The program pairs first-year or transfer students with an upper-class woman who shares similar interests and assists them in adapting to college life.��Dimensions seeks to create a

Dimensions Engagement Reception 2016.

sisterhood for its members through dialogue and activities that support self-confidence, academic success and cross-cultural engagement.

Tatiana Hernandez-Mitchell, a first-year student in the , is part of the program. For Hernandez-Mitchell, participating in Dimensions was a conscious decision to help build her on-campus community. “I wanted to be in a space with multiple women of color, which was lacking in my high school graduating class,” she says. “I knew that coming into college would require a heavy support system, and I wanted to have my family as well as an on-campus family to come to in times of need.”

For Hernandez-Mitchell, Dimensions is a safe haven. She finds the activities fun, and they help her bond with people from a similar background. The program is an important part of her college transition because of “the opportunity to meet multiple women of color that are always there for me and who are my true supporters.”

These sentiments are echoed by Saphyir Moody, a senior in the . Moody participated in the Dimensions program as a mentee in her first year and enthusiastically remembers her experience.

“I really enjoyed the opportunities that came with the program like the retreat and coming to campus early to help with freshman move-in,” Moody says. “Most of all, I have always recognized the importance of having a mentor, and I wanted to be that for someone else.”

Dimensions was such a valuable and enjoyable experience that Moody returned as a mentor. She appreciates how her role as a mentor gives her the opportunity to help others: “I get to guide my mentees and watch them grow. This is the most rewarding experience.”

One of the missions of the program is to create a sisterhood, and for both Hernandez-Mitchell and Moody, the program has achieved that mission.

“I don’t know what I would have done without this program and the ladies who make Dimensions so special to me,” Hernandez-Mitchell says.

“Dimensions will forever be a part of me,” Moody says. “This support system has made my college experience. This program is most important to me because it is a safe space on campus where I feel so much love and support. We are marginalized in our communities, and it is great to have Dimensions because within this group we offer advice to one another that help us overcome the many adversities on campus and in society.”

Since its inception, the Dimensions Mentoring Program has mentored more than 500 first-year women of color, many of whom themselves become mentors. For students interested in becoming a mentor, this year’s application deadline is Monday, March 6. To apply, contact Marissa L. Willingham at mlwill07@syr.edu. For more information, visit .

For Michelle Goode, OHP’s health promotion specialist focused on sexual and relationship violence prevention, the decision to focus on sexual health is one that “Everyone wants to learn more about but has historically been taboo. Sex and sexuality are normal and natural parts of everyone’s life and there are so many ways that someone can have healthy expressions of sexual health.” Frisky February is all about getting “sex-positive messaging out, since sexual health is a topic that is not talked about much,” says Goode.

One of the events that will help get sex-positive messaging out is Sex in the Dark on Tuesday, Feb. 21, at 7:30 p.m. in Grant Auditorium. Sex in the Dark is a glow in the dark-themed sexual health panel discussion with “sexperts” from the ���ϲ����� community. Students can get ready to glow in neon swag during this event as well!

“We are really excited to host this event and hope that students will feel more comfortable with the lights out to learn more about any sex questions they have not been able to ask before,” says Goode.

On why now is the right time to engage the campus community with Frisky February, Kristelle Aisaka, the OHP’s health promotion specialist focused on mental health says, “Frisky February helps us to bridge a gap and talk about sex, sexuality and sexual health in a fun and positive way, while making sure that students have access to the accurate and important health knowledge they need to have safe, healthy and enjoyable sexual experiences, when or if they choose to.”

Although OHP is one of the major organizers of Frisky February, it’s a community effort. The student organizations, community partners and offices that are partnering to hold different events, including ACR Health, Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Tau Omega, Bedsider, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., Femme Noire, Health Services, Onondaga County Health Department, Orange After Dark, SASSE, Sex S.Y.M.B.A.L.S. and SUNY Upstate Medical University, are all contributing to bridge the knowledge gap.

For Aisaka, Frisky February is just the beginning. “This is a first step in building longer-lasting collaborative relationships with organizations, offices and departments across campus so that we can have more ongoing education and outreach related to sexual health,” she says.

For a full listing of all the events, check out the .

��

Janel Sullivan ’12 Skypes into an Ayo Technology session from China.

Drawing on this changing landscape, in fall 2009 the Ayo Technology program officially launched, and the main way students could perform at the mic was with their phone or a laptop. If students didn’t have either they could still perform, but the focus was on how technology could be used as part of an open mic.

The idea to blend digital technology further into Ayo Technology started with a chance meeting in summer 2010 in Madison, Wisconsin. Anna Pirsch, then a student at the University of Minnesota and vice president of Voices Merging, tracked down Bolton at a conference to let him know how Voices Merging, a program he had created during his time at the University of Minnesota, had been an integral part of her undergraduate career. This started a process that would lead to Ayo Technology’s first Skype engagement.

Working with Susan Watts, a project manager on campus, Bolton made sure that the first Skype engagement between Voices Merging in Minneapolis and Ayo Technology in ���ϲ����� was one that students would remember. The first engagement drew over 200 students. For Bolton, the engagement was important. “The event opened up a space for students to engage with each other, to find out what it’s like to be in Minnesota, to be in ���ϲ�����, what it’s like to be a student artist,” he says. “It’s a place to find support for what you like doing through poetry.”

Janel Sullivan ’12 participated in the first Skype engagement and eventually co-hosted an engagement in her senior year.

“Ayo Technology has always been a highlight for me of the Verbal Blend Open Mic Series,” says Sullivan. “It was fun to see other students who love performing as much as I do and hear new voices. One of my proudest moments was being able to host Ayo Technology when I was a senior at SU.”

When Sullivan moved to Shanghai to teach, Ayo Technology was reborn. Now in its sixth year, the Skype engagement has gone global with the Asylum Slam Team of Wan Yuan U.S. High School.

“When I started my job in Shanghai I knew I wanted to start a poetry slam team at my school, and meeting with these students is truly a highlight of my week,” says Sullivan. “The school’s motto is ‘East Meets West’ so what better way to embody this than collaborating with a U.S. university?�� As a teacher it has been amazing to see my students interacting with Verbal Blend.”

Sullivan sees the program as a teaching opportunity as well. The students have a chance to practice their English language arts, which Sullivan teaches, but also engage with another part of the world.

“This has become just as much a cultural experience as it is an artistic exchange, and I hope this is an event we can partake in every year,” she says.

Similarly, the experience engages SU students by providing a platform to hear other voices and share their experiences. The next Ayo Technology Skype engagement, co-sponsored by the Slutzker Center for International Services, is Wednesday, Nov. 16, at 7:15 p.m. in Watson Theater.�� If you have questions about Ayo Technology and how to participate, email Bolton.

As we strive to build community and foster a more inclusive environment, James Duah-Agyeman, director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs, reflects on the ways the event encourages the campus community to achieve these goals, “We should not be afraid to engage in dialogue, as it’s a starting point for understanding and challenging ourselves to imagine a more just society.”

The event features the following panelists:

Jasmin Allen
Allen, a staff therapist at SU’s Counseling Center, practices from an integrative approach that is driven by interpersonal and client-centered theories within a multicultural framework. She also utilizes culturally relevant and gender-specific interventions. Her early career experiences consisted of extensive work with court-referred adolescents and young adults. Her professional interests are anxiety, depression, trauma, identity exploration, assessment and multicultural issues. Social justice and advocacy are at the forefront of her professional identity. She currently co-facilitates an Undergraduate Process Group at the Counseling Center.

Emanuel Carter
A faculty member in ESF’s Department of Landscape Architecture focusing on planning and urban design, Carter has interests��in the intersection of politics and design, and in thinking of cities as ecosystems—thus prompting the question, “What must be done to make this city sustainable?” He has��put these ideas into practice��in international collaborations with city planning teams in Spain and Chile and has also connected domestically in such cities as ���ϲ����� and Philadelphia.

Anju Franklin
Franklin is a graduate study research fellow at ���ϲ����� in the Pan African Studies Program, as well as an academic consultant for the fullCIRCLE Mentoring Program in the Office of Multicultural Affairs. Franklin’s objective is to build the skills and knowledge necessary to understand and analyze the Pan African experience as reflected in multiple historical, social, and political contexts, most notably among Afro populations in Africa, the Caribbean and the United States.

Tiffany Gray
Gray is the director of SU’s LGBT Resource Center and works collaboratively with staff to plan, facilitate and implement annual events such as the LGBTQA Welcome Social, Coming Out Month, Creating Change Conference participation, Trans Day of Liberation and the Rainbow Banquet. In addition, she facilitates educational presentations and trainings including “Basics,” “Safer People, Safer Spaces” and other social justice related workshops, and facilitates “Fusion,” a discussion group for LGBTQA students of color.��Gray’s continued areas of interest include identity development of LGBTQ students of color, leadership development and mentorship for LGBTQ students, creating and sustaining allyship, and exploring liberatory frameworks.

Robin Kimmerer
Distinguished teaching professor at ESF in the Department of Environmental Forest Biology, Kimmerer stresses relationships with the land in her courses in botany and indigenous issues and the environment. An expert in bryology, she founded ESF’s Center for Native Peoples and the Environment to connect traditional ecological knowledge and scientific ecological knowledge. ��The center’s programs include a student exchange between ESF’s Huntington Wildlife Forest in the Adirondacks and the College of Menominee Nation in Keshena, Wisconsin; efforts to encourage native students to attend graduate school; and a youth program with the Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force.

The panelists will explore current issues, such as the upcoming presidential election, the Dakota Pipeline, race in America, gender equality and community policing.�� Duah-Agyeman says, “The event will be an opportunity for our campus communities to discuss and learn about different perspectives concerning hot-button issues in our society.”

For Scott Blair, ESF’s director for student diversity and inclusion initiatives and coordinator for institutional diversity and inclusion, the collaboration and engagement between SU and ESF is key to demonstrating how people can find common ground. “This initiative is a unique opportunity to bring our campuses together.��With so many different topics and issues around us, the most important thing is to engage in our stories—in our experiences—and that power of uniting is the first step in making positive change for the future. We are glad to be able to collaborate with our colleagues in the Office of Multicultural Affairs for this opportunity.”

To foster a safe space for conversation, attendees are given the option to share what is on their minds as they register for the event. The includes a space to express thoughts as they review the event description, and these submissions will be used to form questions for the panelists.�� For more information, contact Huey Hsiao in the Office of Multicultural Affairs.

The LGBT Resource Center

“The LGBT Resource Center has been such a special and sacred space for so many LGBTQA people over the past 15 years,” said Tiffany Gray, director of the LGBT Resource Center. “The friendships and communities that are formed are invaluable. I am humbled and honored to be the director of such a necessary and important social justice centered space that acknowledges and affirms people with marginalized genders and sexualities.”

In 1998, then-student Jordan Potash proposed establishment of a Rainbow Task Force to deal with issues of concern to the campus’ LGBT population. While SU had several LGBT student organizations, there was no official support for LGBT students from the University. Potash submitted his proposal to then-senior vice president and dean of student affairs and now special assistant to the Chancellor Barry L. Wells, who decided that it was more than a student issue, it was a campus community issue.

Wells reflects, “It was the vision of the Division of Student Affairs to be an international leader in student-centered, co-curricular education demonstrating a commitment to collaborative learning, citizenship development and the celebration of diversity. Guided by this vision, the University’s core values and my own commitment to human rights and social justice, I knew that the SU community would benefit from the creation of a LGBT Resource Center. Fortunately for me and for SU, Jordan Potash worked in my office and shared in this goal of establishing greater support for the LGBTQ community on campus.”

Wells requested that the Senate Committee on Student Life consider the proposal for a Rainbow Task Force at ���ϲ�����.�� As a result of that request, the Senate Committee on Student Life asked the Senate Agenda Committee to establish such a committee and the Senate Agenda Committee appointed the Senate Ad Hoc Committee on Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) Concerns.

After conducting several open forums on campus, one of the committee’s chief recommendations was the creation and staffing of an LGBT Resource Center (LGBT RC) to serve students, staff and faculty. In October 2001, the center opened its doors from its temporary location in the basement of Health Services. Adrea L. Jaehnig, a former associate director of residence life, was hired as the founding director of the LGBT RC.�� The center was temporarily housed in 111 Waverly Ave., and after careful consideration, the Division of Student Affairs identified 750 Ostrom Ave. as its new home. After renovations, the center relocated there in the spring of 2002 and this is where its remains and continues to make a profound impact on the community.

“It’s been a privilege and honor to work closely with our staff and students who directly support the center,” says Rebecca Reed Kantrowitz, senior vice president and dean of student affairs. “I am continually impressed by their passion, expertise and genuine commitment to serving our community so well.”

The LGBT Resource Center is a welcoming space built on community and social justice. The center strives to create a safer campus that promotes understanding, acceptance, empowerment and visibility of people with marginalized genders and sexualities. For Jeshurun Joseph ’15, the center was an invaluable resource during his time at SU, “At a time when I wasn’t sure about who I was and what it even meant to be Queer, the LGBT Resource Center helped me love and accept myself, as well as build invaluable friendships with amazing people that will last a lifetime.”

The center encourages thoughtful exploration of gender and sexuality, as well as the complex intersections of multiple identities. The LGBT RC has successfully carried out many programs through its 15 years. Programs include Coming Out Month, an entire month of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer and asexual-themed programming; discussion groups such as Embody or Fusion that explore gender, sexuality and other intersectional identities; Safer People, Safer Spaces training; and the Rainbow Banquet.

The Rainbow Banquet, established in 2003, is a favorite of many students, including Maysam Seraji ’18, who fondly recalls, “My favorite memory of the LGBT Resource Center is attending the Rainbow Banquet and having a space to dance with friends, be with my partner, dress in ways that affirm my identity and celebrate Queer life freely and openly. Unfortunately, those spaces are hard to come by.” The banquet celebrates LGBTQA communities at ���ϲ�����, SUNY-ESF and in the city of ���ϲ�����. The free event features a banquet dinner, a student keynote speaker, graduating LGBTQA student recognition, the presentation of the Rainbow Recognition Awards, music, and dancing!

One of the key ways the LGBT RC engages the great University community is through the Safer People, Safer Spaces training. The training gives participants opportunities to engage in community-building and develop actions steps to create safer, more inclusive spaces on campus and beyond. This academic year alone, more than 200 participants have benefited from the training.

After 15 years on campus, the LGBT RC has impacted many in the community. James Duah-Agyeman, the director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs and chief diversity officer for the Division of Student Affairs, says about its impact, “Over the past 15 years, the resource center has called upon the entire SU community to foster a supportive environment for our LGBTQ+ students and allies. I have personally been the beneficiary of the center as I have become more aware of the issues of sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. I look forward to collaborating with Tiffany and their leadership team to address these issues in our multicultural center spaces.”

Gray continues to focus on the future, “I know that our work isn’t done, but I look forward to the next 15 years as we continue to explore the complex intersections of our multiple social identities, enhance our allyship efforts and ultimately strive to create safer people and safer spaces on campus and beyond.”

The LGBT RC offers great programming year-round. The annual Coming Out Month celebration began on Oct. 1, and you can access all the planned activities by visiting the .

Some of the guide’s features include:

• an events calendar with upcoming events from all over campus. Students can add events to their personal calendars and ask Guidebook to remind them 15 minutes before the event starts;
• a searchable list of student organizations and clubs organized by categories, with descriptions and links to their website or OrgSync pages; and
• sections dedicated to mentoring, leadership and service programs, as well as honors and awards that students can apply for.

“After gathering input and guidance from students, we are excited to add the Activities and Involvement Guide to the offerings available on the mobile app,” says Shannon Andre, student affairs communications manager. “This guide, and the others to follow, are ever-evolving, and we encourage campus community members to contact us with suggestions and content that can be added so this can be as useful and comprehensive as possible.”

To access the Activities and Involvement Guide in the SU mobile app, click the SU Guides icon and download the Activities and Involvement Guide. The . When accessing the SU Guides, users can also view the other University guides available.

If you do not have the ���ϲ����� mobile app, visit the or the and search for ���ϲ����� Mobile. Once in the app, click the SU Guides icon to begin the Guidebook app download and view the available guides.

This is the first of four guides to be launched by the Division of Student Affairs aimed at providing students with information specific to their needs in one central place. The remaining guides will be launched throughout the 2016-17 academic year.

For more information or to provide feedback and ideas, contact studentaffairs@syr.edu.

“This October marks five years since the labor of love known formerly as the ‘DCC Initiative’ turned into a Disability Cultural Center, in the hiring of its founding, full-time professional director. It remains a privilege and an honor to direct our innovative center as we embark upon our next five years and beyond, celebrating Disability Awareness Month in October and all year long,” says Diane R. Wiener, director of the DCC.

For any and all questions or comments regarding Disability Awareness Month, contact the DCC.

This month’s events include:

Thursday, Oct. 13
Author Laura Mauldin, “Made to Hear” Public Discussion, 2-3:20 p.m.
228B Schine Student Center

Mauldin shares public remarks on cochlear implant (CI) clinics and the CI industry. She pays particular attention to the role of neuroscience and the culture of medical interventions as they impact d/Deaf children, Deaf culture and deafness in general. ASL interpretation provided. Free and open to the public.

This event is sponsored by the .

Saturday, Oct. 15
Disability Dance Workshop and Inclusive Dance Party, 8-11 p.m.
Schine Underground

For SU and SUNY-ESF students. ASL interpretation and light refreshments provided.��Please direct any questions to ljsloane@syr.edu.

Hosted by the (DSU) in partnership with the DCC.

Monday, Oct. 17-Monday, Oct. 31
Bird Library, first floor

Annual Disability Cultures and Disability Studies book display. All of the books are available to be borrowed.��Please direct any questions to Mary DeCarlo, subject librarian for education, at mmdecarl@syr.edu.

Special thanks to the Learning Commons in Bird Library.

Wednesday, Oct. 19
Chalking the Quad with the Disability Student Union, 3:45-6:45 p.m.
Meet on Quad sidewalk near Hendricks Chapel

For SU and ESF students, and open to the entire campus community and visitors.�� Please direct any questions to ljsloane@syr.edu.

Wednesday, Oct. 19
Disability Mentoring Day

The DCC will again be among many campus partners hosting mentees around ���ϲ����� and the U.S.�� Learn more about Disability Mentoring Day and .

Wednesday, Oct. 26
Honoring and Celebrating National Disability Employment Awareness Month
���ϲ����� VA Medical Center, 800 Irving Ave., auditorium on the ground floor, south wing��

Wiener and SU undergraduate Justin Bachman are partnering with the VA to engage in programming to honor and celebrate . Free and open to the public.��Questions about event details and accommodations requests can be directed to Daniele Dunham at Daniele.Dunham@va.gov.

The DCC is also planning to host its annual Open House later in October in celebration of Disability Awareness Month and to welcome everyone to the DCC’s new space in 230 Schine Student Center.

The DCC coordinates campuswide social, educational, and cultural activities on disability issues for students, faculty, staff and community members with and without disabilities. To learn more about the DCC and other events throughout the year, visit .

Terrell L. Strayhorn

“The Office of Multicultural Affairs is very proud to celebrate and honor the accomplishments of our WellsLink Scholars,” says Huey Hsiao, associate director in the Office of Multicultural Affairs and leader for the program.�� “We have set high expectations for our WellsLink Scholars to follow in the footsteps of past WellsLink cohorts that have gone on to excel in the classroom and become leaders on campus and beyond.”

The ceremony is co-sponsored by the , and will feature a keynote from Terrell L. Strayhorn. A book signing and reception will follow the ceremony.

Strayhorn is professor and director of the Center for Higher Education Enterprise (CHEE) at The Ohio State University. A renowned student success scholar, highly acclaimed public speaker and award-winning writer, Strayhorn is author of 10 books, over 60 book chapters more than 150 journal articles and conference papers and many other scholarly publications. He has presented more than 300 keynotes and invited lectures across the globe. Strayhorn maintains an active and highly visible research agenda focusing on major policy issues in education: student access and achievement; issues of race, equity and diversity; impact of college on students; and student learning and development. His book “College Students’ Sense of Belonging: A Key to Educational Success” has won a book award and sold record copies nationally.

Strayhorn received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia (UVA), a master’s degree in educational policy from the Curry School of Education at UVA and a doctorate in higher education from Virginia Tech. He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. and a native of Virginia Beach. Known for using the hashtag #DoGoodWork on social media, Strayhorn was named one of the country’s top diversity scholars by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education in 2011, one of Business First’s “Top 40 under 40” and one of the “Top 20 to Know in Education.” Strayhorn also became the youngest full professor in Ohio State’s history in 2014. Prior to Ohio State, Strayhorn was special assistant to the provost at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville and research associate at the Council of Graduate Schools in Washington, D.C.

The WellsLink Leadership Program Class of 2019

Miguel A. Aguilera ()

Jesse Armendariz ()

Lucia Baez ()

Kayin A. Bankole’ (College of Engineering and Computer Science)

Khemiah D. Burke (College of Arts and Sciences)

Avery A. Callahan (College of Engineering and Computer Science)

Cierra Chandler (College of Engineering and Computer Science)

Chaohe Chen (College of Engineering and Computer Science)

Wendy Chen (/)

Rong Chen (Whitman School of Management)

Austin T. Chin (College of Arts and Sciences)

Deja A. Clay (College of Arts and Sciences)

Marina Cortes (College of Arts and Sciences)

Abigail J. Covington (College of Arts and Sciences)

Maya Darko-Asante (College of Arts and Sciences)

Kofi Dinizulu (College of Engineering and Computer Science)

Dwayne T. Ellmore (S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications)

Nahnsan Guseh ()

Loren N. Gutierrez ()

Erin T. Hamilton (College of Arts and Sciences)

Joshua M. Hastings (College of Engineering and Computer Science)

Malaika Howard (College of Arts and Sciences)

Keri L. Huang (Whitman School of Management)

Whitney O. Ize-Iyamu (Whitman School of Management)

Han Gyul Kwon (College of Engineering and Computer Science)

Danny Lan (School of Information Studies/Whitman School of Management)

Marcus J. Lane Jr (College of Arts and Sciences)

Hongju Lee (College of Arts and Sciences)

Crystal N. Letona (College of Visual and Performing Arts)

Sohwi Lim (College of Visual and Performing Arts)

Robert L. Maldonado (S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications)

Nuhami T. Mandefro (College of Arts and Sciences)

Jennefer A. Montaleza (College of Engineering and Computer Science)

Skyler Murry (S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications)

Anna D. Nguyen (David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics)

Zixin Nian (Whitman School of Management)

Georgie Olmeda (S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications)

Jada O’Neal (College of Engineering and Computer Science)

Isis S. Orejuela (David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics)

Camerin S. Ortiz (College of Arts and Sciences)

Vanessa Ortiz (College of Visual and Performing Arts)

Willy Joseph A. Paguyo (College of Arts and Sciences)

Jamila S. Perkins (College of Engineering and Computer Science)

Derek A. Polanco (Whitman School of Management)

Vanessa D. Ramlal (David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics)

Aaron Ruiz (College of Engineering and Computer Science)

Jezrel Sabaduquia (School of Information Studies)

Ritozeh A. Saingbe (College of Arts and Sciences)

Hein San (College of Engineering and Computer Science)

Samantha M. Sanchez (College of Arts and Sciences)

Alexia J. Santiago (College of Arts and Sciences)

Shanyah V. Saunders (School of Information Studies)

Kelsey Scott (College of Arts and Sciences)

Nathan P. Shearn (College of Arts and Sciences)

Alexandria A. Silvas (College of Arts and Sciences)

Olivia M. Smith (College of Arts and Sciences)

Shelby D.�� Smith (School of Information Studies)

Xin Tang (School of Information Studies)

Summer S. Thompson (College of Visual and Performing Arts)

Cassandra Torres (College of Arts and Sciences)

Zadia E. Wallace (College of Arts and Sciences)

David Wang (Whitman School of Management)

Ormando O. Watson (College of Engineering and Computer Science)

Taylor M. Whitelow (S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications)

Casey Woodall (College of Arts and Sciences)

Yue Yun Zhu (College of Arts and Sciences)

For more information about WellsLink, contact Hsiao at huhsiao@syr.edu