Category: News

By Caleb Dorfman
Transcript Correspondent

Melanie Henderson will become the newest addition to the Ohio Wesleyan psychology department this fall, and is ready to teach several different psychology courses.

Henderson’s expertise is in personality psychology, “specifically personality and social contexts, or how personality and situational factors interact to influence thoughts, feelings, and behaviors,” she said in an email.

Henderson said her work spans “personality, social and organizational psychology more broadly, and applied topics more specifically, such as decision-making, occupational health, and workplace change.”

Henderson said her research focuses on social power and status, specifically how people recognize and use power.

“…(T)his line of research has also examined the effect of power on a specific workplace outcome—sexual harassment,” she said. “These projects have explored the role of power in women’s perceptions of and reactions to workplace gender harassment, or crude and sexist forms of harassment targeting women.”

Henderson said her own experience as an undergraduate student at Oberlin College was one of the reasons she wanted to come to OWU. She said her time at a liberal arts school was life-changing.

“My goal is to teach and do research in a student-centered, liberal arts college that strongly values teaching and mentoring …” she said.

“My research, teaching and mentoring interests are aligned with (OWU’s) commitment to students.”

Henderson said her research projects have “explored perspective taking – the act of inferring other psychological viewpoints, identity management strategies – perceived compatibility between multiple, conflicting identities, and attachment style – one’s interpersonal style in close relationships – as factors contributing to people’s power and communication tactics.”

Freshman Vinay Raj, who said he plans to major in psychology, said he is excited to hopefully take classes with Henderson next semester.

“I think that her research on power in the workplace sounds really interesting, and I am definitely interested in taking some of her courses,” Raj said.

Henderson will teach Introduction to Psychology, Personality and Assessment and Psychological Adjustment.

Henderson is originally from Amherst, Ohio. She attended Oberlin College, where she graduated with a High Honors Bachelor of Arts in psychology in 2007, according to her biography on the University of Michigan’s website.

Henderson is currently in the Department of Psychology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich. She received her doctorate in psychology (Personality and Social Contexts area) from the University of Michigan in 2013, after entering the doctoral program in 2007.

By Rachel Vinciguerra
Transcript Correspondent

Almost one academic year after the creation of the Beeghly Family Special Collections Reading Room, staff say students are making use of the unique sources in Ohio Wesleyan’s archives.

The renovation project to create the Special Collections Reading Room was created by a donation from the Beeghly family and completed in time for this year’s fall semester. In a joint statement made in December 2011, the Beeghly family said they hoped the room would allow for easier access and increased usage of the special and rare books collections.

The Special Collections are divided into three areas: Archives of Ohio United Methodism, the Ohio Wesleyan Historical Collection and the Rare Books and Artifacts Collection. Each of these collections has an archivist or librarian that maintains them.

Carol Holliger, the archivist for the Archives of Ohio United Methodism, said she largely works with church researchers outside of the university, but also spends time working with students on specific religious projects.

“I work frequently with OWU students who are writing papers that directly or indirectly involve UMC (United Methodist Church) history,” she said. “I am able to help students find unique primary sources for their papers.”

Holliger said she gives tours for Dr. Blake Michael’s REL 410 course and works with work-study students on the library science track.

“Mentoring students is an enjoyable part of my work,” she said.

Bernard Derr, librarian for the rare books, artifacts and manuscripts, said many donated items have been given to the collection with the understanding that they will contribute to the educational mission of the university. Like Holliger, Derr said training students is a big part of that mission.

“For instance, at the present time, (senior) Rose Moller-Jacobs is finishing her second year of work with the conservation of our most valuable books, by building state-of-the art clam shell boxes at which she has become a real expert,” Derr said.
Derr said he works with a few students on projects ranging from scanning pages of Walt Whitman’s scrapbook to reorganizing and packing the collection of African artifacts.

According to Derr the Rare Books and Artifacts Collection serves a primarily educational purpose. he said classes often come in to view artifacts tracing the evolution of writing from cuneiform, to clay tablets, to papyrus, to medieval manuscripts. He said the second-most popular collection is the Walt Whitman collection.

Derr said much of the material is also accessible online. Fine Arts Professor Jeff Nilan digitized the collection of photographs of the American West, and Humanities and Professor Patricia DeMarco digitized a medieval prayer book.

Emily Gattozzi, librarian and curator of the Ohio Wesleyan University Historical Collection, said Special Collections prioritizes research by those with university connections.

“It’s part of the historical collection’s mission statement to make the research of OWU students, faculty, staff and alumni a priority,” she said.

Gattozzi said she enjoys working with students who come in to research a topic that interests them. One of the projects she said she often works on with students is digitization of collections featuring their unique scholarship.

“I love how digital collections can raise awareness of an institution’s unique materials and provide 24/7 access to things people may not be able to use in person because of distance,” she said.

Gattozzi said one of the things she especially loves about her job is learning more about topics researchers need help with.

Holliger agreed, saying that she feels like a detective searching for clues.

“The ‘detective’ aspect of my work is great fun,” she said. “I love looking for answers to obscure questions, following the trail of primary resource materials where they lead.”

In such a large collection, there is much to look for. The Archives of Ohio United Methodism includes closed church records, manuscript diaries and correspondences, periodicals, books, artifacts, photographs and local church history files.

Holliger said two of the special items in the collection include a riding cane and letters owned by the founder of United Methodism, John Wesley.

The Ohio Wesleyan Historical Collection houses the full run of “The Transcript,” “Le Bijou” and the OWU Magazine, as well as photo albums, student departmental honors papers and blueprints.

The Rare Books and Artifacts collection houses items like autographed copies of Walt Whitman’s books to illuminated manuscripts.

Despite the wide array of materials and high accessibility, many students still do not know what the Special Reading Room is.

Most students asked about the topic did not know of the glass room on the second floor of Beeghly Library.

One student who did was sophomore Emma Goetz, who said she accessed the collections to find information about Kappa Alpha Theta, of which she is a member, for Heritage Day next year.

She said she looked through a file with archival articles about Kappa Alpha Theta from “The Transcript.”

Goetz said she also looked through old scrapbooks and yearbooks for information.
“I found pictures of Thetas all the way back to the early ‘20s,” she said.
Goetz said the librarians were very helpful and she enjoyed the time she spent in Special Collections.

All three librarians and archivists said they encourage students to contact them with any interest they have in using the collections, as the OWU community is often their priority.

Holliger said materials in the archives are unique and intended for research purposes.

“The items located in the archives are rare, one-of-a-kind materials that cannot be replaced,” she said.

“In order to protect them for the use of future researchers, great care needs to be taken to make sure materials are not removed or damaged by users. But the security measures (such as signing in and showing identification) are not meant to keep students out.”

Derr agreed. While preservation is critical to the maintenance of the collection, he said, the ultimate purpose is accessibility.

“Most importantly, it is to make these things available inside and outside the OWU community, to students and to scholars,” he said.

By Hannah Urano
Transcript Correspondent

Handfuls of powdered paint could be seen flying through the air on the Thomson Hall lawn last Saturday afternoon, blanketing students in colorful pigment.

The smell of Indian food and Indian music were the background to students’ laughter at the inaugural Holi celebration at Ohio Wesleyan.

Members of SANGAM, Ohio Wesleyan’s South Asian cultural club, organized the traditional Hindu festival of colors.

According to junior Krina Patel, who has been involved in the club for two years, SANGAM mean “unity” or “meeting of cultures.” She said the meaning is fitting, as the club consists of people from various parts of South Asia.

Junior Azfar Wattoo said SANGAM’s goal is “essentially to make South Asian culture meet with the cultures of the rest of the world, by raising awareness and promoting South Asian cultural traditions on campus.”

According to Wattoo, Holi is a major Hindu holiday.

“It is really important to us, along with Eid and Diwali,” he said.

“It’s one of the three most important holidays in South Asia.”

Freshman Shashwat Rijal said Holi is a celebration of good over evil, and is “traditionally celebrated with a lot of colors and with some religious proceedings.”
“According to Hinduism, that was the day when a devil was killed by a god,” he said.
Patel said Holi is celebrated on the last full moon of the winter season as a way to usher in spring.

Wattoo, who is from Pakistan, said the Hindu communities celebrate Holi in their homes, at their temples and in other designated places.

“Even though Pakistan is predominantly (a) Muslim country, we still go over and celebrate this great occasion with our Hindu friends, in the same way as other South Asian communities,” he said. “It was nice to be able to do something at OWU.”

According to Wattoo, in most South Asian countries “people come out into the streets wearing white clothes and play with different colors, and water balloons, while loud music is being played in the background.” He said he hopes the OWU community gets to know and appreciate South Asian culture and traditions, as it is the international community on campus.

Patel said she hopes students gained more knowledge about this cultural tradition as well as enjoyed themselves at event, and that she was pleased with the turnout.

“It was exciting to see that there were more than 100 people there at one point,” she said. “The best part of the entire event was coming back to a Facebook newsfeed full of Holi pictures and seeing how much fun everyone had.”

Freshman Emma Drongowski said her favorite part of the celebration was “the delicious food, and how so many different people from around campus came to experience a new tradition.”

“It was such a perfect day to celebrate the beginning of spring because it was so nice outside, and I was so happy to see some campus administrators participating in the fun,” she said.

By Sadie Slager
Transcript Correspondent

After donating many unwanted items last year, Sustainability OWU is preparing for its second May Move Out event.

The event aims to reduce the amount of waste at the end of the school year as students move out of university housing. Sustainability OWU, the main campus group promoting a greener lifestyle on campus, is seeking volunteers to help in the moving out and recycling process.

Senior Sarah D’Alexander of Sustainability OWU called last year’s May Move Out a “huge success.”

“We collected around 10 tons of donations, which all went to local charities and to the OWU Free Store—a ‘store’ open in the Fall semester to give donations back to the students for free,” she said. “We keep it open as long as there are things left, which isn’t long.”

D’Alexander said the leaders of the project are hoping to make a few changes this year to make it even better.

“This time around we want to increase the diversion of recyclables (cardboard, paper and plastic), better incorporate the SLUs and fraternities in the project and get more volunteers so we can expand our collection sites and improve our efficiency,” she said.

Students tend to have an abundance of extra things in their rooms at the end of the school year, as was evident in previous years, according to D’Alexander.

“It was the accumulation of reusable things like fridges, microwaves, TVs, clothing, books and furniture seen in dumpsters during the move out in previous years that really inspired the creation of this project,” she said.

“There is also a lot of paper, like old class notes, that gets thrown away during this time that we really want to make sure gets recycled, rather than thrown away, this year.”

D’ Alexander said there was a diverse collection of donations last year, but the more commonly gathered items were school supplies, textbooks and clothing.

Such items were recycled last year and will be again this year through being donated to local charities like Goodwill, the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, as well as the OWU Free Store.

Senior Hudson Miller said he sees an accumulation of junk items from students at the end of the school year.

“I have noticed that people often leave large, bulky, low-value items like mattress pads and plastic containers,” he said.

Miller said he sees a lot of those unwanted items in his fraternity house, where there is no formal method of recycling them.

“We often will (give) things to each other or just leave things in the closets and basements,” he said.

According to D’Alexander, along with Sustainability OWU’s composting project in the dining halls, the 2012 May Move Out Project contributed to “a 54-percent reduction in the amount of waste produced by the university.”

She said Sustainability OWU would like to see as much student participation and as many volunteers as they had last year.

“This is a huge project that needs as much help as we can get,” she said. “Ideally we would like everyone on campus to be aware and willing to do their part to reduce the amount of things they throw away at the end of the semester, but we settle for anyone who is willing to give us a hand.”

D’Alexander said volunteers will be able to help in several ways depending on their availability and interests.

“We need one volunteer from each dorm, SLU and fraternity to let us know when their collection boxes get full, so we know when we need to do pick-ups,” she said. “Also, we will need volunteers to help us put up collection boxes and flyers, sort and collect through donations, help us move donations from the collection areas to our vans during finals week, and help us sort through the donations and decide which charity they should be given to. All volunteers can receive service hours for helping us in any step of the process.”

According to D’Alexander, when it comes time in early May for students to start moving out, collection boxes will be set up in each living area on campus. Pick-up times will be scheduled to collect and sort donations.

“We keep the items we think students might like for the OWU free store in the fall, and the rest we give to local charities,” she said.

D’Alexander said students should consider helping out with the project particularly if they utilize this process to donate unwanted items or like to get “free stuff” from the campus Free Store.

By Cecilia Smith
Transcript Correspondent

The Interfaith House (IF), the Newman Catholic Community (Newman) and “a dedicated group of vegetarians” collaborated to host a free vegan dinner for students this Easter Sunday.

The dinner, held at IF, featured mashed sweet potatoes, deviled potatoes, “Tree Rice,” a salad and lemon asparagus risotto. Students dyed eggs, ate Peeps and participated in an egg hunt put on by IF senior Amanda Boehme.

Junior Peter Reveles, Newman president, said the dinner was a good way to promote healthy eating and “giv(e) people an opportunity to spend Easter with a kind of family.”

Sophomore Kerrigan Boyd, one of the event’s organizers, said she was pleased with the diverse group of people at the dinner.

“I think there were a lot of friends of friends,” she said.

“(The) turnout was great, and we had enough food this time.”

Boyd co-organized a vegetarian taco night at the Tree House with junior Karli Amstadt earlier this semester. Boyd said she and Amstadt wanted to do another dinner and Amstadt had the idea to collaborate with IF.

Amstadt said she thought holding the dinner on a holiday at a different location than the last meal helped attract more people. She also said she’d consider holding more dinners on holidays.

Amstadt said traditional Easter foods inspired the menu. She said deviled eggs were switched with potatoes, and butter was not used in the mashed sweet potatoes; instead, Amstadt said, the vegan version of the recipe required mixing in orange juice, maple syrup and olive oil.

“We had a couple of snafus with the risotto,” she said. “We mixed the rice in water instead of broth and I caught the mistake too late. We accidentally invented Tree Rice. That’s a secret recipe.”

Amstadt said the meal added up to $60 instead of the budgeted $100.

“People think that being vegetarian is expensive, but you can also be cheaper a lot of the time because beans and rice cost less than meat,” she said, adding that she and Boyd are planning a vegan ice cream social with the extra money.

Senior Rachel Tallmadge, IF moderator, said Boyd contacted her with the idea to have an Easter dinner at the house and her housemates took care of the rest, including the egg-dyeing kit.

“IF House is happy to co-sponsor an event with any religious group and any special interest group—especially one that involves food,” she said.

“…(E)very time there’s a religious tradition, a family tradition, we want to be a

By Sara Jane Sheehan, Cecilia Smith and Morgan Christie
Transcript Correspondents

Women dressed in pink, red and black lined the Jemison Auditorium in Sanborn on Friday and Saturday night for performances of “The Vagina Monologues.”

The production ushered in Women’s Week and commemorated the 15th anniversary of the international V-Day movement to stop violence against women and girls.

“The Vagina Monologues” by Eve Ensler is a narrative based on women’s experiences about their bodies and sexualities.

According to Ensler, “The Vagina Monologues” has been performed in hundreds of countries to help to end violence against women.

“‘The Vagina Monologues’ is a beautiful piece of feminist activist theatre that brings together a diverse group of women to present various facets of the global female experience,” said senior Leah Shaeffer, co-director and producer.

“Our cast and supporters formed an amazing community this year, strengthening friendships and promoting equality and empowerment for all.”

This was the second consecutive time “The Vagina Monologues” was performed at Ohio Wesleyan.

According to Shaeffer and co-director and producer Andrea Kraus, also a senior, this year’s performance was bigger and better.

Shaeffer said last year, “The Vagina Monologues” started as a house project for the Women’s House (WoHo) and the House of Peace and Justice (P&J). She said there were over 50 women involved with the show this year.

The 50 students read monologues on topics ranging from pubic hair, body image, reclaiming gender-based slurs, rape culture, beatings of transgender-identifying youths and sexual violence.

The performance began with songs from the all-women a capella group Pitch Black and included a dance piece by senior Kathleen Dalton and junior Sonja Petermann.

It ended with a dance to the song “Break the Chain,” the official song of the V-Day movement.

The performance was free for students, but donations went to benefit Delaware County HelpLine’s Sexual Assault Response Network.

“‘The Vagina Monologues’ and the V-Day movement have really opened my eyes to what I can personally do to be a part of the global fight to end violence against women and girls,” Shaeffer said. “By raising awareness and supporting local organizations like HelpLine’s Sexual Assault Reponse Network, we are doing what we can to stop the violence.”
At the end of the show Shaeffer and the seniors in the monologues performed a monologue about ending rape culture. Kraus then led the whole ensemble into a monologue about One Billion Rising. Each performer stood up and stated why they were rising to end violence against women.

Kraus said she thought ‘The Vagina Monologues’ was particularly relevant to OWU this year because of recent incidents on campus, and she wants the show to encourage people to talk.

“My goals going into this show were to educate and cause the audience to experience an emotion of some sort,” she said. “I think it’s important for the audience to think about the women in their lives and how this relates to them and hopefully be able to take action. I just want people to feel open and free and empowered.”

Sophomore Jordane Faith said she participated in the production because it “reminds (her) we aren’t done fighting.” Faith read the monologue “I Was 12, My Mother Slapped Me.”

“Injustice and violence against women hasn’t ended and won’t anytime soon unless women and men alike stand up and stop supporting rape culture,” she said.

Kraus said the show still moves her even though she’s seen it several times.

“I still have different reactions every time I hear those monologues,” she said. “Hearing some of those stories brings to life the idea that this is still an issue, there is still work to be done, but that we can make a difference.”

To freshman Reilly Reynolds, “The Vagina Monologues” means feeling strong and good about being a woman, and using this view to create a positive self-image.

Reynolds,said there are “so many women” who do not have a positive self-image about themselves as women, something she hopes to change through her involvement in “The Vagina Monologues” and V-Day.

Sophomore Felicia Rose, who performed in the monologue “My Angry Vagina,” said she is taking part in this year’s production after seeing the play performed last year and being “thrown around emotionally.”

“I wanted to be a part of something that could have a strong presence in the life of someone else here at OWU,” she said. “I am a politics and government major interested in social issues. I think that the theater is a place where social commentary on social issues can have a big impact.”

Freshman Hannah Simpson, another performer, is a theater major who believes in the influence theater can have on social issues.

Simpson said she got involved in the play not only to take advantage of the performing opportunity, but also because she believes activist projects like “The Vagina Monologues” can help her grow as someone who fights for women’s rights.

Freshman Casey Skrove, who performed in “Six Year Old Girl,” said she and the rest of the all-female cast need to do their part in educating others about violence against women and rising up against such violence. She said she hopes the audience walks away with a “new outlook and motivation to stop the violence.”

Reynolds said the heavy content of the show is meant to evoke emotions that make viewers want to “jump out of their seats and do something about it.”

“We’re looking to spread knowledge, and to make people want to never take a backseat again when it comes to the safety and rights of women,” she said.

Rose said she is interested in informing the student population about the issues concerning women and wants the play to provide students with an opportunity to express their thoughts on the subject.

“I hope students that walk away from this play will have the ability to openly talk about the issues concerning them,” she said. “I hope they understand that there is a powerful supportive presence on this campus waiting with open arms to support them in any facet.”

Simpson said she hopes students who see the play will walk away with a better understanding of how much of a problem rape culture is and that ending it begins with the individual.

“This means no more rape jokes, standing up for what’s right and treating everyone like the fellow human being that he (or) she is,” she said.

Rose says the play means she is not alone and she has great power to influence those around her.

Skrove said the play means being able to do her part in educating others and rising up against the violence.

Simpson said she feels the play represents how she has grown as an activist.

“Before I came to college, I had never let anyone tell me I couldn’t do something because I was a girl, and I had zero tolerance for sexism,” she said. “After being involved with (‘The Vagina Monologues’), I feel like I have more ownership of my feminism.”

Reynolds said she hopes the messages presented by the cast in “The Vagina Monologues” will be present in students’ minds year-round.

“We’re striving to make a difference here in our small town, and we believe that difference is going to spread world-wide,” she said.

By Jija Dutt
Transcript Correspondent

Ohio Wesleyan international students experienced one of the quintessential American tourist experiences by visiting Washington, D.C.

Accompanied by Dorota Kendrick and Darrell Albon from the International and Off Campus Programs Office, 35 students spent the first half of spring break in the nation’s capital.

In what turned out to be four days of a packed schedule, including visits to places like, the Udvar Hazy Center, the Vietnam, Lincoln, Jefferson and World War II memorials, the U.S. Capitol, National Archives and a host of other historically significant places, these students seemed to have had the time of their lives during this spring break trip.

“It was an amazing experience,” said senior Yushan Hayman.

“This spring was the first time I went to DC and going with such a large group of friends made it even more fun.”
For junior Priyanka Venkataraman, this trip was very politically and historically enriching.

“We visited a lot of memorable places and the holocaust museum had the biggest impact on me,” she said.

Composed primarily of seniors and juniors, this trip to the nation’s capital proved to be a much needed break for most students.

Venkataraman said it was not the usual social crowd she hangs out with at school but it was still great to be able to interact and spend time with the other international students.

Sponsored entirely by two OWU alumni, Gordon V. Smith ’54 and Helen Smith ‘56, the Washington, D.C. trip is one that both staff and students look forward to ever year.

“My favorite part about the D.C. trip is being able to spend time with the international students and also being able to hear their thoughts and see their reactions on the many different sights we visit in our nation’s capital,” said Kendrick.

Economics and English majors at Ohio Wesleyan respectively, Gordan and Helen Smith are longtime supporters of the university.

Helen Smith is also a life trustee of the university.

The Smiths have been sponsoring the Washington, D.C. trip since 2006.

“We got a chance to meet the Smiths this time,” says Hayman.

“They are very kind people who have traveled all over the world and have many interesting stories,” he said.

Venkataram said the Smiths are the most genuine people she has met through the Ohio Wesleyan community.

“They are so passionate about travel, us international students and our aspirations. It’s obvious that this is a long term passion for them,” she said.

The Smiths also sponsor a trip for a group of international students to New York City over Thanksgiving Break every alternate year.

For students who do not have places to go to over short breaks, trips like Washington, D.C. are always looked forward to.

“I encourage all the international students to try to take advantage of it,” said Hayman.

By Hannah Urano
Transcript Correspondent

Sophomore Kyle Simon is hoping to “show the women of Ohio Wesleyan how much they’re loved and, at best, encourage more students to get involved in feminist projects at school or in the Delaware community”—all with note cards.

Sophomore Kyle Simon, a member of the Women’s House (WoHo), said he organized the “Notes of Hope” campaign as his house project for the semester.

According to the event’s Facebook page, “Notes of Hope is a campaign where students are given index cards to anonymously write messages that are inspirational or empowering in nature in regards to women, feminism, or any sort of topic of that nature.”

Simon said he tabled in Hamilton-Williams Campus Center (HWCC) last week, passing out note cards and encouraging students to jot down their messages.

“I had a multitude of students come up and write on more than one note,” he said. “Faculty and staff have written cards too.”

Junior Gus Wood said his general reaction to Notes of Hope is “the overwhelming sense of pride in (the OWU) community for reaching out and sharing their support for the struggles of women.”

“I think it will add a sense of locality and solidarity,” he said.

“People will walk into (HWCC) and see their peers’ words of support and love and know they are not alone.”

During the tabling process, Simon said he decided not to read what people were writing.

“Leaving them completely unread until I display (them) means a lot to me personally as I want the notes to have as large of an impact as possible,” he said.

As a member of WoHo, Simon said he “does (his) best to contribute to a lot of queer or feminist activism and events on campus,” and encourages other students to do the same.

Simon said the timing of this project was perfect, as it “thematically contributed to Women’s Week.”

According to Wood, Simon’s roommate in WoHo, Women’s Week is “essentially a week devoted to the causes of women.”
“A lot of programming like discussions, documentaries, and of course Take Back the Night happen during the week,” he said.

Like Simon, Wood said he hopes other men on campus take Notes of Hope and Women’s Week to heart.

“I just want them to consider how much they are given and how much privilege they walk around with,” he said.

“I want them to see the women on campus and in their lives as powerful, independent, and strong people that deserve their respect, and justice,” he said.

“The programming for Women’s Week offers a moving look into the struggles and problems that women face, and may move the men in the audience to action. I want them to walk away changed.”

By Rachel Vinciguerra
Transcript Correspondent

Although OWU is considered “the opposite of ordinary,” since their inception in 2009-2010, travel-learning courses reflect national trends in female-dominated study-abroad programs.

Darrell Albon, the director of international and off-campus programs, echoed this consistency with national trends as well as a contributing factor of a gender imbalance of enrollment.

“Here at OWU more women than men apply to participate and participate in the Travel Learning Course program,” Albon said. “The same is true of semester-long study abroad. This reflects national trends and is magnified just a bit by the fact that there are more women than men enrolled at OWU.”

The Institute of International Education found in 2008 that women enrolled in colleges nationwide were about twice as likely as their male counterparts to take part in study-abroad opportunities. And although OWU’s study-abroad opportunities tend to be more numerous and involved than those of many comparable universities, one-half of the student body is missing the boat.

Sociology Professor John Durst said in his experience with travel-learning he has found this national trend to be true.

“In the travel-learning I know, in the course connection I am coordinator of, there is no question whatsoever that there are overwhelmingly more female applicants.”

Durst said he is uncomfortable with the gender bias in travel-learning courses.

“It bothers me,” he said. “I don’t know what it is about this notion of extending the university beyond the walls of Delaware, Ohio and to interdisciplinary course connections that we’re missing.”

Albon said there are many factors that he has seen contribute to students’ decisions to study abroad in some capacity.

” Choice of major and minor programs, participation in inter-collegiate athletics, and participation in on-campus co-curricular activities (for both genders) are factors in the choice to study abroad for a semester,” Albon said.

But admitted that more women do utilize study-abroad opportunities than men, although he said he does not have exact data on those trends at this time.

Durst said he is not bothered by the fact many women are taking advantage of these travel opportunities, rather, he said he is bothered by the lack of male interest.

“I don’t think these are bad guys,” Durst said. “It just seems to be that we’re not reaching them as well.”

Senior Margaret Argiro is currently enrolled in a travel-learning course, called “The Sociology of Knowledge”, which will travel to England and Scotland in May. She said her class is entirely female.

“I think it could alter the experience,” she said. “Having such a female-dominated group might dictate what you do or how you interact with the people and culture you study in.”

Argiro said she studied abroad in Tanzania her sophomore year and experienced the same phenomenon. Her program was made up of ten women and two men.

“It was still a really good experience,” she said. “But it’s the whole idea of wearing a wedding ring in a bar. Sometimes it is helpful to have guys along.”

Argiro said she thought the biggest impact of having only a few men in travel-learning courses, and other study-abroad opportunities, was that it could add expense to the trip.

“It’s harder to accommodate the one outlier,” she said. “If there are ten women and one man you have to get an extra room for that guy and figure out how to plan for gender in that sense.”

Senior Matthew Hill was part of the “British Images” travel-learning course last semester. There were three men and eight women on his trip. He said he agrees with Argiro that rooming is one of the biggest issues that arise with gender discrepancies like this.

“The only area where it really had an impact was rooming while we were on the trip,” he said. “While the women were able to change their roommates over the course of the trip, we men always had to room together.”

Hill said he didn’t mind the rooming situation because he got along well with the other men, but said he could see why that might be a concern.

Hill said he was interested in travel-learning courses because they allowed him to study abroad without devoting an entire semester to the experience. He also said this course related directly to his studies.

“It seemed like a natural decision,” he said.

Jill McKinney, associate director of the Center for Global Education at Butler University, said in an interview in 2008 that she found three main reasons that women studied abroad more than men: motherhood, age and safety.

She said she found that women who were planning to have children at some point in their lives sought opportunities for travel at a younger age than men. She also said that men tend to be more adventurous with traveling on their own, whereas women actively seek opportunities for organized group travel for increased safety.

This begs the question, do more men seek to use the more individualized TIPIT program to fulfill their study abroad desires?

The answer seems to be: only slightly. In the cycle last fall, ten of the sixteen TIPITs were awarded to women as primary proposers of the projects, that’s 62.5% female.

Durst said perhaps part of the reason for the gender discrepancy might be historical gender differentiation.

“I think a lot of the professors involved in travel-learning are coming out of departments that in-and-of-themselves tend to be dominated by female majors.”

Durst said he is not concerned women are missing out on these opportunities, but wants to reach out to the men.

“I have no loss of sleep about the women,” Durst said. “They travel, they’re involved, they participate. They get the notion of active-learning expanding beyond the classroom. They get it. My fear is, there’s an experience being missed, and a connection being missed by most of the males and that is sad.”

As representatives of his own social demographic, Durst said that white males don’t seem to be picking up the ball as much as they perhaps should. He said it has become a goal of his to figure out ways to make sure that group, in particular, can become more involved.

“One idea would be aggressive recruitment,” Durst said. “The other issue with the program might be design. Maybe I need to sit down with my course connection’s male students and ask, ‘What would interest you?'”

Although travel-learning courses are fairly evenly taught by male and female professors, the gender imbalance in students continues to be significant.

“Socially and statistically, it is a significant difference,” said Durst. “It’s not just a little bit, it’s a major difference of involvement. So I guess I’m throwing out a challenge to males to some degree.”

Reporter’s Note: It is the view of this journalist that those behind the incidents described are a vocal minority in the OWU and Delaware communities. Nevertheless, these incidents are relevant to the entire community and need to be acknowledged and addressed. This article contains quoted slurs used against minority communities.

Racism

As an African-American student walks down the street, a car slows next to him as a passenger rolls down the window; “nigger!” the passenger yells before the driver speeds off.

Several members of Ohio Wesleyan’s African-American community, male and female alike, report having been victims of this kind of racist drive-by harassment.

Senior James Huddleston, co-president of Black Men of the Future (BMF), said he was walking down a street with five or six other African-American students when “a car drives past, and they (the passengers) just (yelled), ‘damn niggers!””

“I wasn’t trying to judge OWU for that, but that makes me look at the world different since (then),” Huddleston said. “That kinda changes the way you feel about the area or the society (you’re in).”

Senior Nicole Lourette, a member of Sisters United (SU), said she knew of two former students, both African-American women, who had “nigger bitch!” shouted at them as they walked down Sandusky Street.

“People don’t walk up to you and do something, but they’ll do it in the way they can (get away with it),” she said.
Senior Andrew Dos Santos, BMF co-president, said these things have happened to him “four or five different times.”
“(As I cross the street) a car just drives by – and I know this happens to everyone in (BMF) – and the driver yells ‘Hey, nigger! Nigger!’ and they speed off…They’re in the safety of their car—I can’t really do anything, I can’t run to the car and knock on their window and say ‘Hey, you really shouldn’t call me that.’”

Dos Santos said he’s heard of many other instances of racial epithets being shouted at black students, but students aren’t the perpetrators.

Junior Lehlohonolo Mosola, resident adviser of the House of Black Culture (HBC), agreed—he said most of the insults he’s heard have come from Delaware residents.

“In defense of the school, I’ve experienced less racism from the school and from the people who go here than probably any other school or place that I’ve been in for a long period of time in my life,” Mosola said.

“Now, the town around Ohio Wesleyan, it’s pretty bad, I’m not going to lie. I’ve certainly had obscenities screamed out of cars at me more times than any other place in my entire life. It makes no sense, because I’ve been in supposedly stereotypically way more racist places than this. That’s kinda against Delaware, but the school – I’ve had much less trouble here than I have in the past.”

Senior Nginyu Ndimbie has had a different experience—he said another student called him a “nigger” at a Halloween costume party.

“I wanted to slash him with this styrofoam sword that I spent all day making, and I just looked at him, and I’m just like, ‘No, that’s not cool,’” he said.

“To a degree, I wanted to scare him. I wanted to take him somewhere and tell him, ‘You’re lucky that you’re saying this to me and I don’t really mind this word, but the fact that you find it funny is not okay.’

“I truthfully did not have it in me; it ruined the whole party, just the idea that this kid felt so insulated that that word is a joke to him, was really bizarre to me.”

Lee Yoakum, Delaware’s city coordinator for Community Affairs, said in an email that these incidents are “not representative” of the Delaware community, and that the Delaware Police Department has received no complaints about racial slurs being shouted at OWU students.

“(W)e want to know about (such incidents),” he said.

“Students should contact OWU Public Safety and/or the Delaware Police Department.”

Legally, Delaware City Prosecutor Mark Corroto said in an email, authorities must “balanc(e) between free speech and menacing (or threats).”

Section 2903.22 of the Ohio Revised Code (ORC) defines menacing as knowingly causing another “to believe that the offender will cause physical harm to the person or property of the other person, the other person’s unborn, or a member of the other person’s immediate family.”

An individual who violates this section would be guilty of a fourth-degree misdemeanor; according to Section 2929.24, this would be punishable by a jail term of “not more than thirty days.”

ORC Section 2927.12, concerning “Ethnic intimidation,” lists Section 2903.22 as one of several not to be violated “by reason of the race, color, religion, or national origin of another person or group of persons.”

A menacing conviction was also found to violate this section would become a third degree misdemeanor, punishable by “not more than sixty days” in jail, according to Sections 2927.12 and 2929.24.

Corroto mentioned an incident several years ago where a black man was called the N-word by a Delaware resident and “punched the caller in the mouth.”

Despite it being a clear assault, Corroto said the jury acquitted him.

“It was, I must admit, a loss that I did not bemoan,” he said.

Several members of BMF described hearing more subtle racially-charged statements, sometimes even from roommates.
“I don’t think people even realize they’re being racist, but it’s just subtle undertones, it’s frustrating,” said sophomore Garrison Davis, a member of BMF and resident of HBC.

“I feel like people aren’t as outward with their racism, but they find ways to do it,” Lourette said.

“One thing that is a problem on this campus is stereotypes—stereotypes that people think black people do or are,” said sophomore Mariah Powell, president of SU.

She described having to watch “Madea Goes to Jail” with several white students, who asked her if this was what all black women were like. She said without such movies and TV shows, they wouldn’t have that image of African-Americans.

“So they just have this view of all black people because they’ve seen ‘Real Housewives of Atlanta,’ or ‘Bad Girls Club,’ or something like that, so they think I act like that too, and I don’t,” she said.

“…Other people, if they don’t know you, they don’t really know how to take who you are, so they just put you all in one big bubble.”

Members of BMF also discussed how societal expectations affect their ability to react to the racial taunts they’ve suffered.

“I like to talk to people about it,” Dos Santos said. “Something happens, they say something and I’m like, ‘Why do you think it’s okay to say that?’ instead of getting upset, because as soon as I get upset, I fulfill the stereotype—I’m the angry black man, and anything I say is nothing, so I have to be calm and logical.”

Senior Andrew Wilson said black students are “forced to react” this way when confronting racist actions.

“If someone outright calls me a fag or a nigger to my face, I can’t get mad at them because if I do, I’m insinuating a stereotype, and then that builds and that validates that stereotype, and that validates that action again,” he said.

“That’s not fair, but that’s the social construct, that’s the world we live in… I can’t get mad because if I get mad I’m going to be that angry black guy… We can’t do anything but sit in these meetings and vent, every single damn meeting we have.

“And that’s the purpose of BMF, SU, and SUBA, VIVA, VSA, Horizons (International), Chinese Culture Club, Hillel—is to vent about all these injustices that are imparted on us, but we can’t get mad about them because it’s not socially acceptable for us to get mad. I don’t understand that, and we don’t have conversations about that in our classes at all, and we don’t have those conversations with the people that we would like to have them with.

“We all know that it’s not okay to do all this stuff, but for the people that aren’t in this room, that won’t come to this (BMF) meeting… that don’t even see any of us on this campus, that’s who we want to talk to. That’s who we want to reach… It’s cool to be politically correct and all that shit, but there comes a time, like Dr. Martin Luther King says, there comes a time when silence works totally against what you’re going for. Silence doesn’t do jack shit; it actually makes shit worse most days.”

Sexism

“Sexism is extremely prevalent on this campus,” said junior Jenna Culina, a resident of the Women’s House (WoHo).
“People don’t realize it … This is a terrible thing to talk about, it hurts, but sexual assault on our campus is something that is still happening—like the amount it has happened and when you come back to or you come to Take Back the Night, it hurts your heart, because you realize how many women and how many men it has happened to on this campus.”

“…Then it finally brings you down to earth and you realize, ‘Wow, sexism is all around me’…I personally have never dealt with sexism, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t deal with it later.”

Culina said many of her housemates have experienced sexism, especially in their job searches.

“My mother, actually, was denied a job because a man had the same qualifications but they didn’t think she had the physical strength that he (did),” she said.

Culina said her mother worked in a hospital’s emergency department and would regularly help move bodies from one gurney to another, while wearing “skirts and suits.”

“She has been (in the medical field) for 25 years, if she can’t lift a body off a gurney then she’s got some shit wrong,” she said. “It makes me so mad.”

Senior Lauren Dudley, a member of SU, said men often don’t take campus programming around “women’s issues” seriously.

“I know that we’ve had some instances where we’ve had programming about serious things, for example we’ve had a serious discussion here about rape, and there are film series or discussions or awareness events that people put on,” she said.

“I think for people who I hope just don’t really understand how serious that is, there’s a lot of inappropriate joking I think, and then sometimes you feel harassed when you’re putting out fliers and people are laughing about rape, and you just feel uncomfortable.”

Culina said during last year’s Take Back the Night march around the campus, an unidentified student in Welch Hall shouted “We’re coming to get you!” from a window.

She said yelling also took place during SlutWalk, a fall march that raises awareness of victim-blaming in regard to rape.

Culina also said the 1984 Take Back the Night event was marred when students firebombed WoHo. Due to this incident people, usually fraternity brothers, guard the house during Take Back the Night.

A May 17, 1984, article on the WoHo fire says two students came forward and pled guilty to first-degree misdemeanor charges of criminal damaging-endangering shortly afterward. They “voluntarily withdrew” from the university within two weeks of the incident.

The article, however, makes no mention of whether Take Back the Night was occuring “early Sunday morning” when the fire took place.

The first Take Back the Night at OWU was on a Wednesday night in 1980 following three reported assaults, according to an article in The Transcript.

The 1984 article does not mention how the fire was started or why a university official described it as “accidental” and a “joke that went awry.”

A letter to the editor published in the May 24, 1984 edition said the cause of the fire was “a smoke bomb” thrown into the house.

“Women’s reactions to the fire that destroyed the Women’s House are a mixture of praise for the university and students and disappointment at comments made by others,” the May 17 article reads.

It also includes quotes from resident Liz Phelps ’84, who said students were standing around making “rude comments” and jokes as the house burned.

The May 24 Letter to the Editor said these “rude comments” included male students standing around the burning building drinking beers and laughing, saying “the dyke house is burning down.”

“Even if you choose to ignore the basic anti-women issue involved here, you must at least acknowledge the lack of human compassion shown…(J)ust passing the charred remains of the Women’s House stands in mute testimony to the deep emotional devastation experienced by these women,” the letter reads.

On the recent spring break mission trips, one woman student who requested to remain anonymous said she was surprised to encounter subtle sexism.

“We were doing a lot of like heavy labor, like deconstructing houses, minor construction work, and I was surprised by some of the males on my mission team, who I considered like friends or pretty progressive,” she said.

“…They didn’t take me seriously, and there were times where the tools were taken out of my hand when I was doing a fine job by men who thought that they could do the job better, and I guess that really surprised me. …me and a few other girls got together after the end of the day and voiced our frustrations to each other.”

Homophobia

“In the past year there’s been one specific event on campus, towards the LGBT community, where a person of our community was attacked verbally and had beer bottles thrown at them,” said Culina, the president of PRIDE.

The incident occurred in October 2012 and was the subject of The Transcript’s Oct. 26 editorial “The opposite of ordinary: Striving for tolerance for all walks of life on campus.”

Senior Anthony Peddle said the perpetrator was one “uneducated member of a house on campus” who is not necessarily representative of their peers.

“It was not an organization or a set of persons with beliefs attacking another set of persons with beliefs, or actions, or identities,” he said.

Peddle, the president of PRIDE at the time of the incident, said the administration took action the next day, but how it handled the situation wasn’t clear to students.

“I think their reaction to this event was appropriate, and appropriate as a learning experience, for the student community as well as the administration, to better adapt to things like this,” he said.

Culina, however, said she had been unaware that the university took any action to address the incident.

“I understand how the university would not want to call attention to something that could be damaging, you know, but at the same time I think it would make a lot of us feel more safe if we had understood that (official action had been taken),” she said.

Aside from this incident, Culina said she doesn’t think homophobia is a problem in the OWU community. Peddle said he feels it is “a represented problem,” but might be “under-represented” in comparison to other similar colleges.
“What I mean by that is, no matter where you go, no matter where you are, you’re going to face some sort of discrimination and difference bias based on a plethora of things,” he said.

“I think as a whole OWU is very accepting,” said sophomore Hannah Sampson, PRIDE secretary.

Freshman Courtney Austin, a member of PRIDE, said OWU is “really way more accepting” than his high school. Austin, a member of the black community, said he comes from an area where the Ku Klux Klan is active.

“Coming here was like, ‘Oh, let me say these things, I don’t have to filter, well, most of what I say,’” he said. “That was just amazing in its own way.”

Culina said she only knew of two incidents of homophobia at OWU, including the October incident. She said the other involved a Facebook argument, which was told to her during a PRIDE meeting when she asked whether any members had been discriminated against because of their sexual orientation.

A member, whom Culina did not name, said she’d seen a post from a former friend of hers suggesting lesbians just hadn’t had sex with the right man yet. When she asked him politely to take the post down because it was offensive, he refused.

“I cannot look at them the same way,” Culina said about the individual who posted the offensive remark. “I will never – I have never spoke to this person again (since then), simply because it happened again, and this person’s ideologies never changed….Other than that, I’ve been extremely comfortable (at OWU).”

Peddle, though, described an incident that took place “a month (or) a month and a half ago.”

“I was walking to my house, from HamWill (Hamilton-Williams Campus Center), and I have a rainbow on my backpack, and a townie rolled down their window and screamed, ‘Hey faggot, watch out!’”

Austin mentioned a similar incident where he and other runners were practicing outside and “one guy (yells) ‘Faggot!’ and then drives off.”

“I just want to point out, though, that in the Delaware community, we have had a queer church, and we’ve had a gay-straight Christian alliance, that’s still going right now,” Culina said.

“…that’s momentous, for a city of this size and a city of this ideology.”

She and Peddle also said Delaware residents – including University President Rock Jones and his family – regularly take part in Columbus’s annual Pride Parade.

“There are extremely uneducated people in Delaware, and that’s what it is, but at the same time there’s that side where there’s a community of queer people – there’s a larger community of queer people in Delaware than people think,” Culina said.

Peddle said he thinks it should “take(n) into account” that OWU and Delaware residents participate in the Pride Parade as a Methodist college in a predominantly Christian community.

“These are pretty momentous things, and they may seem like nothing to pay $65 to march in three-mile long hot ass parade, but it means something, and I think that not many students see that because they’re not here in the summer,” he said.

“We only get the experience of August through May; we don’t get to experience the outside culture of Delaware, to understand, you know, we’re stuck in our sub-world.

“It’s a bubble, and I think we’re on the right way to pop it, but it’s going to be a hell of a long way.”