Let's Talk UNLV

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This is a k u and v studios original program.

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The content of this program does not reflect the views or opinions of 91.5 Jazz and more the University of Nevada Las Vegas or the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education.

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Welcome to Let's Talk UNLV public radio K u and v 91.5. I am joined today by my brand new co host, Dr. Sami skills Dr. Skills. Give me Hello.

Unknown Speaker 0:32
Hello UNLV Dr. Skills and I'm happy to be with you today.

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Welcome back to scale. So as you are brand new to the show, would you like to be would you like to please give us your origin story? How did you come to be here? How did you become part of UNLV? What brought you to us?

Unknown Speaker 0:50
Okay, yeah, absolutely. Doctor crap. Well, I'm Dr. Sam scales I come to UNLV from San Diego State University in San Diego was at San Diego State for the past 13 years. I've lived in San Diego for the past 26 years. While it's an ego state, I've taught several in several different areas. One being black studies, one being general studies, one is FYE First Year Experience, communications, English history, history from a black perspective as well. Also, I'm part of the D nine also, I'm an alpha here on campus, for brothers here on campus. And while here at UNLV, I work in Student Diversity Programs, and it's been great being here.

Unknown Speaker 1:33
Wow, that's that's, you know, I love that origin story. So multifaceted. So you got tired of the beach, is that why?

Unknown Speaker 1:42
No one ever gets tired of the beach. But you know, the change was good. And then the change was much needed. And you ought to be UNLV offered what I was looking for. So I'm excited and happy to be here. Well,

Unknown Speaker 1:53
we're excited and glad to have you on board. So today we have our most lovely, most wonderful repeat guest Deanna McDonald, and she is here to tell us remind us of her origin story. And then to share a little bit of what's been going on with her, you know,

Unknown Speaker 2:09
thank you for having me. I'm Deanna McDonald, I have multiple hats that I wear in the Student Life unit under the Division of Student Affairs. I've been at UNLV for about four and a half years. And I have had a wonderful time and privilege of serving in various capacities. One right now is the Special Assistant to Associate Vice President for Student Life and special projects director. I know that's a lot. But it's it's a dual title. With that comes the privilege of being able to help in multi faceted areas. So it's not just one particular thing. My former background prior to coming here was Housing and Residence Life as well as working in other areas of Student Affairs at an HBCU back on Midwest side. And so being here has been able to has allowed me to be in various areas meeting right now I'm here to talk to you all about the minority serving institution week that's coming up in March to be exactly the march 25 to the 29th. So we'll get more into that as I'm here.

Unknown Speaker 3:15
You know, I love hearing how you've dabbled in different areas like

Unknown Speaker 3:18
never know with me,

Unknown Speaker 3:21
it reminds me of when I first attended college and had five majors until I found the one to you, oh, no, I didn't graduate. Just even explore that. I was just a confused college student who didn't know better.

Unknown Speaker 3:36
We got you through full

Unknown Speaker 3:38
disclosure just so the audience know, Miss McDonnell and myself work in the same office. So when we actually you know, what did she do? She could have just said everything and summed it up.

Unknown Speaker 3:49
We'll leave it at it depends on what's going on and what's taking place because I'm one that's flexible. So I like to get in to help where I can whether it's student, faculty staff, it's just a matter of what's going on and what's needed.

Unknown Speaker 4:01
Love it. Love it. So. So what is the overarching vision behind organizing minority institutions? Well, first of all, what is a minority serving institution? What is what qualifies as

Unknown Speaker 4:11
that? So UNLV is a dual designated minority serving institution. And so that means we have designations one we have as the Hispanic Serving Institution. We're also the NNPC, which is the Asian American Native American Pacific Islander designation, and that is by numbers. And because we have those designations, this naturally under a MSI, which is the minority serving institution. So it's also something that you will have that for historically black colleges and universities and other institutions that are based off of identity like that. And so, at UNLV, with us having the dual designations we always talk about them, but we don't necessarily fully show those. And so we are intentionally showing that with our actions and how we're doing different activities and events and services. Okay. If it's not just for students, but also faculty, staff and the community in general.

Unknown Speaker 5:03
Oh, that's beautiful. Great.

Unknown Speaker 5:05
Yeah. And you mentioned the event. So can you tell us how the events for MSI week selected and organized to ensure they effectively showcase underrepresented ethnic minority students.

Unknown Speaker 5:15
So the great thing about this as the MSI week was actually started by students. And I'm not sure if everyone is aware of that this was the fourth year and 2021, the minority serving institution Student Council, which is under the minority serving institution Task Force, we say MSI for short, they started this, and it was the first one, they actually did an event each day, it was March 1 through the fifth. And they strategically went through to figure out how they could start doing a call to action to be strategic as far as the services and representation of historically underrepresented minority groups on campus and what we're identifying as MSI. And so with that, we've allowed that to grow every year. So the next year, they opened up for campus, so it wasn't just the council that was doing the actual planning. And so that's where a taste of UNLV started. That's where rep fest started. Some other pieces that we're seeing, these are the third year for those. So it might be a little tricky as far as communication when people say, Well, this is the third year, but this is actually the fourth year. And what we're doing as an institution and being more intentional is we are making it where it's more of a university wide approach, and not just the students or the student council or the task force.

Unknown Speaker 6:26
So it sounds like it's a collaborative effort between the university and the students. And the students were the ones that initiated it, which is really exciting to hear. Yes. And

Unknown Speaker 6:35
that's why I said even just in evaluating just amongst the group, they figured out what are some other ways that we can showcase what we have on campus, just the different cultures and different activities that we could do. And so that's why every year, you've noticed that there'll be the same few large university wide things. So like this week, where we're having the summit, this is the third year for the summit. This is the third year for a taste of UNLV, which is a partnership with Aramark and the dining commons. And so what they do is they change the menu so that we have different cultural foods or drinks, depending on what's going on for each different group we have on campus.

Unknown Speaker 7:17
I must say that I personally appreciate the opportunity to sample different regional cuisines definitely.

Unknown Speaker 7:23
And I'll even say just with a taste of UNLV, one thing that the council did, understanding that some people do have meal plans, and some people don't. And so wanting to make sure as many people as possible, were able to get exposure to these things. They actually purchase vouchers to give away to staff, students, or whomever that did not have a meal plan. And so we've done that the last couple of years. This year, that's the possibility again, but it does get costly as food items and things have increased. Preach.

Unknown Speaker 7:53
Exactly. What are some of the challenges that you faced or that the MSI committee have faced when trying to put this on for that week,

Unknown Speaker 8:02
I think opportunities to grow and enhance student and community many UNLV, faculty, staff, etc. getting them on board and understanding sometime it's an uncomfortable situation when people start talking about race. But we if we're going to have students, if we're going to have the groups, if we're going to say this is who we are, then we have to intentionally be that. And it's getting people to not only commit to it, as far as participation, not only commit to it in regards to finances, but it's actually just supporting and being that as well and everyday. So we don't want this to be just a week or just a day. We want this to be a lived experience every day. So the students have a true students, faculty and staff have a true sense of belonging while they're here. And they could say UNLV as a place where I feel like I belong you're gonna be it's a place I can see myself. And so that is a different approach. And so it's going to take some time, you know, Sammy, you and I've talked about in various means as far as student diversity programs, some of the things that are unique in this, in this particular space, has it where it there's a hesitation, or there's some extra time that's needed to get people on board to see it is wonderful for us all to be here. Exactly,

Unknown Speaker 9:15
you know, with us speaking just now it makes me think about those things that are uncomfortable to talk about just like race, just like politics, just like religion. So some of those things, you know, are difficult to talk about. But you know, when you're in a educational setting, like out of state college and university, hopefully there are safe spaces on campus where you actually have those conversations, and everyone is comfortable and they're learning off of each other.

Unknown Speaker 9:39
And I'll tell you, you saying that reminds me of an analogy that I heard someone talk about some people some people will say oh UNLV or Las Vegas is a melting pot. Well that means you make everything go down to the same foundation. They said no, it's not a melting pot. It's a salad. A salad has certain elements of it that complements to make it a really unique and great tasting. You know dish. And so I want to look at look at us as a salad because we need various items to go in there. Now what type of salad? It might be? Hey, who knows? But it's not that we're trying to make it all just let us all just fruit all just pasta. So it's a salad. Where's the mix? That's given a great flavor to what we're having? Yes,

Unknown Speaker 10:18
yes, that's good. And everything maintains itself, the the tomato remains a tomato, the carrot remain a carrot. You know, that's some of the things you know, when I was teaching actually lecturing. Rather, I always encourage students to bring their entire self into the classroom, because there's always things that we can learn from each other. And we're in an educational setting. I think that's what should be taking place learning from each other. So can definitely be like, you

Unknown Speaker 10:46
know, it's so funny when you said salad and my brain because my brain works in metaphors. I was like, yeah, and MSI is that salad dressing that brings all those flavors, brings all those flavors together. But

Unknown Speaker 10:57
it's actually saying, Hey, we have a flavor, right? That's our identity. It's that identity. Yeah, yes. And we all complement each other. And so it's the color is the different flavors, the different textures. All of that is what makes us who we are them.

Unknown Speaker 11:12
I've never been a fan of melting pot. Because when I see think of melting pot, I think about when all the crayons come together, and then this blue blob of grey, yes. And you know, I'm like, No, I'm a bowl of Skittles, which goes to show you my health level.

Unknown Speaker 11:29
Because I'm rolling with Skittles instead of a salad. No worries, I like m&ms. So I understand.

Unknown Speaker 11:34
They're really, really memorable moments from MSI week in the past that stands out to you. Now. I

Unknown Speaker 11:42
will say with me. There's one in particular that was last year. Last year, we tried a new approach to just showing the culture that we had on campus. And so we reached out to get the different countries that each student in the institution represented. And there were about 87. And so we actually hung up flags on Pieta Plaza, and the trees so that you could see them as you're walking around. And so when the flags were hung up, it was just a beautiful sight to see. And then to see students and others stop and point to see their flag and see themselves here. That was a total different experience. And I actually took pictures of people, I didn't take their pictures in the front. But I did take them just because that's a moment that we want to capture and have all the time where people can see themselves. There was a little controversy behind the flags because of different things that were going on in the climate. But it was still a matter of we have something happening everywhere every day. And so who we are as naturally who we are. And so it's how do we work through those and communication and understanding and respect of one another. And so with that, the flags themselves, if it was not for the wind, it would have been a beautiful sight all week. But just that like said that initial piece of seeing Fagor stuff in various timeframes throughout the week that we had those up, that was one that I would say sticks with us, because we're trying to figure out a different way to do that. And again, these are things that are simply we can do all the time, it's a matter of how do we intentionally do this. So that's all the time, not just a particular week or day, while

Unknown Speaker 13:18
you know, that thought about three things when he was talking about those flags and students stopping and looking at those flags. I thought about pride that the student you know, in bought it looking at the flag from their country, I thought about a sense of belonging, and also representation, you know, so those are some of the things that I thought about why he was telling us that story there. But I think it's always important to make students feels seen and have a sense of belonging, like they actually belong there. So many times we encounter and myself included, because when I first came here, I encountered that imposter syndrome that I've been talking about, because of the staff that I've worked with up in SDP. I was thinking, Man, these people are brilliant at what they do, do I really belong here with them? Because everyone was just so knowledgeable in that area. And so after a little while, you know, I was like, Yeah, I actually do belong here. I can do this, you know, I have the background for what I have the skills for it. And, you know, I'll sit down and think you know, I'm this little dark skin boy from Mississippi, I was born and raised in Mississippi. So I'm thinking here I am out here in Las Vegas with all these people from all over the country that know what they're doing. And I thought to myself, you know, I'm on that level too. I can do this. So, you know, that feeling dissipated. And I, you know, started melting into the team that we work with now, but I can imagine students actually feeling like Yeah, yeah, I belong here. You know, I can do this, you know, Doctor crap sent me an article. I think it was yesterday on a particular student that won a scholarship. This student is from China, and he won a scholarship and he's the first at Santikos add on. UNLV to get that scholarship, so I was reading that, and I was real happy to actually read that. And I can just thinking about how that student felt, getting that scholarship. So articles like that really, really stands out with me, you know, that sense of belonging for a student. And that's my entire purpose of being here to make sure that the students are getting exactly what they need to be successful.

Unknown Speaker 15:25
You know, you spoke volumes. And when you spoke to my little Jamaican immigrant heart, when you talked about flags, I was like, Man, that would have been so neat, to walk by and point to my flag and be like, Yeah, that's me, you know, first gen, first everything and just this idea of belonging, we, you know, belonging is so important. And to your point about imposter syndrome. Man, oh, like, you know, when you step into spaces, if you're the first if you're the only and you step into these spaces, and you look around, it is really easy to get the sense that have I earned the right to be here, you know, you know, and that, that I think that is real. And so talking about students for color talking about first generation, you know, part of it is external, but internal, a lot of is external to people have told you, you don't have the right to believe be here, you don't belong here. So having these visible representations in this effort that's being put forth to say to students, hell, yeah, you belong here, you belong here, claim your space, this is where you should be, you know, is wonderful, the intentionality behind it is wonderful. And on that note, can you tell me how it aligns with UNLV is brought our vision around adding diversity, and, you know, equity and inclusion, which, you know, depending on your perception can be challenging words to have?

Unknown Speaker 16:43
No, I was just trying to think of another way to say it, because I think just natural, like I said, with what we advertise and what we say, of us being a minority serving institution, that's literally you know, that our diversity is helping us with top tier 2.0. And all of the things that we've aligned in that. And so again, it is a part of who we are, we're not just UNLV. And the number one research, one of the top research institutions, we have another part of us that helps with who we are, and it makes our identity and who we attract who we are and who we bring here. So I think that in itself, again, is just taking us as one would say from minority enrolling to minority serving. And when we talk about having a sense of belonging here, it doesn't just happen when you're enrolled, or when you're here celebrating the week, it happens when you start looking at faculty when you start looking at staff when you start looking at our websites, and what are our actual advertisements that we're showing people want to see themselves and not just as a token of that, but in all aspects. So various people comps, whether it's families and staff or people in the community, they want to see in some form or fashion, how they as a human interacting with another human in a college setting can see themselves there. Yeah,

Unknown Speaker 17:52
absolutely. During the time that I've talked to high school students with back in San Diego, one of the things that we will do is look at the mission statement of these schools and see how does that mission statement align with what they what the major they want, or what the person that they want to be with the job that they want. So that's, that's important to make sure that you're aligned with schools, the schools. One of the things I want to ask you about is accessibility, how do you make sure that there's MSI weeks as is accessible to all students. So

Unknown Speaker 18:25
there's different avenues that we'll take with creating activities or programs or opportunities during the week, as well as just advertising what those are. So for example, this time we started off this year, and last year, we started off, I sent a an email to all college deans, chairs, whoever their assistants, or right hand person might be, as well as various department student org that cetera to even start and we asked them to participate to host to sponsor and or volunteer with MSI week, because it's not just one thing everybody can do. As we're talking about what our roles are, and what our intentions are. There's different ways we can help. Everybody may not be available at the same time. And even with us being a large institution, sometimes it's a matter of okay, well, what's happening at that time. And so we tell people, we expect that there will be some overlap, but that's okay. Everybody doesn't want to go to the same things. And so we want to be able to reach out to people in various areas, and in various ways. And so we're looking to say, what does that look like? Right? And so like I said, we'll start with that email that we sent out asking people to get involved. There's been a few reminders that were sent out. There's also going to be some information that's sent as far as UNLV official that will go out to faculty, staff and students. There's going to be announcements on the UNLV today, so that's faculty staff, so there's going to be repetitive things will happen on social media as well.

Unknown Speaker 19:52
Okay, let me ask you this and I'm sure some of the students listening may want to know this. What what type of swag are you looking at this year for? given out to students,

Unknown Speaker 20:01
big truth power.

Unknown Speaker 20:05
This way, you know, it's so interesting that you say that or ask that. That's when I leave here Axios committee meeting. And so last year, last week, we talked about what we had last year. And what we're looking to do this year, with everything, they're the cost. And so some things we would love to have versus what might be realistic and what students are actually using now. So a lot of times you see bags and bottles. And so some things that were actually suggested by a student was to have some of the recyclable straws that you can have that can fold because you may not be able to get them in other areas. There's also been some ideas of having some more of the wristbands. And so we haven't determined what that is, but we're looking at what's going to be realistic that people will actually want and use.

Unknown Speaker 20:49
Okay, excellent, excellent.

Unknown Speaker 20:51
I like that plan. And I also like the sustainability piece that you just slid in there with a straw. So I appreciate that. And something else that resonates with me is this idea of don't just talk the talk, walk the walk, you know, the idea that this is not we do, this is not what we do, this is who we are, as an institution, and we can all do our part, every last one of us can figure out what it is. And because of that, there are so many different avenues of approach that may speak to individual students. So just because your event is a different defendant, the other event that might be taking place, students are diverse, they may want to do one versus the other. I heard you talk about social media. So what's going on, I'm not sure that I expect to Tik Tok video, Instagram Live like how?

Unknown Speaker 21:42
Well there's going to be some just post and things like that. Last year, we did hire a photographer so that we can capture various moments throughout the week and different events. And so this year, we're looking to do the same thing and also promote like I said, through the various email options as well as Instagrams and we don't do Tik Tok. So let me take that back. Almost got trouble there. But other avenues that we haven't just trying to get, again, students, and well as groups and departments to put them on their site. So we're very large. And some things we do wonderful in collaborating and others were siloed. So it was trying to make sure we're reaching out to various avenues, because even looking at doing things for undergraduate students purchase graduate students is a different approach. And so we're making sure that we're getting them in all ways that we can, and there's going to be like a repetitive piece. I will say we're a little delayed with getting out some of our information from inside week as far as advertising, but that will start next week. Okay.

Unknown Speaker 22:45
For students that are listening now and decide, oh, I have not heard about this. Oh, I remember this from last year, and they want to volunteer, what do they do? How can they go about getting active and volunteering maybe to get those volunteer hours? So

Unknown Speaker 22:58
the beautiful part about that question is we're finalizing our information, it's going to be sent out and it's going to have various links, there's going to be a link so that you can register for the MSI Student Success Summit, which is on that Monday. There's a link where you can volunteer for the MSI Student Success Summit, that's on Monday, you can volunteer for the celebration we're having on Wednesday, you can volunteer for Rib Fest, as well as there's going to be links because this year we're incorporating a ms I cultural cookbook, as well as an MSI playlist. And so it's going to be short turnaround, but we're starting this and I will say this year, what's going to be unique about MSI weakest, we're going to have a part one in a part two. And so in our communications, we're going to let everyone know that we're doing MSI week 2020 for the part one, part two, so March 25, to the 29th. It is part one, and we will transition from having MSI week in the spring to the fall. And so it will be in this September's what we're looking at, which will actually be before there's an a Pz week and HSI week. So we are showing, hey, this is who we are from the very beginning of the semester, when students get him to make a start to see themselves as everything else is going and it's just we're just continuing to see that in various areas.

Unknown Speaker 24:14
You know, that's a wonderful idea to have diversity show up early and often. So that when you show up on campus, immediately you feel connected, you feel a sense of belonging, versus towards the spring, so I liked that idea very much. And I liked the ways in which you're incorporating different cultural components because food you had me a cookbook,

Unknown Speaker 24:35
you can always connect.

Unknown Speaker 24:37
We look forward to the submissions.

Unknown Speaker 24:41
Okay, so um, one question that I have dream cheat dream list like I know the things that we're doing now, is there something out there in the ether that you like, with the right funding, and the right support? I envision this being this one day but that

Unknown Speaker 25:01
is a trick question. Oh, wow. And I say that because me coming from an HBCU, there was no question where I was, this wasn't a conversation, it showed up in the very fabric of who we weren't as we were every day. And so that that was just period. One thing that attracted me to HBCU was the band and the culture that was there. It's a totally different field. And so being here, I would love to see that, that we have on campus and it's in our fabric and a woven everywhere. And so, with us changing from fall to spring, I would love to see a large festive event that is very cultural. So we see them like in little spurts. So like when you have festivals of community, and there's a different foods that the student orgs are doing, or you see there's the powwow, those things, I love to have them throughout the year. But I also would love to have them all in one in the beginning. So that way, it starts off, we did try this last year, however, we learned with the day and time that we selected classes weren't going on. So that was part of thing as far as student involvement, as well as trying to get participants, whether it be students that we started with, or even community based off of funding. So that's something that we're working on as well, so that we can enhance things as we go. So since we've started, you definitely can see an improvement. We started in 2021 with five events. But moving forward, we have over triple that as we're doing things as a university. And so my idea was that you see this as a big festive piece that you might see in various cultural cultures. But you see it all in one. And again, this that salad that we're talking about. So regardless to who the student or staff or faculty is, they can see themselves and easily come and be a part and feel like this is home, this is where I'm supposed to be. And I want that to be for folks, whether they're here for one semester, one day, one week, or they're here for their entire span, I want to take as much opportunity to have a great impact on people as low as we can as far as much as we can.

Unknown Speaker 27:10
Absolutely sounds great

Unknown Speaker 27:12
man, making me want to reenroll in this nah. But you know, as we have a couple of minutes left, we'd love to ask you, do you have any takeaways? And how can students and faculty and staff and all others stay involved and informed?

Unknown Speaker 27:28
So one is, again, we're going to be sharing the information. As far as what's going on. There are some things already on the website. So if you want to go to unlv.edu, forward slash diversity forward slash Ms. Ai, forward slash summit that has a list of some things that are already out there that are not even on our full list of things that we've been sharing. And so those are from the departments in different orgs that are on campus. But you will also see the information as far as the Student Success Summit, which has Dr. Tia brown McNair coming to be our keynote speaker. And she is going to help us with just identifying and working through what her book said was moving from equity, talk to equity walk

Unknown Speaker 28:12
from talk to walk, I like that. So thank you so much for being our guest today. And thank you for sharing all the wonderful things that were going on. I personally am planning to make my way to not only the food related stuff. But the other stuff as well. And

Unknown Speaker 28:32
we definitely want to see folks in various ways. So whether it's volunteering is actually participating and or helping us with setting up an event and being a part of just the festivities themselves. So we want to see you do that for yourself as well as those that are around you. So bring a colleague, bring a friend, bring your classmates make it a class assignment. If you're a professor, we want to see as many people as we can. Great,

Unknown Speaker 28:56
I love it.

Unknown Speaker 28:57
Thank you so very much for being my favorite first guest

Unknown Speaker 29:05
Thank you for having me. I look forward to us working together and getting folks involved and being where we are.

Unknown Speaker 29:11
Awesome stuff that is a wrap.

Dr. Renee Watson 29:17
For more or less talk UNLV Be sure to follow us on social media where you can get the latest updates on the show plus great behind the scenes content. We're on Facebook and let's talk about all the podcast Twitter and let's talk UNLV and Instagram and let's talk UNLV

Transcribed by https://otter.ai