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I^^l^ *> :>" ='ak;:^-%i.iiijE3sv::. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from Lyrasis IVIembers and Sloan Foundation http://www.archive.org/details/battlefield199178univ Difference Is BATTLEFIELD 1991 Mary Washington College Fredericksburg, VA 22401 Volume 78 . New New Focus, Idea^. CHANGES A sly smile slowly spread acting assistant vice president and acrossForrestParker'sface directoroftheMulticulturalCenter. Ihadjusttoldhimtheyear- Parker's position involves working book's theme, DIFFERENCE IS. A with minority students ofall races, little confused, I watched as the di- andwiththeinternationalstudents. rector of the Multicultural Center Inkeepingwithhiscloserelation- pulled out a poster for the school's ship with students, Parker, form- MulticulturalInternationalFestival. erly associate dean for admissions, There, emblazoned over the also refers students to various col- scheduleofevents, was the festival lege services, such as for tutorial slogan,"DifferencesEnrichUsAll." assistance,learningassessmentand Latelyitseems thateveryonehas study skills training. been thinking and celebrating the As director of the center, Parker idea of differences at Mary Wash- alsotriestoretain"facultyofcolor," ington College. as well as attract more minority SowhatisthedifferenceatMWC? students. Overall, out of ap- The DIFFERENCE IS . . . cultural proximately3,700students, thecol- awareness, an emphasis on lege is only 6 percent minority. equality, and a concentration on, However, in support of attracting well, differences. Notsincetheshift more culturally diverse students, a MWC from all-woman to co-ed has significant 12 percent of the fresh- seen such internal modifications. men class were minority students, From BOND to the Hispanic Stu- of which 8 percent were black. dent Association, cultural aware- The Multicultural Center spon- ness has overwhelmed the college. sored many events, the biggest Inaddition totheformingoffour being the Multiculltlural/Interna- new clubs, the campus celebrated tionalFestivalonApril6. Entertain- day, week, and even month long ment ranged from Argentinean festivals on minority, homosexual, dancerstoareggaebandwhileboth and women's issues. New offices students and local citizens present- and a wide variety ofspeakers also ed displays on British, Irish, Afro- contributed to recent differences. American, and even Asian culture. During a time when state-wide The college also established the budget cuts have reduced funding new Office of International Pro- by16percent,thecollegehaslooked grams. Headedby Brenda King, its from external changes to internal main purpose is toaid thecollege's ones. For example, after the post- forty-nine international students ponementofseveralyears'worthof with any adjustment problems. construction plans for new parking These students represented twenty lots and residence halls, a new differentcountriesincludingChina, Multicultural Center formed. Germany and Kuwait. President William A. Anderson **con't. Page 5 Jr. named Forrest A. Parker both n T?? The Hagle, MWC's mascot, entertainsata soccergame. Everyone put on their best duds for Randolph'sdatinggame. ^ hm '/carirrfiiivm^f? Sf ^ See Left — A wide variety of cultures STEP appeared at the festival. Itssecond functionwastheStLn.l\ i liipc' I idLIsc .iiul I i.lblt.ll 1(11 1 JLl- Abroad program which consisted m.iniU l(ir llic homeless, ,iinl mainly of white, middle-class fe- Irn'iuis lit (he Rappahannock willi males though King attempted to ciuironmentalissues. Studentsalso raise the number of males and mi- helped inareasofelderlycare,com- norities who participate. nuinitv health and various crisis Faculty members contribtiled to sitLiations. another aspect of the office which SpecifiCcillv, some COAR events was proposing international prt)]- iiulLided d trash pickup of thi' ects, changingcurrent policies, and Rappahannock in cooperation with establishing new courses. Though the Hcology club, raising monev for the department did not implement September 23's AIDS march in any new courses, it researched cur- Washington D.C., and finallv thi' rentonestodetermine futureneeds. "One Bright Dav" C()mnuinit\ COAR,theCommunityOutreach clean-up event on April 13. andResourcesprogram,alsobegan. COARalsowontheCampusOut- Partly the brainchild of Senior Liz reach Opportunity League's award Baumgarten, COAR is a volunteer of best New Campus Initiative. In service organization that provides the contest, COAR competed aid and assistance to various needv against schools that began service groups in the Fredericksburg com- organizationsin thepastfourvears. munity. Though Baumgarten re- Students thenisL'lves bonded to- mained heavily involved with gether to create new organizations COAR as its student coordinator, thatwould connect peoplefrom the KathleenKnighttookthepositionof world around. New groups such as assistant dean ofStudent Activities BOND, Women ofColor, the Inter- and Director of Community Ser- national Student Association, and vices. theGay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Stu- The purpose of COAR is to give dent Association appeared on cam- both individuals and groups on pus. campus the opportunit)' to engage BOND, anorganizationofmosth in community service as well as to black men, was cofounded bv stu- sponsor programs and discussion dent Tracev Porter who wanted to groups that help relate classroom help minoritv men feel involved learning and service learning. with the campus. Forrest Parker OneofCOAR'sgoalsistostayon alsostarted theorganization which, line with the diversity theme. out ofapproximatelv 25 black men, Knightwantedanorganization that nine n>ined in its first semester. MWC would provide a diver—se service also stressed diversitv movement on campus COAR's in its sponsoring of Martin programs were open to ever\' kind Luther King week, a tribute Stheeeflairbraabryo.ve—CampusWalkextensionto oofppTsootrutpduernnoitvt.iiedse,tChoOsAeRdiavselr<seed fsoerrvviocle- weitvhsei,nctahwncadosnsp"irHseatseneddnstofaAtsciproeonasskse.rCsaA,mpemuxhasii,bn-" unteers in seven groups: Big **cont. Page 6 rhe Multicultural/International Festival ?venentertained kids. Brother, Big Sister for children.