to three years; and the mammogram, which should happen every year after a person turns 40.
At the conclusion of the presentation, plaques were awarded to all of the organizations involved in the planning of the event. Afterwards people stayed to eat baked good and discuss the information.
When asked why she got involved in the effort to raise awareness about breast cancer, Kuster said, “I initially got involved in it because my mom and my grandmother both had breast cancer.” She went on to say, “There have been a lot of advances in understanding [of breast cancer] recently…and there is a lot that people can do to lower their risk, unlike many other cancers.”
To learn more about breast cancer, students can visit the American Cancer Society website or the Susan G. Komen website.
On Friday, February 7, the Black Student Union rocked Eddy Theatre with their first Showcase-–a series of performances honoring African-American art and culture.
The show started when DJ Flipwave played rap through the speakers while audience members filed in their seats. A few minutes later, hosts Jay Oriola and Jasmine Parker took the stage. Doing a bit of stand-up, they introduced the evening’s performers, who hailed from Chatham University, Carnegie Mellon, and the University of Pittsburgh.
Divided into thirds, the Showcase began with the section entitled Coming to America in which a number of moving spirituals, African dances, and religious poems were presented. Diamond Gorman opened with a short song that was then followed by the Ya’Baso Dance Team, Some of God’s Children Gospel Choir, a faithful rendition of Sam Cooke by Charles Davis and more.
One of the night’s most memorable moments was when the theater went dark with only a couple of lights from backstage casting a streak of blue upon the stage as the Willie Lynch Syndrome Speech was read by an unseen cast member.
Although the speech (once purported to be an authentic transcript from the 1700s) was written sometime in the 20th century by an anonymous author, it was chosen by the BSU to highlight the mistreatment and dehumanization of Africans in the early days of slavery. The theater, which had before been filled with cheers and laughter, fell into a hushed silence.
The following section, The Awakening, moved into the 20th century when African-American art gained a larger following. Audiences went wild seeing the two step selections by the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and the Anointed Steps of Faith, and applauded Diamond Gorman (covering Etta James), Charles Davis and Some of God’s Children as they returned to sing again.
What stood out most in the second act was Cramer’s acoustic performance. Described by Oriola as having an “angelic-like voice,” the entire audience was stunned by the soul she put into both her vocals and her guitar playing. After she exited the stage, a video presentation called “I Was Here” played.
These moving pieces were followed by a brief Intermission that included a raffle drawing. Three different guests won Chatham University merchandise from the Bookstore before the final act–Modern Day and Age–began. Another short video presentation played before Jeremiah Davis returned for a second poem called “God’s Painting” that touched metaphorically on issues of race and diversity.
Soulstylz danced before high schooler Essence Criswell took the stage to deliver one of the best spoken word performances of the evening: “Hair”. Host Jay Oriola — an excellent comedian–came up and performed his own piece of poetry called “Poets” that explained the life and perception of artists, a subject that many people in the audience connected with. Finally, Cramer came on to steal the show once more before Ya’Baso closed out the show with the popular “Kukere”.
With all luck, the Black Student Union Showcase will become an annual Black History Month event at Chatham University and will be enjoyed–with new, but equally moving, numbers and performers–for years to come.
