Tag: student life

Breaking the Silence

Written, photograph and video by Marissa Greene

For the month of April people around the world are starting conversations about this month’s observance which is sexual assault and violence awareness. One way that society acknowledges this issue is through something called the Clothesline Project.

The Clothesline Project began with the Cape Cod’s Women’s Defense agenda in Hyannis, Massachusettes in 1990. According to the Clothesline Project, these women discovered that during the same time that 58 thousand soldiers were killed during the Vietnam war, 51 thousand women were killed in the U.S alone due to an act of sexual assault or sexual violence. To raise awareness of this issue, The Clothesline Project recognizes victims, survivors, or honors one who experiences this trauma by hanging a clothesline of shirts to represent those affected by sexual assault or sexual violence. Through these powerful visuals, The Clothesline Project hopes to make communities aware of the problem and how to get help. 

Sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence are all serious health issues that affect all people. According to a National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence, Survey is done by the CDC in 2015 one in every five women has experienced completed or attempted rape during her lifetime. The same survey also states that one in 14 men have experienced forced penetration in his lifetime. 

The Clothesline Project states on their website that “A public must be informed about violence in order to act to prevent it. Information on how to recognize and prevent violence, reach out to survivors and make a difference in the community is provided at each display of the project.” 

One way our Riverbat community has gotten this conversation started is through the conjunction with the Its on Us campaign. A social movement that shed light on college sexual assault and encouraged college students to pledge to do their part to change society. 

“So we had the Its on Us campaign, where students were able to pledge and show their support to other students and other survivors And then we brought the clothesline project with that, so students, again, have that voice to go out and have an outlet to talk about their stories or stories of their loved ones,” said Tamara Yanes, Student Life Coordinator. 

Austin Community College and it’s Student Life didn’t stop there. Instead, they sought more ways students can have an expressive outlet and support one another.

“At ACC we really looked at an opportunity in 2017 to bring a college-wide presence of supporting victims and showing a memorial for victims as well as survivors as an opportunity to cast light on the topic and give them the opportunity to express their emotion,” said Austin Wood, ACC Compliance Investigator. 

During that year, the ACC community planned to incorporate The Clothesline Project’s mission within the school. 

“We launched it in spring 2017 and it was something that had great success and was at every campus,” said Wood. 

After the launch, every April, students were able to participate or observe a clothesline full of shirts with expressive messages that students created hung up outside the campus or inside the commons. Giving all students a chance to see and become informed. These events shed light on the resources available to student survivors. 

“This is a way for their voice to be heard and shatter the silence and just make it so that students feel comfortable to come out and talk to us and see that we are here to support them. We are here to help them out. We are here to lead them in the right direction when it comes to getting those resources that they need,”  said Yanes. 

Along with The Clothesline Project, ACC hosts an annual Take Back the Night event every April where the college comes together with community resources as another way to spread awareness and provide a way for students to be heard. 

“This may be the first time that they even say something happened to them. And seeing that changes to: “this does happen. I can say something. I do have a voice.” and it’s just to see how empowering it is for those students to finally say something,” said Yanes. 

“There is a big stigma on being a victim or survivor of this. It’s almost kind of like a barrier. So to create a conversation around it, that the barrier is kind of broken and we are able to get past that stigma- then there is a lot that people can do to support one another and have a greater sense of unity and community. And that’s really cool, that’s the foundation of the college,” said Wood.

One of the biggest ways students can make an impact to shatter the silence is to be an active bystander. This means to not just witness a situation but also take measures to deescalate it or standing up for someone else.

“If you see something, say something. A lot of times we just want to shy away from different things that are outside in the world, and we just don’t want to be involved in it. At the end of the day, we need to say something and we need to be that powerful voice because there are some people that don’t have that yet, and we need to advocate for them” said Yanes. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG_HcfL-UJU&feature=youtu.be”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]More resources on austincc.edu/mysl

Some resources listed on MySL:

  • ACC Counseling Offices — Learn more about services and programs across the district that aim to foster life balance, develop personal and academic growth, and help maintain a safe and healthy learning environment.
  • ACC District Police — Officers are available on campuses at all times when campuses are open. ACC offers police escorts if you ever feel you need someone to walk with you on campus.
  • Safe Place — Safe Place is ending sexual and domestic violence through safety, healing, prevention and social change.
  • National Women’s Shelters Directory — Listing of shelters in the Austin area.
  • Texas Advocacy Project — Provides free legal services statewide to victims of domestic and dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
  • Texas Council on Family Violence — The Texas Council on Family Violence has three main focuses: policy, support to service providers and retention.
  • City of Austin Victim Services Resources — A detailed list of 24-hour crisis hotlines, victim assistance programs, support groups/counseling services and alcohol drug abuse prevention programs.

 

Transtastic

Written and Edited by Halie Davis
Filmed by Taylor Kokas

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Blue, pink and white flags were printed on posters that hung up around various campuses this past spring. These colors sandwiched together, horizontally are the Transgender flag. Text on the posters promoted the premiere of a student-made documentary, Transtastic, supported by an LGBTQ resource fair.

Transtastic is the creation of ACC student, Margo De Alva. As a transgender person, she felt the urge to create something that further explains transgender than the textbook definition.

“Coming into the school semester, I was asked several times ‘why do you dress like this?’ ‘Why do you act like this?’” says De Alva. “I just wanted ACC to have a better understanding and I wanted to reach out to people who were in my situation, or are in my situation.”

After graduating from high school, De Alva attempted attending college. But, the timing was off.

“I was very, very sad for several years because I was scared to tell everybody. I didn’t even know what Transgender was. I knew I wanted to be a woman, but I didn’t know the term…I had to venture off to YouTube to even know what transgender meant.”

In recent years, the public has seen more videos, articles and events, regarding transgender people. In 2014, Laverne Cox is the first transgender person on the cover of Time Magazine. Making her public debut at the 2015 ESPYs, Caitlyn Jenner spoke for transgender children and people. That same year and the following, Jeffrey Tambor brought home an Emmy for Leading Actor in Comedy Series, Transparent. In 2016, NPR reported that 1.4 million adults identify as transgender, according to a study done by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law. The highest number of reported deaths among Transgender people, occurred in 2017.
This year Cox poses for the cover of Cosmopolitan
Magazine, Scarlett Johansson apologizes and announces her withdraw from the transgender project, Rub
&
Tug, and Wisconsin is covering two of its residents’ gender confirmation surgeries.

Transgender may be a term that is confusing for the general public to understand, let alone an individual. This past summer, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that in 2019 being transgender will no longer be considered a mental illness. Often, a fake identity is created by a transgender person to try and fit into society’s standards of male and female roles.

“Dorothy [Alexander] is one of the friends who helped start everything,” De Alva says. “She met me when I was, I guess a boy. She met me and could tell something was up because of the way I acted and stuff. Like she said in [Transtastic], I would joke around about getting my nails done and she’d be like, ‘if you want to get your nails done, I’ll go with you, it’s not a big deal.’ There were times I’d try to act masculine and she’d look at me and and be like, ‘I don’t really feel like this suits you.’ She was just reminding me that ‘I think you’re a different person,’ so when I finally told her, she was like ‘I knew it all along.’”

Some of De Alva’s friends and family were accepting, but not eveyone. At 12-years-old she knew she wanted to be considered a female, but was still unsure about the ways to express herself. “I had no choice but to put on this persona of what I felt like a man or teenage boy was supposed to be, because it was very rough. I was getting picked on in school from the other boys and I remember them telling me ‘you’re such a girl, man up.’”

In her early adolescence, De Alva was living with her dad in the Rundberg area of Austin. This neighborhood is known as a rougher one to many Austinites.

From 2012-2016 Restore Rundberg was a grant received to revitalize the area. Since the funding closed, the Austin Police Department has continued extension programs throughout the area, like Summer in Rundberg to keep the neighborhood children safe when not in school. Restore Rundberg decreased property crime in the area and the city itself.

Crime rates are higher in lower income areas than high-income households, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Some neighborhoods in Austin with a median household income ranging from $7,000 to $38,000 are St. Johns (Rundberg area), North Lamar and East Riverside. Neighborhoods in Austin with a median household income range of $130,000 to $217,000 are Bee Cliffs, Bella Mar and Avery Ranch.

Like many cities, the public education provided to its residents depends on their neighborhood. According to the U.S. News & World Report’s list of Best High Schools in America, Westlake (EISD) ranked 213. Westwood (RRISD) followed up at 221 with a graduation rate of 99 and college readiness score of 72. Vandegrift (LIST) land at 339 while the top ranking AISD school is Anderson at 1,038. Schools like Lanier, Reagan and Eastside Memorial did not place in the national or state rankings. Students at the non-ranking schools live in neighborhoods like East Riverside, North Lamar and St. Johns.

“LGBTQ people are not just on the North side or by Highland.”

DeAlva attended Wooldridge Elementary School, which filters into Lanier High School. These are some of the schools associated with the Rundberg area.
“Rundberg, from my experience, wasn’t necessarily the best place to live at,” De Alva says. “The boys needed to have this role of being tough. In middle school, they were running around, talking about sports…In 2006, I remember being in middle school and LGBT was picked on. Nobody said it was ok.”

De Alva lived with a boy persona until 2015, when she became a junior in high school. At this time, De Alva has moved to the Lakeline area with her grandma. At Westwood High School she was noticing LGBT was more accepted than her previous schools. She was making friends who were openly gay or lesbian. “Their friends weren’t mean about it and they still liked them.”
De Alva was noticing a different world, where people were more accepting and open about being gay. Moreover, she did not feel the urge to live in her previous identity; the one that would mock or ignore people from the LGBT community. “If I had met [an LGBT person] when I was in Rundberg, I would have no choice but to pick on them if I had friends around…my grandma lived in this place where I could listen to how [an LGBT person] felt.”

After taking a break from school, Margo De Alva discovered acceptance in the LGBT community, friends and family. Although hesitant to begin college, Margo found a home in Student Life.

Northridge’s Student Life Coordinator, Tim Prata, assisted Margo with the creation of Transtastic. After listening to her thoughts and hopes, Prata introduced De Alva to ACC’s LGBT eQ Committee and Student Life’s YouTube series, Life4U. From there, the group took De Alva’s documentary idea and created Transtastic. Last March, Transtastic premiered after its resource fair concluded. A Q&A session was held after the documentary premiere with Margo De Alva and others featured in the Transtastic.
“My friends are accepting, so I’ve reached out to several and they have my back with things like ‘hey, I feel uncomfortable going to the bathroom, would you go with me?’ and they will.”

In the 2019 legislative session, many Texans are hoping to continue the discussion about the Bathroom Bill. This bill, defines access to public restrooms by transgender people. In 2015 the Austin City Council passed an ordinance stating that all businesses with a single-use restroom must provide gender-neutral bathrooms. Every ACC campus, with the exception of Riverside, has a family bathroom for its transgender students, faculty and staff. However, having only one single-use bathroom on a  campus can be difficult for transgender people – especially if it’s in use.

“LGBTQ people are not just on the north side or by the Highland campus  – we’re everywhere,” says De Alva. “There should just be more family bathrooms in general. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to hold going to the bathroom because [some business] doesn’t have it.”

Although De Alva’s goal is to live a life as Margo, she chooses not to use the women’s bathroom, even if it’s the only option. “I don’t want to go into the women’s bathroom because I don’t want to alarm females. I’m totally understanding that it can alarm everybody, so I just try to stick to the family bathrooms”

Austin businesses like Alamo Drafthouse at Mueller, Hillside Farmacy and Cheer Up Charlies offer gender-neutral bathrooms. These areas have closed-off stalls for private business and sinks to wash. CEO of Alamo Drafthouse, Tim League, says there are “no complaints at all” in an article from the Austin American Statesman.
De Alva is knowledgeable about which businesses have a restroom for her to use due to personal experience. Fortunately, her support system is able to accompany her to the restroom, if needed. “I’ve had my grandpa tell me ‘if you have to go, I’ll go in there with you and make sure no one says anything…As sweet as that is, it’s humiliating to have to go with my grandfather.”

De Alva says she doesn’t expect sweet gestures, but is thankful for the support. After revealing herself as a transgender person, she’s lost relationships  but stays positive. “You’re going to have people that don’t like you no matter what, so you might as well be who you are.”

Margo De Alva plans to transform Transtastic into an event at ACC. She also hopes to open a safe area for the LGBT community to talk and relate with one another. “You know I still have not met someone who is transgender at the school, that I can reach out to. At the event, I started to see more people and they were talking to me and it was great to know that I’m not alone.”

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NxNRG

Written by Amye Bueno
Photos by Wes Eng

Students gathered at NxNRG
Students gathered at NxNRG

As part of Stress Less Finals Week, and a chance to show off students’ talent, Student Life specialist Josh Garcia, hosted the first annual North by Northridge(NxNRG) showcase. “NxNRG is a showcase of student artwork of all different mediums” says Garcia.

Artwork included paintings, photography, digital art, and more. “We were going to have some music but the weather was kind of unpredictable today,” says Garcia. The weather was predicted to be a high of 86 with clouds in the sky and possible rain.

Northridge is known for hosting many creative and design departments including creative digital, music business, animation and more. Students submitted artwork and set up tables along the breezeway with their artwork on display. There were also interactive tables where students could paint flower pots, a friendship bracelet making station hosted by Riverbat Ambassador Dorothy Alexander. Plus, Student Life hosted a swag station with finals necessities like scantrons and pencils. Chick-fil-a was also nearby to show their support for students with sandwiches and prizes.

Students making friendship bracelets
Students making friendship bracelets

Wrapping up NxNRG, students had one last chance to de-stress by giving the piñata their best shot. This created an opportunity to network and interact with other students, faculty, and staff. As this was the first NxNRG, Student Life hopes to host this event for students every semester.

“Student Life is an opportunity for students to connect with their campus, with pretty much everything relating to outside of the classroom” says Garcia. Aiming to help students succeed in and out of the classroom, and connecting them with resources, Student Life is here to help students at ACC. “Student Life has done a lot, a lot for me, it’s another place I can call home” says gaming student and aspiring Riverbat Ambassador, Ty Howard.

If you would like to get involved or volunteer, stop by your Student Life office located on your campus or visit austincc.edu/sl for opportunities and resources available to you.

“Y.O.Unique” Event: ACC Round Rock Campus

Press release by Kassandra Burns

ROUND ROCK CAMPUS April 7, 2015 — The Student Life Campus Team will host “Y.O.Unique” on April 7 from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. in building 2000 on the Round Rock Campus.

The event is  open to all ACC students. Cupcakes and prizes will be served to participants who complete the True Colors personality quiz.

The quiz is designed to show participants which color/personality traits are dominant and enhance interpersonal communication in both professional and personal settings.

In addition to completing the quiz, students may speak with campus advisors about career choices that may better suit their personalities. At one of the event stations, participants will be able to look up famous people who share their True Color results.

The theory of True Colors originated around 460 b.c. when four different temperaments were identified involving Plato’s ideas about character and personality.

For more information about the event, email Claudia at [email protected]

Tea Talk: Round Rock Campus

Press release by Kassandra Burns

TEA TALK – WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH CELBRATION

ACC ROUND ROCK CAMPUS, RM 2117, ROUND ROCK, TX, THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2015 –

In an effort to celebrate Women’s History Month Student Life will host a Tea Talk event. The event will take place 12:00 – 2:00 p.m. Students can come, celebrate and converse with each other about the importance and impact women of today and the past have made on the world.  Jennielle Strother will speak.

Ashley Feagins, Student Life Campus Team Chair, planned the event because  “It is important to understand where we have been in history in order to know how to go forward with women’s equality.”

Hot tea, pastries and finger sandwiches will be served in British style to allow students a multi-cultural experience. The tea targets female students at ACC who might not be involved outside of the classroom otherwise. Feagins hopes to build a community in addition to sparking a conversation about gender norms.

Guest speaker Jennielle Strother is the vice president of enrollment management and financial aid at the Seminary of the Southwest. She is pursuing a Doctorate of Education in Organizational Leadership from Northeaster University and has previously worked at Concordia University, Laredo Community College, Lon Morris College, and is co-founder of #EMchat, a weekly twitter conversation for enrollment management professionals.

Women’s history month traces back to March 8, 1857 when women protested over working conditions. In 1909 it turned into an International Women’s Day, then expanded into a week.  Now an entire month is allotted to celebrate the history of women and all they have endured. This event will allow students and faculty to discuss important topics covering the history of women and also serves as a chance to meet new people.

The student Life Office reaches out to the students in a way to involve them in school activities outside of the classroom. It does this by planning events to get everyone together, to learn new things, meet new people and have fun while doing so.

What better way to celebrate such a significant time in history than with a cup of tea, some pastries, and great conversations?

Spaces are still available for current ACC students, who may RSVP at http://… For more information, please email Ashley at [email protected].

ACC Spring Break Preparation 2015

Story by Ryan Fontenette-Mitchell, Reporter

Survival tips gave students a new perspective on spring break, today at the Rio Grande Campus. The Office of Student Life held a spring break preparation fair from 10:30 a.m. to noon.

Organizations such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the Austin Police Department attended to provide students with safety tips on spring break.

Students were advised to travel in groups and never leave their drinks unattended. APD provided a pair of goggles that simulate the effects of intoxication and had students perform field sobriety tests while wearing them to show the effects of alcohol on vision and response times.

Dosomething.org reported that at least one spring breaker dies from falling off a balcony every year. The site mentioned alternatives to typical spring break activities such as partying. For example, last year 10 University of Washington students spent spring break building houses in Denver.

For more tips on having a safe spring break or other alternatives visit these links:

https://bethanyguidetocollege.wordpress.com/tag/spring-break-statistics/

http://www.usnews.com/education/slideshows/12-alternative-break-trips-for-college-students

 

Student Life

Hien Nguyen, Contributor 

A delegation of six students and two staff members represented the Office of Student Life at this year’s National Association for College Activities. The conference was held in Arlington, Texas from Oct. 23 to 25.

The annual conference brings student leaders together from different colleges for professional development sessions and activities to help improve leadership and networking skills.

To participate in similar activities, students may contact the Office of Student Life on any ACC campus for more information on how to get involved.