Let's Talk UNLV

Wesley Knight 0:00
This is a Kun V studios original program. 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.

Dr. Sammie Scales 0:20
Hello. Hello, and welcome back to another episode of Public Radio. K UNV 91.5 let's talk to NLV. I'm your host. Dr Samuel scales, here again, and today I have two special guests. I will let each one of my guests introduce themselves so that I don't mess up their titles. So gonna start to my right.

Imani Patterson 0:38
Hello, everyone. My name is Imani Patterson, and I'm currently the Senior Assistant Director for Student Diversity Programs, great.

Dr. Sammie Scales 0:46
And next we

Monesha Hobbs 0:48
have My name is Monisha Hobbs. I go by Mo and official title academic coaching coordinator for Center for Academic Enrichment and Outreach,

Dr. Sammie Scales 0:57
okay? And today we're here to talk about the celebrations. And what I mean by celebrations is, I'm gonna have Imani tell you exactly what I mean, because I don't want to mess this up.

Imani Patterson 1:07
So yes, today we're talking about our cultural celebrations of student success, which recognizes all of our graduating students, undergraduate, Master's doctoral students, and their achievements here at UNLV,

Dr. Sammie Scales 1:22
excellent, excellent. So let's just have an open discussion about what students need to know when it comes to these graduations. And you know, like time, date, place, how they get registered for these graduations, and what they can do, what they can do, how many guests they can bring, all of that stuff. So everything that students need to know, all right,

Imani Patterson 1:39
so I'll go ahead and run through the list of them, and then we can bounce off off of that next week starts our first celebration. Well, our first celebration will be next week may 6, will be our lavender celebration, which is for our LGBT graduating students that would take place off campus at the LGBTQ Center from six to nine. On Tuesday will be our Asian Pacific Islander Middle Eastern celebration, six to 9pm in the student union ballrooms. And then on Friday will be our multi I mean, what see, I guess too many, too many, too much has happened, too many parties right? On Friday will be our Latin X celebration from six to nine the UNLV student ballrooms. And I'll let mo talk about the African heritage one give us deeds to that.

Monesha Hobbs 2:33
Oh, yes. So the African heritage one will be taking place on Friday May 16, which is also the same night of the post baccalaureate graduation. So it'll be directly following that at 7pm in strip view pavilion inside Thomas and Matt again. You know this is for the students of African heritage, African American students, African students, anyone who would identify as having any cultural relevance with African heritage. So yeah, 7pm the students will be recognized at all of the graduation ceremonies. Also that day, earlier in the day, is also the Native American celebration, which is a lunchtime event. And then

Imani Patterson 3:12
we have one more. We have the military and veterans celebration, which will happen on May 14. So we do have a web page. If you go on the UNLV website, type in cultural celebrations in that search bar, you will receive all this information, including the registration pages.

Dr. Sammie Scales 3:32
That's excellent, excellent. So how many guests do the students get to break?

Imani Patterson 3:36
So they all vary because they are all spearheaded by different people I know, for the one student diversity programs are helping assist. We are giving the limit five graduates. So that is for lavender, Native American, Latinx, Happy May, which is our Asian, Pacific Islander, Middle Eastern so they can bring up to five graduate guests with them. Oh, wow, excellent. Will there be food at any of these we love to eat. There'll be food.

Monesha Hobbs 4:09
Excellent. What about so then, for African heritage, it is up to two guests. Yeah, two guests per student. And then, based on where the numbers are, we may be able to squeeze in a few more. Okay,

Dr. Sammie Scales 4:21
anything special happening at these other than you know, the standard of what students can look forward to doing a cultural graduation. Are there any special guests? Or,

Imani Patterson 4:29
yeah, definitely, we line it up. I mean, there's a whole program schedule for our lavender we have Andre Wade from the community to speak at our LGBT celebration, we'll have the men's choir, the Las Vegas men's choir, singing as a performance. Each student gets a stole. I know, for our appy, may we have the dean of nursing being the keynote for that one, and then for our Latinx one, we're gonna have a. A mariachi performance at our celebration. So there's different performance elements, there's DJs, there's music, there's photo booths. It's an opportunity for us to celebrate the achievements of our historically marginalized students that attend here at UNLV. So it's a lineup of great activities. And Mo, do you have anything to add? Yeah,

Monesha Hobbs 5:22
so I know there's a couple of cultural like, I guess we don't call them ceremonies, but different references. So each event is kind of having a will have some sort of referenced ceremony type presentation that you know is really personal to that particular culture. So like, for African American, for the African heritage, there'll be elements of like African drumming, and there'll be, you know, some soulful singing, the music that's played, every element involved will be, you know, a touch of that heritage, same like, for like Native American as well. They will actually be doing a full ceremony for their students, which is a slightly smaller group. So their their event is, it's a much more really recognized, like ceremony that they perform. So there's a lot of cultural elements that we try to tie into each of these, so that, you know, again, these underrepresented students can feel seen and, you know, feel like there's a bit of community surrounding them, you know, for and then they can get pushed on to the real world.

Dr. Sammie Scales 6:22
So Imani, when it comes to a cultural celebration like Native American cultural celebration, do you have to be Native American to actually attend those? Because I know that's such a specific group. So

Imani Patterson 6:35
I mean, to be quite honest, all of the celebrations are open to all students for the Native American ones, specifically, they are asking for tribal affiliation so they can, you know, make sure that there's the flag there that they're, you know, adding those cultural elements to, you know, the celebration. However, they're all open to all students. Okay,

Dr. Sammie Scales 6:58
cool. Mo, when it comes to the African subcultural celebration, how long has that been around, and who's did it? How did it start here on campus? So

Monesha Hobbs 7:07
these the celebration that celebrates the graduating students. This will be the 25th year for that. Prior to that there they did honor students with awards, so they would recognize their GPA as well as present them with different awards. So this year is actually celebrating the 39th year of the awards presentations and ceremonies. So quite a long time, they've definitely seen some different things changing. You know, culturally in the beginning, there wasn't really, what's almost 40 years ago. I don't even know how many. If there were any cultural celebrations in Nevada at all. I know there were some in California, but so they were just record, you know, just wanted to find a way to recognize the students of their culture and their heritage. And so it started with those students who were high performing, getting a decent GPA with the school requires a 2.0 we were recognizing students who went above and beyond and had a 3.0 and so it started there, and then we were able to move into recognizing the

Dr. Sammie Scales 8:01
graduates, yeah, you know. And I actually realized how important these cultural celebrations are to students during my undergrad year, during my undergrad my master's and my doctorate program, my cultural graduation was the only one that I attended. I didn't attend the big overall the big overall graduation because I focused on looking at an audience that looked like me, that could relate to the African drumming and the libations that was done Lift Every Voice and Sing what it meant to us. And you know, that's the one that I related to. So I know here on campus, I've talked to students that they're actually looking forward to this cultural graduation, and it's a big deal for them and their families. I know two students that are graduating their father and mother school here, and they took part in this particular ceremony as well, and they're looking forward to that. So Imani, you talked about different groups that you're partnering with to put on these graduations. Can you tell us about your team from your department that actually helps with this from start to finish.

Imani Patterson 9:01
Yes, so pretty much, as the assistant director, I manage a team of three program coordinators and a GA including five student staff. I have a wonderful team. So my coordinator Isabelle, is over our Latinx celebration. She pulled together a committee of different faculty and student leaders on campus to help plan that lavender is being spearheaded by Elena Sydney same working with Q, u and L, V spectrum, making sure all voices are heard and that they're helping execute the plans for the celebration. Miriam Abby May is doing the same, reaching out to our faculty and student leaders to make sure everything is going on, you know, to make sure that certain elements are not missed, and to get feedback from previous ones, right? And then, not only that, I have my GA who is helping. Us with all the communications when it comes to our celebrations. So is a team effort, and everyone is doing a phenomenal job. You won't be disappointed at these celebrations. So we hope to see you there. Yeah, wow. So it's like your coordinators

Dr. Sammie Scales 10:15
really are working as, like a liaison for the students to make sure that they're reaching out to different entities to make sure that they're well represented. And you spoke earlier about flags, because there's particular flags that are at these celebrations as well. You know, I, of course, you know, I was at festival of communities last year when they had it here on campus. There's certain flags that shouldn't be next to each other. There's certain flags that need to be on site. So, yeah, all of those little, small things that the audience may not pay attention to the coordinators really focusing on those things to make sure everything goes off without a hitch.

Imani Patterson 10:47
Yeah, same thing with the African heritage celebration as well. You know, it's a committee effort, and then we have these committees. We split up responsibilities, whether that be securing performances, securing student speakers, keynote speakers, who's going to be setting up, who's going to be breaking down, right? What does decor look like? Are there centerpieces? Are we decorating the stage? I mean, it takes a few committee meetings leading up to this, to these events, to actually make these events happen. We have started conversation, I say in the fall for majority of our celebrations that you all be seeing these upcoming weeks. So these are just not overnight, you know, manifestations, these actually have been happening. The planning for all of these celebrations have began in the fall semester. So you'll see the love and care when you attend these celebrations. Wow,

Dr. Sammie Scales 11:40
that is excellent. So Mo, it's, I'm assuming it's the same thing for the African heritage celebrations as well. Could you tell us about your team? About how many people is on that team? When did you start? How do you incorporate the community? Do you have anyone from the outside community that's on your team that's actually given input for this?

Monesha Hobbs 11:58
So because of the legacy of this event, there are some deep roots into the community. The department now, or committee at this point, is about eight people that work on campus, and then within the community, from different areas on campus. And then there are a couple who no longer work here, but have still have affiliation, who also have input. And then we have a student chair as well. And so we everyone has a different expertise. There are some who are in, we're really deep into the trenches of the planning where, you know, they're they've been here for since last summer, when we started, and have been along every step of the way. And then there's others that have kind of a secondary role, so where they may come in in the last couple of months to really make sure everything is tight, and we know that we can call on them to, you know, do their part, because it's been going on so long. There's a lot of areas that are kind of a well oiled machine that we kind of can rinse and repeat and make sure that we just contact the people that we need. But as far as generating a lot of those ideas, the core group is about eight of us, yeah,

Dr. Sammie Scales 12:59
and I've noticed that with both of you, Imani and you, with you, Mo, when you're speaking, one of the things that you definitely speak about is having student input and speaking about students. So this is a student centered effort. Could you tell us about Mo, about your student that's on your community, and how much input do your student actually have within this committee? So

Monesha Hobbs 13:18
our student co chair is Zion Byrd, who is also going to be our student speaker for the event. He's very active on campus, and he's been working in our office and CEO since he was a freshman, and so he will be graduating, very active. As far as what he likes to see. He knows to speak up, has offered suggestions, has been able, oftentimes we refer to him to make sure that we're on, you know, in line with what students would want to see. And so I think it's important to have him in the room with us and have, you know, sitting at these at the table, so that it's not us just, you know, wondering and guessing what the students may want. We actually have someone who's in touch with the student population who can provide that insight and be a conduit to what we're doing and what their needs.

Dr. Sammie Scales 14:02
Wow, that is excellent. So with all of the events together, what's the dress attire for those that are attending, and then for those that are students that are graduating, or maybe just be coming to watch their friend graduate, definitely

Imani Patterson 14:15
it's a semi formal event. You know, come as you are, just like any other celebrations you want to we're taking pictures. So I'll leave it like that. We have photographers there. There's going to be opportunities, you know, if you're inviting your family, get their input on what you should wear, you know, but definitely whatever you want to be photographed. Keep it appropriate, I would like to say semi formal, you know, you know, business casual, it's gonna there's gonna be music, so you want to wear something that you can get down in, right? If you want to go ahead and do some line dances. But, yeah, definitely, you know, semi formal is the best way to say, Okay.

Monesha Hobbs 14:58
And we do want to reiterate that you. Know, there it is your own clothes. So no regalia at these events. So you do really want to address, you know, appropriately, because you won't be covered up. You know, what you have on is what's going to be photographed. So, you know, kind of keep that in mind too. Okay,

Dr. Sammie Scales 15:14
so, so these events, mostly, I hear you saying that a lot of these events starting at 6pm in the afternoon, correct? Yes. So about what time should guests start showing up for the different because I know it's going to be different. So 530

Imani Patterson 15:26
if they could show if they could start showing up. 535 15. You know, this is not the time to be late. This is the time to be on time, right? So definitely, if you could come 30 minutes before, you know, we will be sending out confirmation emails to everyone who has registered, so they will receive instructions that they should follow to show up on time. So, yeah, definitely, you know, plan out what you want to wear today. Get your hair appointment in two days before you know what I mean. So definitely plan. You know, we want you all to prepare. You know, this is an opportunity for you to be celebrated. So no last minute anything. Yeah,

Dr. Sammie Scales 16:09
I hope it's not like some of those churches I go to the visit and then there's women that's got their purses sitting there. Oh, this seat is for so and so that's not there yet. So

Imani Patterson 16:17
no, we would definitely have ushers there. So, you know, come with your people. You know how you go to the restaurant and they say, is this everyone that's, you know, you're going to be sitting with. That's exactly what we're going to be doing. So make sure that everyone is together. You know, family don't wander off. We need you all together, sitting down together, because we want to be as efficient as possible. This is an experience. We want everyone to have a transformative experience, so everybody needs to be in

Dr. Sammie Scales 16:42
line. Excellent. So there, will there be, there be backdrops for all of the graduations, definitely.

Imani Patterson 16:47
Yeah, it's a photo moment. It's a milestone. These are milestones, right? Not only will we have opportunity for you to take pictures and have fun, there'll be photographer there walking around, taking pictures as well. Oh, photographer,

Monesha Hobbs 17:00
photo booth. Like, I want to, like, they want to make sure they're checking, checking their emails, staying on top of it. Like, you know, we're going to get to the week of, and I don't want to hear the I didn't know about it. Like, nope, stay on point. Everything went out. The information is there. We really want the students to, like, you know, this is the time,

Dr. Sammie Scales 17:18
yeah, because this is it. This is graduation. It's not like you're gonna get to graduate next month. I mean, it's now, this is it. This is it. You know, only other time you get it is when you what going through your master's program or your PhD program. But for your undergrad, this is it. So, okay. Michael

Imani Patterson 17:32
Jackson, okay.

Dr. Sammie Scales 17:36
So what is there any other important information that you think that the listeners should know about the graduations really,

Monesha Hobbs 17:42
just pay attention. The information is going to be coming quickly. The first round of information has already come out, and so more information as we get closer to the dates for all of these events will be coming quickly. So it's not the time to like, skip over emails, and not the time to like, not be plugged in paying attention, because next week this thing starts, I do want

Imani Patterson 18:03
to go ahead and mention that you know these events. As of this year, there is no regalia permitted at these events. These events are not meant to be in competition with commencement. These events are to be in addition to commencement. These are celebrations. So if you do come with your cap and gown on, we will be asking you to take it off and, you know, go back to your car and place it in your car again. These are celebrations, not graduations.

Dr. Sammie Scales 18:32
Yeah. Okay, so how do, how do, how does the African American graduation celebration incorporate community involvement and recognition? Do you recognize anyone and at the other events also, do you recognize anyone from the community at these specific events? I know you said, Imani, you said earlier that there is going to be like a Nevada men chorus at the LGBTQ. Yeah, we

Imani Patterson 18:53
do. And then even for the Latin X, they got two bands to play. One of the bands is a community band. I say, you know, there's, you know, throughout the entire event. We have, you know, community involved in all in the entire event, but the main focus are the graduating students. So at the end of the day, they're the highlight of the event. So anyone that we can lean on to make them feel special in that moment, whether it be community, campus community, or off campus community, they're involved in the planning process for these events. Okay,

Dr. Sammie Scales 19:25
are there any volunteer opportunities for students that may be listening, and if so, how do they get involved? Was there something that they could do so

Monesha Hobbs 19:33
there, we are definitely looking for volunteers for the African heritage celebration. There is a meeting tomorrow for that, if you go to our website, which is unlv.edu, forward slash, cAe, oh, forward slash Alliance, there is a link there that they can click to volunteer, and they will take them to a form you can choose which area which time you'd like to help with. And then we will have a meeting tomorrow that will record so if there's anyone who signed. Ends up, within the next week, they'll still be able to get that information out. And

Imani Patterson 20:03
we do have plenty of volunteers for our lavender and Latinx. However, you still want to, if you still want to volunteer to have you so you can just go ahead and email scp@unlv.edu We are looking for volunteers for our Asian, Pacific Islander Middle Eastern celebration. So again, if you're interested, go ahead and email us at sdp@unlv.edu,

Dr. Sammie Scales 20:32
okay, and these volunteer opportunities, are they just for students, or can faculty and staff volunteer as well? Everyone, definitely, everyone, everyone, community as well. Excellent, excellent. So that information,

Imani Patterson 20:43
definitely, yes, we definitely need help with setup. We need help with breakdown. Those are heavy lifts, if for anyone who does event planning. So you know, if you will love to help us with setup and breakdown that will make things quicker, that make things go quicker for us. You know, all hands on deck. You know what I mean. So definitely, we need help with registration. We need help with ushering. So you will be assigned to task, and your, you know, your help is will be greatly appreciated Absolutely, and we'll feed you. Yeah, you will be fed and you will be entertained.

Dr. Sammie Scales 21:18
It's kind of synonymous to mention the black girl at the black celebration that's happening here, but it's kind of hard to mention that without mentioning Dr Langston. So could you give us a little background on who Dr Langston is and how she got involved with this? And both of you, and that's come from both of you, both you have that info.

Monesha Hobbs 21:35
So Dr Langston, who is recently retired, here, was, and correct me if I'm wrong, the first woman of color in the social work department here at UNLV, and so she has very deep roots here, but she was also very instrumental in our department. As CEO, she worked very closely with Dr Sullivan, who the graduation, well, the black cultural celebration and the awards ceremony that we have was his vision. So these events are essentially Dr Sullivan and Dr Langston baby. It was their brain child, and so she has been involved in this event since the beginning. So that's over

Dr. Sammie Scales 22:13
25 years, 39 years. 39 years, wow.

Monesha Hobbs 22:17
So the very long time they've seen a lot of different changes in the events. One thing that she did point out recently is that, you know, with every, honestly, with every administration, the universities feel it in some way, you know, and so there's, there's been a lot of times where they could wear regalia, or they couldn't wear regalia, or, you know, we could use this language and not this language. And so just being able to have her insight and have her there with us, and then just the impact of everyone that she has touched on campus. She's very well known on campus, and has, you know, super deep roots. So, you know, I'm, like, privileged as as one of the co chairs, to be able to have her as, you know, one just a historical reference to just, you know, the support of, of knowing that, you know, this person's been here since the beginning, and even just the reassurance of we've, we've had to go through things before, you know, it was this has been a pretty trying year to get a lot of this stuff done, with everything that's happening, and with the university trying to, you know, and they've been very good about shielding us as all these cultural events and making sure that we can have them. But it has not come without some trials and some stress. So having her there to be like we've experienced some of these hardships before. We've experienced some things, the event's gonna go off and we're gonna be fine, and, you know, we're just gonna keep moving forward, has been super helpful.

Imani Patterson 23:32
And truthfully, I'm gonna let you know that a lot of our cultural celebrations have not been here for 25 years. So you know, it is our African heritage culture celebration is a model for all the other ones, right? So, you know, they were Trailblazers when it came to recognizing our graduated students, and that's the catalyst for us recognizing all of the graduated students from all different communities. So, you know, we love Dr Langston. She has recently retired, and we're gonna miss

Monesha Hobbs 24:02
her. Yes,

Dr. Sammie Scales 24:03
wow. You know, my very first encounter with Dr Langston was, of course, you guys had plenty of years with her, but mine was last year when I first met her, and one of my fraternity brothers was like, Oh, I told him, I'm gonna be co hosting with Dr Langston, and he's, you know, got all excited, I said, but I don't know who she is. And he pointed to her and said, that's her, right there. She go to my church. She's like, you're gonna love her. So I actually went on to the stage before the program began to introduce myself. And man, immediately you got that sense of how warm, caring, compassionate and passionate about the program that she was. So it's been nothing but a wonderful blessing to be able to actually get to meet her, and, you know, spend some time in her presence. So I can definitely see the impact that she's made on this campus. Yeah, even

Monesha Hobbs 24:48
the students that have, like, done their practicums with it, like, I know some of the social work graduates who have been able to do their practicum with her, they're like, you know, the way that she cares about even that field, and, you know, keeping them. Like, no this. There is a right way to do this. They said they learned so much from her, yeah,

Dr. Sammie Scales 25:03
man, I've just sit here and try to think about how many hundreds of students that have come through with her, touching their lives just amazing,

Imani Patterson 25:12
definitely, revered, respected, valued, and the definition of caring for people. That's how I described Dr Langston, excellent,

Dr. Sammie Scales 25:20
excellent. So let's move on with some more conversation about these programs. So, so when you said earlier, especially at the black grad, that you know they can't wear cap and gown, they can't do this. That's at all of the celebration,

Imani Patterson 25:33
yes, no regalia at any of them. At any of them. Okay,

Dr. Sammie Scales 25:37
wow. So can you mo in the last few minutes here that we have, let's say, if money was not an issue, and it's you want to get the same question too, what would you like to see for the black graduation celebration?

Monesha Hobbs 25:50
If money were not an issue, I can spend some money, correct? Um, so have you seen those like weddings, like that in the like the Indian weddings and, like the Middle Eastern weddings, where they basically do an entire build out, yeah, of a warehouse, like they and everything is brought in, and things are built months in advance. Like it would be on that scale for me. Like I would, I would, you know, I would have, you know, if money really wasn't issued, I'm flying in drummers from Africa. I want the authentic. I want the full experience. I want them to have the full experience. So I'm flying in drummers, whatever, whichever speaker that we would like, right? Without a, you know, whatever the budget is, here you go. You know, because, like, it's going to be the top. Everything is going to be the top. Like, most of my experience comes from luxury branding and from luxury event planning and premium hospitality. And so for me, everything is like, don't give me, tell me the Don't tell me I don't have no budget. It's gonna be over the top, yeah. Like, it's I want people to come in and be like, Wow. You know, I want it. I want the theme infused into everything that they see from the time that they come up the escalator to the time that they're checking in. Like, I want everyone dressed, you know, I would get everybody dressed in, you know, cultural attire. And, you know, maybe source, one of the vendors that are in the city to create something custom for everybody, as far as staff is concerned, you know, we would do even maybe some more things, you know, beyond the stole to give out for the students. You know, the food would be over the top, you know, crazy and very, very specific and intentional. So everything would just be very intentional with all the details.

Imani Patterson 27:26
Fantastic. Imani, yeah, definitely, you know, I want us to, you know, remember, like, the reason why students even come to college, right, and eventually they graduate, right? This is a big milestone. A lot of our students are first generation. So definitely I will love all of our celebrations to be productions. And I will also love it us to have opportunities for exit scholarships to help our students transition into the real world, right? Are you relocating? Are you? Do you need us to pay for assessment to get into grad school? I don't know, you know, there's so many things. So definitely, I echo what Mo is saying. You know, we want these to be productions. And then, not only that, if money wasn't an issue, I will advertise way far in advance if money was an issue, you know, these will be top of the line. Yes, opportunities for art, you know. You know, a lot of our communities are rooted in family. You know what I mean? This is not only an opportunity. These celebrations are not just an opportunity for us to celebrate our graduating students. There are opportunities for us to celebrate our family. Yeah, because a lot of these students are first gen awesome, yes. I mean, I'm telling you like our families want to know the dates. They're like, okay, when is the dates for the Latinx? Because, you know, we're gonna have the Marriott. It's a fiesta, right? It's the families coming in, not only to see their students, you know, be celebrated, but it's culturally rooted in just achievement, and I want that to be known for all of our celebrations. And yeah, top of the notch. Thank

Dr. Sammie Scales 29:03
you so much. IMANI Patterson from student diversity programs and Monisha Hobbs from which department Center

Monesha Hobbs 29:09
for Academic Enrichment and Outreach. Okay, I thank both of you so very

Dr. Sammie Scales 29:13
much for being here and for being, you know, being that, that person to let the students know you know number one about the graduations and what they can expect and what they can't expect when it comes to the graduations and opening this up so that the entire community could take part and support our students and our families, and most of all, I thank you both for actually coming in and talking and being student centered, so that is much appreciated. Thank you so very much, ladies. All right, and that's a wrap.

Dr. Renee Watson 29:41
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