Katie Doolittle – Staff Writer
The Counseling Center is hosting a Mosaic Dialog discussion with speaker Jamie Mack on Friday, March 17th from 2:30 p.m.- 3:30 p.m. in the Center for Inclusive Excellence.
Mack is a South Korean adoptee who was raised in Southern Minnesota. The dialogue will be centered around being a woman of color in predominantly white spaces and rural settings. Mack will also discuss disenfranchised grief and its role in finding personal identity.
Mack will be the fifth speaker from this seven-part series of monthly discussions. Other themes that were discussed throughout the academic year include “Movement as Medicine,” how trauma impacts first-generation students of color, ethnic and cultural upbringing and feeling a sense of community, and “cultural responsiveness” and navigating the professional workforce as BIPOC individuals.
The origin and mission of these discussions aimed to help underrepresented students on this predominantly white college campus. “A former Counseling Center therapist Monica Mikhaeil started it as a program designed specifically for our BIPOC and Global Majority students,” The Counseling Center Director, Hannah Repp said.
The goal of Mosaic Dialog persisted but the format originally focused on one-on-one or small-group support. “It was more of a walk-in support time held each week for students to come and speak to mental health issues related to race and ethnicity led by a staff person who had herself grappled with these things,” Repp said.
Following Mikhaeil’s departure from the center, the resource discussed the future of the program with students at the time. “We asked students what they wanted out of this programming and heard that although it was helpful to have space held for these conversations it would be even more helpful to have experts representing many different perspectives,” Repp said.
The Counseling Center commits themselves to the well-being of every student on the Gustavus campus and, through this program, they are able to expand their resources. “Our center is continually trying to hire therapists that represent our student population, this has proven difficult, and so this programming was one way we attempted to fill a gap, bringing representation and wisdom onto our campus in this format,” Repp stated.
Repp and her fellow colleagues recognize the inherent value of representation in all aspects of life, especially in regard to mental health and overall well-being. “It is very important to us that we are offering students opportunities to engage with information about mental health in formats comfortable and applicable to them, from individuals who may also be more relatable to them,” Repp said.
Since these conversations can be triggering or difficult to digest, the Center works in tandem with the speaker to assure the safety of the student body. “Some of the topics are quite sensitive and we wanted the space to include only those there to personally engage with the topic. Having said that, each of our speakers dialogue with us about their topics and/or suggest additional materials for us to engage with,” Repp stated.
The array of speakers and themes brought to the forefront has not only been beneficial for the students, but for the Counseling Centers as well. “It has been a beautiful way for our center to form new relationships with individuals in our broader community and to learn some new things ourselves,” Repp said.
Upcoming discussions, which will all take place at 2:30 p.m. in the Center for Inclusive Excellence, will include “Entering the Man Cave of Unity” inviting masculine presenting or male-identifying BIPOC individuals especially to join on Friday, April 14th with Dwnell “Dee” Langdon and intersectionality’s role in discovering identity on Friday, May 5th with Ayan Musse.
Langdon will discuss the beauty of the human experience and how we can better understand ourselves and others through meaningful connections. Musse, who is the Coordinator of Education Equity with St. Peter public schools will discuss her experiences living in Egypt and moving to the United States and how power systems play a role in a person’s sense of self.
Further resources for BIPOC students, self-care for activists, and anti-racism can be found on the Counseling Center page on the Gustavus Adolphus College website. Some of their resources include crisis support, online connection spaces, academic success support, and links to organizations dedicated to aiding BIPOC young adults.