The ninth annual Social Justice Summit (SJS) 2020 gathered at Iowa State University this year with a sizable turnout to address how to enact social change and go beyond the status quo. 2020 also marks the 100th year anniversary of the enactment of the 19th amendment which is set to protect the right of citizens of the United States to vote without denial on account of sex.

The summit began with an acknowledgement from Isis Walker, a Leadership and Service Programs Graduate Assistant, that Iowa State is a land grant university, which enables the ideal that higher education should be accessible to all. This has allowed students of color to attend Iowa State from its establishment save for the difficulties surrounding financial affordability, housing and various other components. Iowa State was built upon the original grounds of the Meskwaki Tribe and at its very origin welcomed women and men of every background including infamous graduates, Carrie Chapman Catt, who led the push for women’s suffrage and former slave George Washington Carver, who devoted the rest of his life to teaching southern farmers and finding uses for their crops. 

Dr. Martino Harmon, Senior Vice President for Student Affairs also took to the stage to acknowledge many lesser known heroes of social justice including: Gloria Steinem an American feminist, journalist and social political activist. Cesar Chavez who was an American labor leader, community organizer, and Latino American civil rights activist. Harvey Milk was an American politician and the first openly gay elected official in the history of California prior to his assasination and Fannie Lou Hamer was an American voting and women’s rights activist, community organizer, and a leader in the civil rights movement. 

Vanessa McNeal MSW, is an award winning documentary filmmaker, national speaker, social activist and an Iowa State alumni. She who works to raise awareness on sexual violence through her media company “McNeal Media” and as the founder, executive director and filmmaker of “Story Maven Media” to bring voice to the voiceless where there is power in the refusal to be silent. Her documentaries are all based off of real life experiences and traumas she has been subjected to. The “We Are Survivors” documentary features the stories of eight survivors of sexual violence and was during the #MeToo movement. The documentary is available on YouTube. Other Vanessa McNeal productions include “The Voiceless Documentary” and “Gridshock” which are available for purchase and viewing at https://www.vanessamcneal.com. Her work and inspiration can be witnessed in numerous TedTalks including “A not so underground industry”, “The Power of a Single Story”. Social change can be messy and exhausting and for those trying to make a difference it’s hard to gauge how they know their work is making an impact.

“Whatever your certain circumstances are, you have felt that anger before and I think that we’re taught to not have anger,” McNeal said. “I’m here to tell you it’s okay to be angry because anger lets us know we’re not okay with injustices that happen to us and to other people that we know.” 

McNeal asked those in attendance to ponder these questions throughout their day at the summit: 1. What will your legacy be? 2.What social injustices light a fire in you? 3.How will you start your social change movement?

The South Ballroom served as a decompression zone while sessions occurred to allow students a safe space to relax. Throughout the summit three individuals signed the presentation for the presentation to be more accessible for all in attendance .

The first breakout consisted of four different optional selections for the audience to attend. Due to scheduling conflicts. Manisha Paudel was unavailable to lead the “Advocating for Justice & Equity Within The Walls of Government” session and was replaced with Jaymon Walker the owner of Mind Matters Counseling, led a discussion both in the morning and evening on “Navigating Tough Conversations: Social Awareness and Identity”. In this session Walker addressed the many barriers individuals may face when speaking with someone who’s core beliefs can significantly differ from one’s own.

“Sometimes talking to other people it’s like they’re adamant that 2+2 is 5, and it gets frustrating because you’ll break out all the counting sticks and go ‘hey count with me 1,2,3,4 okay what’s 2+2?’ ‘Five.’ ‘No!’ It gets so frustrating and it makes us not want to engage with those people but all we can do is give them the information, that’s what you are responsible for,” Walker said. 

The session also addressed styles of communication including Passive Communication which tends to leave individuals feeling violated or walked over, Aggressive Communication which tends to start an argument and leave one feeling remorseful for how they handled the situation, and lastly Assertive Communication which integrates awareness and provides the best opportunity of promoting a healthy discussion.

In “The Impact of Community in Social Justice” session by Alexis Samano PRONOUNS: THEY/THEM/THEIRS it opened with a video “Social Justice and the Search for the Beloved Community” by Peniel E. Joseph during a Summit on Race in America that in summary, reflects on social justice in America today and the elusive pursuit of what the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. called the Beloved Community. In the words of Peniel E. Joseph “I can’t have a conversation with people who don’t believe that black people, or LGBTQ people, or LatinX people aren’t human beings with inalienable rights, with fundamental rights. We have to have a common denominator. We have to say ‘we value each other, we value each other’s children, we value each other’s pain’” It discussed this video and the roles a community  has in social justice as well as the benefits in coalition building.

In the “Sometimes You’re a Caterpillar: A Worksop on Intersecting Identities” session by Isis Walker and Maggie Bell a Graduate Assistant. It featured a YouTube video named, Sometimes You’re a Caterpillar” which discusses privilege and how to better understand it. To help those in attendance of the workshop better understand privilege a hands on activity took place that challenged individuals to build a bracelet off beads based offer a set of yes and no questions on their Nationality/Citizenship, Religion,Class/Socioeconomic Status, Race, Ability, Sexuality, and Gender/Sex.The workshop allowed participants to reflect on their own identities and engage in dialogue about power and identify the various systems of oppression.

“Outcasted: Being an International Student in U.S. Higher Education” led by Brandon Washington, an International Students & Scholars Graduate Assistant, Gene Manhattan, an Undergraduate Orientation Graduate Assistantand and Navya Mannengi, the Orientation and Engagement Coordinator of the International Students and Scholars Office, who all addressed the many factors that tend to cause international students to feel unwelcome in a country  that tends to look at non-U.S. citizens as second class. 

The #YouAreWelcomeHere video produced by the Iowa State University Office of Admissions as part of a national campaign is intended to affirm that U.S. institutions are diverse, friendly, safe, and committed to student development according to https://www.youarewelcomehereusa.org.  A total of 3,189 international students enrolled at Iowa State in fall 2019, comprising 9.6% of the total enrollment. Tuition for International students in the Fall of 2019 was $8,410 more than in state undergraduate residents according to https://www.registrar.iastate.edu/fees.  Federally international students are also ineligible for FAFSA and face a slew of restrictions and requirements for study in the U.S. in addition to facing stereotypes and discrimination and thee commonly asked ‘Where are you really from?’ An example of American racism.

During lunch break catered by ISU Dining, groups practiced coalition building over a variety of questions and discussed one assigned social justice activists dependent on their assigned colors. The activists included Ose Arheghan nationally recognized LGBTQ youth advocate, Xiuhtezcatl Martinez an American environmental activist, hip hop artist and the youth director of Earth Guardians who lectured at ISU last March, Gia Cordova a TRUTH Program Senior Organizer, Mari Copenhagen an Indigenous and Youth Activists Call for Climate Justice and Katie Eder the Executive Director of Future Coalition.

After the break students moved on to a variety of sessions one of which tackled “Navigating Student Organizations and the Campus Climate Discussion” led by Dhruv Raturi, an international graduate student and member of Students Against Racism (SAR). The workshop debated the roles of a unified response to threats between activists and administrators, especially in the context of recent campus climate issues regarding incidences of chalking racist remarks, racial slurs and racist sticker slogans and urged students to get involved and follow their Facebook.

“We need to talk about gender: Identifying gender-based themes of social support and conflict in programs and organizations” was led by Andra Castle, PRONOUNS: THEY/THEM/THEIR  the Assistant Director of the Margaret Sloss Center for Women and Gender Equity. “Some strategies going forward are to talk more about gender and how it relates to things that we’re viewing and that’s actually not very complicated, it’s just about giving people more space, about not giving people’s identities to them but letting them give their identities to us,” Castle said.

To learn more about gender and social justices Castle recommended the books “Gender: A Graphic Guide” by Meg-John Barker and Jules Scheele, “Excluded: Making Feminist and Queer Movements More Inclusive” byJulia Serrano, “A Guide To Gender: A Social Justice Advocate’s Handbook’ by Sam Killermann, “Life isn’t Binary” by Alex Iantaffi and Meg-john Barker. “Sovereign Erotics: A Collection of Two-Spirit Literature” edited by Qwo-Li Driskill, Daniel Heath Justice, Deborah Miranda and Lisa Tatonetti, “How to Understand Your Gender: A Practical Guide for Exploring Who You Are” by Alex Iantaffi and Med-John Barker, “My New Gender Workbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Achieving World Peace Through Gender Anarchy and Sex Positivity” by Kate Bornstein. Pop culture, movies, and meetings all help to start the conversation on how to advocate for and support gender diversity within organizations.

“Who Tells Your Story?: Partnering with University Archives to Shape the Historical Record” was the last available session for participants and was led by Rachael Acheson, the Assistant University Archivist. The presentation touched on the basics of the Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA) and its ongoing initiatives. It touched upon how there is a lack of information in the existing archives on student organizations and student media to reflect the movements of the time and the impacts it had. The presentation covered how today we can contribute to the archive with what’s in front of us.

The SJS 2020 was brought together by committee members Alexis Samano from the Graduate College, Bria Felix of the Womxn of Color Network, Erica Swanson and Isis Walker of the Student Activities Center, Jalen Shell of the Multicultural Student Affairs, Justin Roberson and Kevin Grady from the Department of Residence, Navya Mannengi from the International Students and Scholars Office and Taylor Lee from the Margaret Sloss Center for Women and Gender Equity. 

Panelists include Arnold Woods from the Graduate College, Betsy Matos from the Environmental Health and Safety, Bria Felix of the Womxn of Color Network, Christy Oxendine from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Jamie Niman from the Student Accessibility Services, Wesley Harris from the School of Education and Wonjae Kim from the Multicultural Student Affairs.

“The status quo, we named it that for a reason it’s intentionally oppressive. We should always be working to redistribute power, resources and the voices of those who are on the margins,” Harris said.

To continue the conversation there is a list of resources available in CyBox or follow @SJS_IASTATE on Twitter to stay up to date on upcoming webinars and social justice events on the ISU campus.

cutlines: “redefining the status quo” “bringing a voice to the voiceless”