2008 Woodie Awards
Macalester to host national conference
Conference will bring students together to address the Mixed Race Experience
By: Veronique Bergeron
Issue date: 3/23/07 Section: News
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This weekend, Macalester will host the Eleventh Annual National Student Conference on the Mixed Race Experience (NSCMRE). The conference will bring students from around the country to Macalester with the aim of “breathing more life into the movement,” according to organizer Danielle Sigwalt ’08. A lecture by Chicana feminist Cherríe Moraga on Thursday night kicked-off the conference, which concludes on Sunday.
The conference includes a keynote lecture by Jen Chau, founder of the non-profit organization Swirl, Inc., which serves members of the mixed heritage community across the country. Chau is also the founder of the blog “Addicted to Race” and a former co-editor of “Racialicious” which discusses issues pertinent to mixed race identity in popular culture.
The conference also features a bone marrow donor drive, a panel discussion on sexuality, a discussion entitled “The Mixed Race in Science Fiction,” and several workshops on organizing grassroots activism.
The conference, which is held on a different campus every year, was almost entirely planned by students, according to Sigwalt. There were no specific guidelines for what kind of events Macalester would host, and as a result, this year’s conference features a diverse mix of panel discussions, lectures and workshops.
Bridges, the Macalester student organization for mixed race, cross-cultural and transracially-adopted students, is largely responsible for the conference. According to Sigwalt, several members of Bridges attended the conference when it was hosted at Pomona College in 2004. Sigwalt said that the Pomona conference attendees expressed interest in hosting the event at Macalester.
Jessica Masterson ’07 attended the conference in 2004.
“We were going to host the conference here last year but due to a lack of support and communication from the MAVIN organization, it didn’t happen,” she said. MAVIN is a national organization that supports the legal rights of individuals who identify as multiracial. Though MAVIN has been responsible for organizing the conference in years past, Masterson said this year was different.
The conference includes a keynote lecture by Jen Chau, founder of the non-profit organization Swirl, Inc., which serves members of the mixed heritage community across the country. Chau is also the founder of the blog “Addicted to Race” and a former co-editor of “Racialicious” which discusses issues pertinent to mixed race identity in popular culture.
The conference also features a bone marrow donor drive, a panel discussion on sexuality, a discussion entitled “The Mixed Race in Science Fiction,” and several workshops on organizing grassroots activism.
The conference, which is held on a different campus every year, was almost entirely planned by students, according to Sigwalt. There were no specific guidelines for what kind of events Macalester would host, and as a result, this year’s conference features a diverse mix of panel discussions, lectures and workshops.
Bridges, the Macalester student organization for mixed race, cross-cultural and transracially-adopted students, is largely responsible for the conference. According to Sigwalt, several members of Bridges attended the conference when it was hosted at Pomona College in 2004. Sigwalt said that the Pomona conference attendees expressed interest in hosting the event at Macalester.
Jessica Masterson ’07 attended the conference in 2004.
“We were going to host the conference here last year but due to a lack of support and communication from the MAVIN organization, it didn’t happen,” she said. MAVIN is a national organization that supports the legal rights of individuals who identify as multiracial. Though MAVIN has been responsible for organizing the conference in years past, Masterson said this year was different.
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