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Apr 15

Students
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Race and College Admissions

by Michael J. Petrin

The role of race in college admissions is once again the subject of much debate in our country.  The affirmative action case Abigail Noel Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin[i] is currently before the US Supreme Court, and Suzy Lee Weiss’ recent article “To (All) the Colleges That Rejected Me”[ii] has garnered responses from all corners of the internet.[iii] While I, for one, believe that there is room for informed discussion and debate about affirmative action in college admissions, I would like to suggest that the following points be kept in mind: Read more

Mar 3

Colored books
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What Color is Your History?

Ethnic Studies classes have been a source of a lot of debate lately.

Arizona

In the state of Arizona, House Bill 2281 was signed into law in late 2010 prohibiting classes  in state funded schools that promote the overthrow of the government or resentment toward a race or class, are designed for a specific ethnicity, or advocate ethnic solidarity.

In the beginning of 2011, the Tucson school district was accused of non-compliance by Tom Horne, and in mid 2011 audited by  John Huppenthal. In January 2012, the Mexican-American Studies program was cut from the Tucson School District. Arizona has become rather infamous in the news for its controversial policies directed toward its Mexican and Mexican-American residents. This can most certainly be interpreted as another attack on people of Mexican descent, as the law targeting ethnic studies was only (forcibly) applied to the Mexican-American Studies program. Read more

Feb 27

Blanket

Sewing Circles and Community Art

Last Thursday (February 21st), Native artist Marie Watt (Seneca) held an all-day sewing circle at the Snite Museum on campus. The sewing circle was open to anyone who wished to join for as long as they wished to stick around. No sewing experience was necessary to participate, and Watt promised to trade participants a print for their stitches; in addition to her work with blankets and sewing circles, Watt is also a printmaker, and four of her prints were recently added to the Snite’s collection.

As the Snite website states,

Watt’s art is fundamentally about community. The sewing circles she organizes bring together diverse groups of people who contribute their time, skills, and energy, and equally as important their life experiences.  These events are opportunities for storytelling and sharing and for building relationships. The art lies not only in the objects that result from these labors, but in the performance itself.

Read more

Feb 25

Goldfish
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I Got You, Manti

by Kevin Huang

Okay, so the Manti Te’o story is played out.  It’s slowly becoming a distant memory, one that most of us probably want to forget.  But let me get one more reflection in.

For a lot of us, the story was just plain weird: a fake girlfriend, a web of lies, and mass confusion, all in the light of Manti Te’o’s incredible year. But while there are many people calling Te’o a liar and a fraud, I knew he could not have been behind the twisted scheme when I heard him respond to a question from Katie Couric during their interview.

Katie: I’m sure you’re a BMOC, a big man on campus… you go to Notre Dame. I’m imagining there are a lot of nice young women who go to school there. Why wouldn’t you want a real girlfriend, who you could actually spend real time with in person?

Manti: Well, this Lennay person…there are so many similarities… she was Polynesian supposedly, she’s Samoan, I’m Samoan.  She loved her faith, and she knew a lot about… you know I’m Mormon and she knew a lot about that.  I found a lot of peace and a lot of comfort in being able to talk to somebody and she knew my standards… she knew my culture… she knew what is expected of me, and I knew what is expected of her.

Katie asked a question that I’m sure a lot of people were wondering–why was a guy like Manti Te’o having such an extensive online relationship with a girl he never met? Read more

Feb 20

Let's Talk About Race

WANTED: Your posts!

NOTRE DAME STUDENTS: Convos of Color wants YOUR insight!

Are you interested in discussing race, identity, class, power, and privilege? Do you have experiences to share? Thoughts to get out into the open? Opinions about current affairs? Convos wants to hear from you!

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