A New Cohort Joins the Community

The beginning of the new academic year at the University of Oregon means a new beginning for the Carnegie Global Oregon Learning Community. This year the CGO welcomes 22 new students to the community. The so-called “17s” have been interacting and getting to know one another over the course of the summer, but their arrival to the University of Oregon campus marks the official beginning of their first year in the program.

Students moved in over the course of the day, setting up their rooms, meeting one another in person, and hugging family and friends goodbye before coming together in the evening to share a special meal. Before the meal, however, students took part in several activities meant to acclimate students to one another, the staff, and the program. Students were given the opportunity to share a bit about themselves and their expectations of college. This year’s cohort, more so than in years past, comes from a wide range of places across the continental United States. The 17s have added the first Coloradans, Virginians, and Texans to the cohort, all welcome additions.

In the days following the first activity and meal, students have spent a lot of time with one another and with the Global Oregon staff. While many of the meetings are academic in nature, others are more about fostering community and relaxing. The traditional cake decorating contest gave 17s an opportunity to meet students from previous years and different cohorts. Students were split in to five groups, were given a cake and copious amounts of icing and food coloring. The goal was to create a themed cake to be shared with the rest of the community, to be eaten later. Community was a common thread in several of the cakes, a testament to the rapid development of friendships within the Carnegie Global Oregon Community.

Saturday marked the last meeting before the fall term launched. Students from all cohorts, friends, and staff met with Whitey Lueck, a local instructor with a passion for trees, sustainability, and the outdoors. Whitey gave a tour of the University of Oregon campus and spent time talking about various trees, but also about the history of the campus. At the close of the tour Whitey shared his inspiring personal story of ethics and morals, an eye opening story and lifestyle which the majority of students had not been aware of.

As the week comes to a close we could not be more thrilled about the fantastic beginning we have had and we look forward to furthering our discussions, and deepening our connections as a learning community.

Wagon Wheel

Week two of the winter term the 15s joined the 16s for class and dinner. Since we wanted to shake things up a bit we met in the Earl Kitchen, a really cool space in Sheldon which has enough room for both cohorts of the CGO.  Here I was introduced to my very first “Wagon Wheel” an ice breaker activity to get people talking to each other really fast – in Ireland, Wagon wheels are really big cookies so I was looking forward to seeing the American. Anyway, with 15s in the center and 16s on the outside the wheel turned at a rapid pace and we shared with each other thoughts on Syria, gun control and more mundane things such as favorite movie. Afterwards, we retired to Carson for dinner to continue the conversation, many of the 16s graciously hosting the 15s .

     

A sing along with Salman Ahmad

One Friday afternoon in November the CGO convened in one of the student homes and had a private audience with Salman Ahmad , a Pakistani Rock Star and United nations Goodwill Ambassador. Salman discussed his life as a musician and got all members of the CGO to sing along to songs ranging from the Beetles to Urdu rock songs. A good time was had by all. Click on the photo to have a better look.

Salman Ahmad leads the CGO in song

 

 

Michelle Alexander and The New Jim Crow by Negina Pirzad ’16

On November 13th, the CGO group contributed to a packed house as a result of author Michelle Alexander’s visit to the University of Oregon. The humanist, activist, moralist, and former Oregonian spoke on the subject of her book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. She believes that America, as a nation, has returned to a “colorblind slumber” like that of the Civil Rights Movement. The only difference of today’s prejudices is that it’s “out of sight and out of mind.” Michelle said how society as a whole isn’t paying much attention to this incredible case of racial casting because it’s specifically occurring in our prisons, not plainly in the public.

During her 60-minute talk, Michelle emphasized facts that proved how the majority of today’s incarcerations are of black or other colored men who are charged for outrageous crimes just because of the color of their skins. Statistics she mentioned to us included that since thirty years ago, the number of arrested black men has quadrupled as a cause of America’s war on drugs. In 2005, 4 out of 5 arrests were for non-violent, possession charges for marijuana. Michelle brought up the issue of how law enforcers are targeting the “hoods” and the ghettos for these drug busts, ignoring those living in more rural areas that also buy and sell drugs as much as, or possibly even more than, people living in the projects. And as a result, after people are released from prison, necessities like employment, healthcare, housing, and other government issued items are almost completely non-existent. They are forced to live the rest of their lives with the label of being a criminal.

Michelle paused for a few moments before she asked us, “So, what do we do?” and “How can America wake up from this Civil Rights nightmare?” Michelle concluded with her guide to a better United States. She feels there needs to be an “underground railroad for those who are stigmatized” —a type of “safe haven” for incarcerated people to turn to after completing a prison sentence. She suggests society, as a whole needs to stop looking at criminals as “them,” but as “us” because “we all make mistakes.” Michelle ended the evening talk by saying, America’s shift from a punitive approach and our wake from this “colorblind slumber” needs to be one that is “multi-ethnic and multi-racial” because “everyone is worthy.”

The CGO group left the lecture hall seeming effected by Michelle Alexander’s words one way or another. Whether students agreed with her message or didn’t, her point came across, but we definitely want to hear more on the issue.

Sister Helen Prejean by Hilda Gomez ’16 and Korinne Breed ’16

On October 25th, The CGO met with Sister Helen Prejean, an activist whose goal is to abolish the death penalty. She is the author of Dead Man Walking and Death of Innocents. Apart from writing these nationally recognized books, she also organized the petition drive Moratorium 2000 which eventually became the Moratorium Campaign. She was given the Pacem in Terris Award in 1998. Nowadays Sister Helen tours around the world telling her story and advocating the abolition of the death penalty.

Sister Helen met with The CGO last year, and we were fortunate to have her visit again this week. She spent two hours with us discussing her thoughts on the death penalty and answering some tough questions from The CGO students. Many of our questions focused on her religion and how it affects her work. One topic that was brought up was her perception of Catholicism. She mentioned that the classic hierarchy is not representative of everyone in the Church – the focus should be on listening to the underrepresented; stay close to the people. She stated that the root “religio” means to connect us or to tie together.

Sister Helen in discussion with CGO students, 2012

When asked if she thinks religion causes more harm than good, she said that it’s a double edged sword. It can be exclusive and negative if people think they’re “supernaturally connected;” they think they have a direct communication with God and they use this in a manipulative way. On the other hand, religion can provide rituals and relationships. We are spiritual beings with an “infinite capacity to love and to commit.” Her spirituality and continued focus on the issue helps her deal with times of weakness. She is motivated by the people she’s standing for, giving them a voice.

Sister Helen’s Return by Lindsay Curletto ’15

The return of Sister Helen Prejean to the University of Oregon was not only warm and welcoming, but also a nice reunion for the returning Global Carnegie Oregon class of 2015 members.  With our busy schedules The CGO 15 members have been together just a few times since Spring term, so the return of Sister Helen was just what we needed, a way of bringing the members back together.

Sister Helen Prejean is the author of “Dead Man Walking”,the book that we CGO 15s had to read before fall term last year, “Death of Innocents”.  Not only is Sister Helen known for her books, but also for her incredible activism in calling for the abolishment of the death penalty.

On our first visit with Sister Helen a year ago, we asked questions geared towards the subject of the death penalty, but with her second visit, we opened up more and asked deeper and more broad questions. Although she had a slight cold, Sister Helen was still her spunky and fiery self and was up for any question brought to her by any one of the CGO 15 members. For example, one of the questions asked really intrigued me. Someone asked asked Sister Helen what kind of questions she asks someone when she first meets them.  She described that after a conversation with someone, she will not remember if that person had glasses or a beard, but she will remember their interests and what they like and dislike.  She said that she remembers these kinds of conversations better than simple conversations (such as the weather), because they are more intimate.

We followed our intimate 2 hour discussion with a small pot-luck and had further discussions about the popular topics in the world today. We really enjoyed Sister Helen’s visit, and we hope to see her again in the near future!

Lorina McAdam

On Thursday Oct. 11th the CGO16s welcomed their first visitor of the academic year when Lorina McAdam from Mercy Corps International.

Ms. McAdam has spent the last 14 years working in international relief and development with considerable experience in a number of different countries, most recently as Country Director for Mercy Corps in the Democratic Republic of Congo. She has also worked for the United Nations Development Program in Honduras and Kenya. She joined the class for our Thursday night class and talked about some of the ethical issues that she has encountered in her work. Amongst the issues she discussed were how to best deal with corruption among Aid workers, how to balance the wishes of financial donors with the realities on the ground and how to deal with burn-out amongst staff who often work in very stressful situations.

Ms. Mc Adam then joined us for dinner in the Reagan Room where we engaged in a more informal discussion and introduced her to our new parlor game.  Weekly 2 students volunteer to choose  2 ethical dilemmas from the book Be Good: How to Navigate the Ethics of Everything, written by Randy Cohen, the ethicist for the New York Times  from 1999 to 2011. The author lists ethical dilemmas that he received from readers during his time at the Times then delivers his advice. Our volunteers pose these dilemmas to the group and ask what would you do or advise in this situation? After a short discussion we compare our reactions to the author’s, this has sparked interesting and at times amusing debate.

Ms.McAdam also volunteered to meet with students individually during her stay on campus and a number of students took her up on that offer and they were able to discuss careers in International Development. It was an interesting evening and a good start to the year.