The work of many of the Office of Student Diversity Programs’ (OSDP) student clubs often goes unnoticed. They give bold and bright color to the Skidmore atmosphere– in more ways than one. In bygone semesters, their meetings and events took up space in ways that just couldn’t be ignored.
You’d see something happening down at Spa or you’d hear music from Fallstaffs and ask, “what’s going on over there?”
-- It’s Cultural Night Market!
The Curry-Q!
Pangaea!
The Gala!
Café Con Leche!
The Fashion Show!
However, during a time where there’s less space to take up and everyone isn’t here, how are our clubs still adding color? By all means, they are still doing the work. The continued creativity, joviality, and seriousness of their Executive Boards are probably the only things that have stayed the same in this past year. However, they exercise these around the complications of the pandemic. As someone who was always invested in “what was going on over there,” I wanted to see what’s going on.
To find out how they’re doing and how they do it, I spoke with the Club Presidents of the African Heritage Awareness club (AHA), Asian Cultural Association club (ACA), the International Student Union (ISU), Raíces, and Ujima.
What was the greatest difficulty of this year?
Across the board, the clubs noted something that the boxes on Zoom could not replicate. Whether it was referred to as “talks,” “community,” or a “second family,” the level of intimacy that they once enjoyed had proved difficult to maintain during the COVID era. Digital events did not feature the same amounts of enthusiasm nor participation. During this time, these clubs have found it hard to differentiate themselves. In the past, they could host activities or move members to different locations that made them explicitly separate, or even asylum, from Skidmore’s academic world; Now, that distance is less apparent when their members are in front of the same screen they use for class.
Ujima’s President, Erica Smith ‘22, notes that it was just “easier” to get people engaged in-person. A physical space facilitated much more. People may have been motivated to do more, because it felt like they were going somewhere and doing something rather than just sitting at a computer. AHA President, Neke Abu ‘22, indicates just what was lost during the COVID year. AHA could not host “in-person meetings, potlucks with home-cooked food [nor] our annual AHA gala.” Along with affinity, clubs have also lost the exercise of tradition.
Still, their E-boards worked tirelessly to adapt to the new atmosphere and activate old passions. Skidmore still permits gatherings if they are socially distanced and carefully vetted. Thus, E-boards have dabbled with it. But, it has offered its own share of difficulties. The volatile nature of the college’s alert level system has made the best plans go awry. ACA planned and advertised an in-person general meeting for April 7th but was forced to cancel after Skidmore “inexplicably” rose to Level 3. Similarly, Ujima planned to host its “Fashion Show” in-person but the event needed to be canceled because of the rise in cases. ISU’s president, Jordana Weinberger ‘21, expressed her ire on planning extensively over breaks only to need to wait until “we get to school to get notices about what can be done in-person” and needing to constantly adjust– -or “not have the event at all”.
The circumstances of COVID limit their autonomy which hurts their prosperity. Personally, I couldn’t help but feel a certain mix of sadness and frustration. The disproportionate effects of the pandemic on communities of color are on display here. These student-led clubs face a harsher toll because the community they foster and the representation that they offer is integral to the underrepresented population that they serve. Forced cancellations, infrequent meetings, and less togetherness are, perhaps, considered “necessary” limitations, but they doubly disadvantage these clubs that need them. In typical years, they already fight for recognition. Now, they are burdened with making everything work, along with being entertaining and engaging.
How would you grade the College’s support of your club's endeavors?
This response was a bit more divided. During this academic year, clubs needed to request permission for in-person events two weeks in advance while explaining how health protocols would be followed.
Some felt that consistent communication was missing. Instead of support, they experienced increased pressure. Moments of miscommunication created confusion. For example, ISU would sometimes wait days for a response after their request for an event. It was heartbreaking to be subject to an extensive, anxiety-ridden wait time to only be met with rejection. Then, they would need to frustratingly rework their plans before submitting and waiting again. The process was unpleasant, made their work harder, and made them feel like they did not matter.
Yet, there was an extent of understanding from them all. Notably the AHA president accepts the various limitations for the sake of “the community’s safety.” Considering the extenuating circumstances, they appreciated what Skidmore could provide as support or, even, grace. At this point, no one needs to be told that nothing has been easy and precautions surrounding COVID have produced extra steps for all parties. Raíces president, Cresenciana Morales ‘22, puts it well: “There was no manual on how to run a club when COVID is still occurring, and I don’t think the faculty had all the answers as well.” But, as much as a moment without precedent is difficult, that is even more reason to offer increased, careful support to those in need. “Those in need” being the doubly disadvantaged clubs from OSDP.
The present dissonance certainly doesn’t help Skidmore, especially when it already holds a negative relationship with some. This semester, Ujima interestingly didn’t ask for much help because they’ve “learned their lesson about getting support” from the college.
What strategies have really worked?
This question is fun because its answers show off the perseverance of your favorite clubs. In spite of the current dilemma, they have found things that work.
ISU has found strength in numbers. They have worked to collaborate with fellow OSDP clubs more this year. Other E-boards help with the workload during a year marred with fatigue, working with diverse clubs allow them to highlight intersections of identity, shared-hosting results in a wider reach with potentially more participants, and together they make something beautiful. In addition, all of these clubs continue to collaborate on social media where they consistently advertise each other's events. Aside from accomplishing their intended goals, these efforts by and large begin to foster an intercultural family at Skidmore.
AHA has made in-person activities work by hosting them outdoors. In-person activities are already enticing because “everyone is always excited to be able to be in the presence of others” and tired of using Zoom. Simply reserving space outdoors achieves so much for so many. It gives their members a chance to fulfill their desires, it gives the club the chance to support them, and it gives everyone a small return to normalcy. ACA’s president, Arpita Khosla ‘21 has also found success with this. To ensure that they have the opportunity to do all of the above, they make ample effort with RSVPing, contact tracing, and scheduling well in advance.
Raíces and Ujima have created successful strategies internally. Within their respective E-boards they focused on establishing trust and mastering communication. Ujima had “things fall into place” because a level of chemistry had been built. They have been able to send out information more efficiently and even plan for next year. Raices was able to gauge interests and need through communication between e-board members and its community members. From this, Raices’ president found that they needed to cause less “stress which is why I wanted to focus making meetings stress relievers such as playing games and having check-ins and more chill meetings.”
Which event of this academic year is your E-board most proud of?
And their perseverance is rewarded. They planned events to be proud of.
ACA hosted their Cultural Night Market, in-person, at Case Walkway on October 23rd, 2020. They collaborated with NihonGo, ISU, Raices, and Hayat. They managed to continue an important club tradition that shared cultural foods and fundraised for an important cause– and make it work around COVID guidelines. Students needed to RSVP, the food that was sold was prepackaged, and it was “one of the largest attended in-person events at Skidmore in the Fall.”
AHA hosted their #AFRICAISBLEEDING dialogue on November 4th, 2020. It was a virtual meeting that provided space for participants to digest the civil rights movements happening concurrently in the continent, as well as bring awareness to them. The moment helped reify their community during this troublingly distant time. It featured discourse between members, non-members, the e-board, and an invited faculty member--Professor Emmanuel Balogun.
ISU hosted an event in November in response to the incident on Halloweekend where an Asian student was injured. Like the happenings that weekend, the event was unplanned. ISU canceled their original plans for that evening to support their community. For many, “it almost felt like an in-person event.” People were unmuted and talking and responding freely. ISU found the opportunity to “be there” for their ISU friends and family.
Raíces was torn between two, one in-person and the other over Zoom. They managed to create “stress relievers” as well as keep the club’s tradition of intellectually stimulating events. On March 25th, they hosted “Finish the Lyrics” in-person at Davis Auditorium. In-person events aren’t easy to come by, and they felt their work was rewarded with a full house. Later in April, they collaborated with the Speakers Bureau to host a conversation with Curly Velasquez.
Ujima found pride in more unfortunate circumstances. They have also pushed to maintain tradition. Utilizing the chemistry they developed, they organized and advertised their “Fashion Show” in a fashion quick enough to be proud of. They garnered interest and volunteers to an encouraging degree. However, April’s change in Alert Level prevented them from holding rehearsals and meetings to design clothing at necessary times. Although they were forced to cancel, the quick response they received from members affirmed that they have a purpose on campus.
How are our clubs still adding color?
Before COVID, many of us enjoyed the events, the celebrations, and the personalities of these OSDP clubs. After COVID, Skidmore and its body will continue to enjoy what they produce. Yet, what is often ignored--and what this moment calls into focus--is the labor behind it all. They add color with their labor. We forget about the labor when we disregard the events that they plan. We forget about the labor when we ignore their simple inquiries for communication. We forget about the labor when we don’t exert any effort to support them.
You forget about the labor when you brandish your privilege and host parties during a pandemic that puts the entire campus at a standstill.
And that’s not fair.
Once again, Morales ‘22 puts it well: “Becoming the president of a club is already a lot of work and very challenging” and “then you add the layer of being in a pandemic and you have” a stressful, demanding, and crushing semester. Club E-boards are people, students, and our friends with their own goals, passions, and hopes. Already disadvantaged at Skidmore, they have worked and worried on being supportive and entertaining. Now, they worry about their clubs’ survival. OSDP clubs’ role as an asylum for diverse populations necessitates that they pass something down to future students and that it still exists. Because they lose the opportunity to meet with underclassmen, COVID threatens the future as much as the present. The prospect of failure is scary. None of them want to fail because of the enormous duty that their club has. Many of them wonder if the best they can do is good enough.
Nevertheless, it’s astounding how they persevere. Without fail, each club expressed existing plans for next year.
How do they still add color?
In any way that they can.