Changes and Hopes Within MIPS
New transition period in the MIPS space
By Sarah Applin
Located in the Coeur de Catherine on the second floor, to many students, the Multicultural and International Programs and Services (MIPS) program is what makes coming to St. Kate’s a welcoming and safe place. Personally, I visit MIPS every day. There are always warm smiles, moving conversations and an overall space that I know will be there, with people there who will support me.
Group photo of students in MIPS (Sarah Applin, Chalon Coley, Zuha Zubair, Catalina Ayala, Salma Said, Suzan Adewale, and Alejandra Kelly, photo by Leena Abdulla)
Leena Abdulla ‘23 (she/her, Sociology and Critical Studies of Race and Ethnicity), a friend of mine who also visits MIPS every chance she gets, shares my love for the program. In an interview, Abdulla shares, “MIPS, to me, is an extremely integral space to the culture of this university. For a lot of students, it is the reason why they have continued their education here, myself included. The support that students have received is not only academic but also there is overall guidance. MIPS provides a space that is a home away from home; it is an extremely central place for community.”
MIPS is crucial to St. Kate’s. Yet, while continuing to provide an uplifting and comforting space for Students of Color, the MIPS office has undergone intense transformation within the program throughout the past year. From complete loss in staffing to the demolition of art and sentimental pieces in the program’s center, the MIPS office itself has been in a transition period for quite some time. Nevertheless, the students who engage in MIPS have fought for better treatment for the program and are the heart of why the space is truly so special.
This semester, there have been several interviews for the position of the director of MIPS. Students were able to participate in these interviews and voice their opinions and concerns around the position and the program. Alejandra Kelly ‘23 (she/her, Public Policy) expresses how it felt to be a part of this process: “It felt important that I was able to be a part of it, and it wasn’t a decision that was only made on the administrative side. It was interesting to see what candidates were up for the position!”
Salma Said ‘23 (she/her, Political Science and Public Policy) also voiced an opinion on the interviews, adding, “It was nice to be a part of the interviewing process because as a senior, I want to make sure this place will still be a love for future students.”
Since the interviews, Daniel Gonzalez (he/him/his) has been hired to fulfill the role. Gonzalez describes himself as a “proud first-generation, low-income background, queer, Puerto Rican.” While sharing his background, Gonzalez states, “I am originally from upstate New York, about 90 minutes north of NYC, and 90 minutes from Albany, New York, the capital. That’s where my roots are. I did undergraduate and graduate school in Music Education at The College of Saint Rose, which is, surprisingly, one of the other institutions founded by the same sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. When I was going to college, I wasn’t expecting that I would end up, 10-plus years later, at another institution founded by the same sisters. That’s just how life worked out!”
He then goes on to explain that since finishing his master’s program, he has worked in different universities across the U.S., including the University of Southern Mississippi, Western Kentucky University and the University of Minnesota. Additionally, Gonzalez is a Ph.D. Student in the Organizational Leadership, Policy, & Development (Higher Education Track) program at the University of Minnesota and will be completed with all coursework in December 2022. He plans to graduate in 2024.
Photo of Daniel Gonzaelez and his bio in the MIPS office
Continuing on to explain his work, Gonzalez says, “I have really centered diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) work throughout all of my work. Everything I do is with an equity-based lens while really thinking about the people who don’t always have a voice at the tables that we are sitting around.”
When asked about his hopes for the St. Kate’s community, Gonzalez speaks about trust building and how that will take time, but he believes it is a personal mission to be able to be there for the community. He states that he is hopeful for many things, but specifically, he says, “I would envision a community that is there for one another; I would envision a community that cares for one another. I would hope to envision, to build upon the existing culture but also to role model that, so we have that kind of community where folks are able to listen, to bring people in and build a strong community. I would envision for the student community to build upon past successes of the MIPS office, but also be able to grow in ways that the current student community wants and needs to grow in, in the MIPS office.”
Gonzalez continues on to share that he has read an article from The Wheel, “Students lead sit-in on steps of Derham,” and begins to share his thoughts from hearing students’ voices. He says, “There was a clear voice and a clear need driven by the students. And for many people that might scare folks, and for me, I never want students to feel pain, but that’s a very valid feeling they were feeling and I felt that when I was reading the article. I don’t know if I’m saying that right, but I felt student pain as I read that. Students are invested, students want this office, but also other parts of the university to really provide a few different things. When I read the Google Doc [of demands], as an outsider here, I heard, ‘We want transparency.’ I mean, I could be wrong with that. I’m not sure if the words ‘We want transparency’ are black and white in that order, and I could be wrong, but that’s how I definitely took that information. I think that that’s awesome.
Gonzalez adds, “I pride myself on being a transparent human, sometimes transparent to a fault. But I think that it’s important for students to know why we are here and why we are invested in the work.”
Gonzalez begins to wrap up our conversation by restating that he will be working extremely hard to listen and advocate for students. “The only thing that I would like to say that I haven’t said is, the work that the MIPS offices or any DEI-related work is hard work, especially if you’re doing work that really resonates with one of your own identities,” Gonzalez says. “The work that we will do and will accomplish in the MIPS office may not always appease every single human on campus, but I think what is important is that the work we are doing is really thinking about our marginalized students on campus, our multicultural students, international students, etc. If we continue to center these populations of the community, then we are doing our work. So, I would say to the St. Kate’s community that I haven’t fully met yet, I would work to not let anyone down. I don’t plan to let anyone down.”
In addition to my interview with Gonzalez, I was also gifted the opportunity to speak with Shweta Gaitonde (she/her), the newly hired International Student Services Coordinator in MIPS! Shweta, giving background information about herself, states, “I grew up in Minnesota. This is my home state! I grew up in a small town called Lake City, Minn. It’s near Red Wing, Minn. I got my undergrad in fashion design at Iowa State University in Aimes, Iowa. From there, I went to Japan for five years to teach English. Kind of an interesting switch from fashion to English! After my five years in Japan, I came back to the U.S., to Philadelphia, to get my masters in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) at the University of Pennsylvania. From there, I got a position here as the International Student Services Coordinator. I’ve really been enjoying it!”
When asked about what she is hopeful for as she begins her journey with MIPS, she states, “I am really excited to start recruiting a lot more international students! It is so important to have people from other backgrounds coming to your university and making the environment and connections. I am really excited to also start working to see how we can make MIPS feel accessible and create a space where everyone feels comfortable to come and excited to come!”
When asked where Gaitonde sees areas of improvement within MIPS, she responds, “I would love for the meeting space to be a little bit bigger, just because I think it would be great if you guys had more seating areas and also more intimate seating areas as well.”
Gaitonde ends our interview by exclaiming, “I am excited to meet everyone! I consider myself to be very outgoing yet shy which is an odd contradiction. I am so happy when people come up and start talking. You can have such interesting conversations with people about different majors, different backgrounds—I like learning from other people!”
Abdulla, Kelly and Said have seen the changes that are happening within MIPS with their own eyes. Said states, “It’s sad to see such an amazing place not be valued. I’m thankful for the new staff who have been here and helping out. On the bright side, the destaffing has led to us students becoming each other’s support system and still fostering the safe space it is.”
Sharing her opinion, Abdulla says, “The changes in the office were hard for a lot of students, that’s a given. I think it’s nice that the students have come together to form a voice and have advocated for ourselves and have stood our ground.”
All students involved in MIPS share a common love for the program. Said shares what MIPS means to her, saying, “MIPS has been my home even before I went to St. Kate’s. In high school, I went to the First Step program. I was welcomed by the staff and met students who shared similar experiences. When I started college, the first place I went was to MIPS and was welcomed with open arms. MIPS is home. It’s the one place on campus where I can be myself.”
MIPS is a key part of the community here at St. Kate’s. Stop by the space and give a warm welcome to Gonzalez, Shweta and other friends who might be there!
