Diversity and Inclusion - Tarleton State University

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Intense reflections

We continue our Cultural Excursion in New Orleans. Read Multicultural Ambassador Sara's thoughts as she toured a museum with the exhibit "Katrina and Beyond."

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Intense. I guess if I had to choose one to describe what I saw today that would be it. Today I took a trip to the Presbytere, inside they have an exhibit called Katrina and Beyond. Walking in I was immediately hit with emotion and had chills all over my body. The pictures and videos that you first see take your breath away. You walk into a room and its screen after screen of storm coverage and I could barely stand there for more then a few minutes before I had to leave the room. This exhibit is a very eye opening one, you walk through and you hear stories from coast guard and from people who were there and for me it was stuff I had never even heard before. At the end of the exhibit they show the Katrina Kids Project which was started to help kids cope with thing going on. In the room you saw pictures drawn by kids and even a quilt with kids drawings on it. One story really got to me because it was written by a little girl. She said she didn't want to leave her home and she cried all day because of it. Going to that exhibit I didn't know what to expect but I can say that I am happy that I went because I got to see things I had never seen before and hear things I had never heard before.

I think not being from here I did not understand the intensity of it all because the media portrayed it differently. I think they downplayed it and Katrina should not have been downplayed. It was big and it was powerful. These last couple days we have had the chance to explore the city a bit and I fully believe in the power of people. The people here are so friendly and inviting. You go to any store and the cashiers will talk to you like they've known you forever and you don't get that in to many other places. I think the city is still rebuilding and still trying to come up but when you have people like the ones I have the pleasure of meeting this week then I can see this city doing great things and not letting the past affect their future.

~ Sara B., Multicultural Ambassador

We hope that you will stop by the office (TSC # 21). Also, look for us on social media. Facebook :http://www.facebook.com/TarletonDiversityInclusion and read along with our journeys here on the blog:

http://tarletondiversityinclusion.blogspot.com/ You can also see our images on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tarletondiversity/. Or follow us on Twitter: @DiversityTSU or email us directly at Diversity@Tarleton.edu

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Alligators!

Read Multicultural Ambassador Terra's thoughts on the cultural excursion in New Orleans.

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Tuesday March 12th, we did a swamp tour at Jean Lafitte's Swam Tour. This tour was everything I envisioned, from the time we got on the boat to the time we got off the boat. There were turtles , alligators, birds and bugs everywhere. This was my first time seeing an alligator in person, other then seeing one on my TV and the zoo, so you can only imagine how excited I was. We had a chance to see parts of the swamp that were in a few Hollywood movies which was very exciting to me. My favorite part of the swamp tour was the end where we had the chance to hold a baby alligator.

~ Multicultural Ambassador, Terra T.

A full day

This blog is part of our Office of Diversity and Inclusion Culture Excursion to New Orleans. The thoughts below are provided by Multicultural Ambassador Tiana.

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When I woke up yesterday morning, I was nearly convinced it would be a terrible day. I mean, it's Monday, my feet hurt, it's cold, it's raining...I was wrong. Yesterday was great. We went to Café du Monde (again) and I made the bright decision to eat straight powdered sugar. Whew. There went my teeth...After beignets we went to the steamboat, Natchez. It is the only true steamboat still in operation on the river. It's crazy to think that people were using the same technology over a hundred years ago!

Anyway, we cut through the water with our 26-ton paddlewheel passed Algiers Point toward the next town along the river. We saw many industrial sites, including oil and sugar refineries. I wasn't as impressed by the oil refinery as I was by the sugar refinery. Millions of pounds of sugar move through there. I want to bounce off the walls just thinking about it. So, it was raining pretty much the entire time on the boat. DocMason and I braved the miserable atmospheric condition. We fought back Poseidon's wrath with our umbrellas. Laugh now, but it kept our minds busy and our bodies warm(ish). Ok, so after the ride I MAY have had frozen joints. Ok, my joints were frozen. I had such a hard time walking off the ship, but luckily we planned to walk around with Dr. Helvie-Mason's former students so my blood started circulating and I warmed up pretty quickly.

We walked for blocks and blocks. I couldn't guess how far we walked. We were so enthralled in our conversations about school, work, and life in general. I found out so much about New Orleans and about the students' university. The differences in scholastic culture astounds me. Sure, we all worry about finances and grades. But the differences in available courses, (perceived) student marketability, living situations, and even student response in the classroom cannot be ignored.

Here I must digress (provided this isn't already considered rambling). It is apparent that the custom at Tarleton is not to speak in class. In most places, when someone says hello, you respond. Why doesn't this carry over to the classroom? I never understood that. Even when professors ask direct questions, it seems that most students just sit there and blink. Is this not disrespectful? I once thought so, but it seems to be widely accepted by the student body. I don't know how the faculty members feel about it, but I would be irritated.

People are people. Here, there, and everywhere people deal with similar issues and respond in the same variety of ways. What I mean by this is that people tend to respond similarly to similar situations, even if they are unique to themselves.
Anyway, at some point we stopped in a costume shop. This place is an artist's heaven. Headdresses, masks, wigs, vintage dresses and coats, circus outfits, and so many other creations are located at this shop. I couldn't believe how many costumes they had and how much history is behind them! For example, this shop somehow managed to obtain two Indian costumes (that is, the Mardi Gras Indians). These costumes are hard to come by since they are custom, handmade artifacts that are usually recycled each year to create the next year's costume. It is a fight to be the prettiest, shiniest man in New Orleans.

Then we went to this corner where there used to be a nightclub. It closed down a few years ago. This building is mostly blue with colorful murals painted on the windows. As we were walking we passed a number of street musicians, including a trumpeter, violinist, and guitarist. Slowly winding our way through the streets of New Orleans, we managed to stumble upon the French Market where many vendors go to sell their products, including everything from traditional items from all over the world to things you can pick up at your local mall. I don't think any of us purchased anything, but we did take a fantastic group photo in front of a sculpture.
[real life intermission: the notorious naptime]

We ate dinner at a small pizza place with two of Dr. Helvie-Mason's former students. It was ok. Not as delicious as the gumbo, but I could work with it. I kind of indulged a bit and got some cheesecake. It had too much cream cheese in it for me, but good nonetheless.

I crashed not long after that, but this morning we got up, had breakfast, and left for the swamp tour. I enjoyed it because it reminded me of my home state. Have I mentioned my love for gators? They're so beautiful and shiny...and tasty. I can't get over how delicious they are. Gators are one of my favorite wild animals to eat. Anyway, the swamp tour was pretty cool but I've seen a lot of it before. I mostly just watched as everyone who has never seen the swamp or gators take it all in.
After the tour, we took some great pictures. They're on our Flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/tarletondiversity/

~ Tiana, Multicultural Ambassador

Reflections

We are enjoying our cultural excursion!

Follow our pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/tarletondiversity/

Day one we arrived LATE after some traffic issues, but we had a good time seeing the river, walking to the River Walk, and wandering around the area near our hotel. The second day (our first full day in the city), we started with beignets and cafe au lait at Cafe Du Monde before a great cemetery tour and lots of walking! The information was amazing and we all learned so much. Day three started with a thunder storm and cold weather as we went on the Natchez steamboat for a river tour that gave us great information about the city and surrounding areas. The afternoon was spent with local college students. We compared experiences, tuition prices, college organizations, and majors. It was so interesting!

Today we head to Jean Lafitte's for a swamp tour and explore Cajun and Creole culture.

Touring with local students

This blog post is part of our New Orleans Cultural Excursion. Read MENtal Freedom member, Chris's, blog post reflecting on his experiences.

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One more day down in NOLA (New Orleans Louisiana) filled with more food and new experiences. We met up with some of Dr. Helvie-Mason's past students before Tarleton. Four of them walked the streets with us. We (TSU students) were through the city to soon arrive at a Mardi Gras/Parade costume shop called Carl Mack's. There we were welcomed by a young man who worked there for the last 5 yrs. He gave us an tour along with inside detail on past customers which including Justin Timberlake, McDonalds, Cisco, and Mardi Gras participants. I never thought of the minor details of creating selling and developing a costume before today. The way their business has grown over the years include: sponsoring their costumers for shows to perform at. In this way their attire is being shown to many viewers.

Afterwards we continued to walk the busy streets of NOLA. The next stop included food. We ate at a pizza place called Pi. They served pizza, pasta, and desert. I indulged on pepperoni pizza with Terra, Tiana, and Neil. We split the price of the meal then I treated myself to a ‘Brownie Delight.’ It was served with a brownie smothered by vanilla ice cream drizzled with chocolate gnash and whip cream.

Christopher Knowles, MENtal Freedom

Culture Immersion

Explore the thoughts of Somya, a Multicultural Ambassador, during our culture excursion in New Orleans.

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Travelling is always on top of my favorite things to do. I like exploring places and learning about new cultures. As I explore more and more, I realized that I have also started to respect my culture more. On my this cultural excursion to New Orleans, I also realized that people take there culture with them where ever they go. Especially, when they are in a foreign land, they practice their beliefs more and also try to spread it around.

On this trip, we went to the cemetery tour the day after we reached. And there, I saw so much diversity in funeral practices of people belonging to different cultural backgrounds. I saw French style raised graves, community burials, family tombs and graves of some famous personalities. The tour guide explained to us that different people living in the city brought with them their culture and practices.
Also, I went to a souvenir shop and the shopkeeper was from a foreign country and has been living in States for past seven years. She was wearing her native traditional clothes. That really made me thinking that it does not matter where you go an how long you live there, you are always inclined towards your cultural beliefs and do things your way.

This is also true about the city of New Orleans, which represents the blend of French, Spanish and British cultures. Who ever colonized this city, brought with them their culture and tried to paint it their way.

And here I am today, enjoying this wonderful amalgamation of different cultures with Tarleton's Multicultural Ambassadors.

~ Somya G., Multicultural Ambassador

Monday, March 11, 2013

Knowing about where you live

We continue our cultural excursion blogging with comments from Multicultural Ambassador Terra.

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Monday March 11th, several of Dr. Lora's former students from Southern University of New Orleans met with us in the French Quarter to give us some history on the French Quarter. I was really impressed on how knowledgeable they were about the history of the French Quarter in New Orleans. The fact that the people of New Orleans value their city history makes me want to learn more about the history of the city where I'm from. I learned a lot from the SUNO students, from the history of every street, to the architectural buildings in the "Quarter" as New Orleans residents call it. We later had dinner with a couple of the students which gave us a little more time with them before departing.

~ Multicultural Ambassador, Terra T.