Mount Hood

Stonewall Center hosts “Queer People of Faith Panel”

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

For many people in the LGBTQ community, it is challenging to continue associating with the religious groups they grew up with because they no longer feel like they are accepted by those communities. A common narrative says that LGBTQ identities and religion are mutually exclusive, but this is not something that all people believe. To talk about this further, the Stonewall Center organized a “Queer People of Faith Panel” on April 9 in the Werner University Center to discuss common issues that people who identify as both religious and LGBTQ experience.

With students of Muslim, Christian, Spiritual and Jewish faiths represented between the six panelists, a variety of perspectives were present at the event. In terms of sexuality, these students primarily identified as pansexual, gay and lesbian — although some of them acknowledged that it was not that cut and dry.

When panelists talked about their relationship with their respective religions before coming out, they largely echoed positive experiences of tight-knit communities and family traditions. However, this generally changed for people once those who have done so came out.

“I knew I was gay since I was probably like 8, but because of my faith and what I grew up with I didn’t talk about it,” said one of the panelists.

Another of the panelists shared that they had a similar experience of distancing themselves from the church because they did not feel welcome.

“When I came out, I felt that religion and spirituality wasn’t for me and would never be for me because I had been so hurt by it,” said the panelist. “And it was a process of one to two years for me to discover that religion and spirituality is what I want it to be, and it’s still a process. Those conflicting things is a really central part of me and it’s something that I’ve really worked to heal in myself.”

From a different perspective, a couple of the panelists who described growing up in a more liberal community did not feel the same severity of judgment that these first panelists did.

“Where I grew up and how I was raised it was never a big thing, but it was also never really spoken about. So, there is some work to be done there,” said a panelist.

One thing that the panelists agreed upon was that it is important for queer communities to be having more discussions around religious identities and religious communities to be having more conversations about queer identities, since both of these will help to bridge the gap that currently exists in many places between these two groups.

“I am so grateful for having grown up religious and having come out as queer,” said one panelist to conclude. “It’s been real s—– sometimes, but it has given me such depth and such perspective about what it means to grow up and think one way and to entirely shift my perspective.”

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Bailey Thompson

Q&A: Welcoming Lisette Cervantes to Abby’s House

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

Can you tell me a bit about your new position?

I work with both Abby’s House and the Food Pantry. So, for Abby’s House, that is the Bilingual Advocate part. And that’s giving direct service to victims and survivors. And for the Outreach Coordinator part, it’s through the Food Pantry — supervising and helping with food insecurities around campus.

What is one fun fact about you that people might not expect?

I love skateboarding… I’ve been practicing at it, and I really enjoy that. Also, I used to want to be a pastry chef.

What did your life look like before entering this position?

I recently just graduated this last term. So, it’s pretty fresh right now. Starting my freshman year, I did mentoring for two years with the MCR (Multicultural Representatives) program, and that is being a mentor for two to three incoming freshmen who are low-income, first-generation or (have) diverse backgrounds… And then I’ve been an advocate with Abby’s House for three years and two of those where I was the office coordinator here. And I was a research assistant with the suicide prevention grant here on campus. I also did an internship at Sable House, so that definitely helped prepare me for this position.

What about this position drew you to apply and stick around after graduating?

I’m very passionate about advocacy and helping underrepresented people — just bringing more inclusivity and resources to our campus. Being bilingual is a new thing for us, and I think that’s a great thing to have to support people even more.

What are some of your favorite things about Monmouth and the Western community?

I really like that it’s a small community, so we’re able to just be more personal and help more people. It’s very welcoming. Also, I’m an undocumented student, and I’ve found a lot of support from Western and their different programs.

How do you think that this position will challenge you moving forward?

I think it’s a challenge going from someone who is a part of a team … to now being more of a leader and being in charge. But, I think also doing more outreach because a lot of people don’t know about our services — so getting the word out there is important.

What is one goal that you have for Abby’s House or the Food Pantry in the future?

I think I would just like us to be even more inclusive. We’re adding these roles that I think will help to just house things in one place instead of having to navigate through this whole system. So, definitely just being a place where people can come to be safe and welcome and to get the support that they need.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo by Bailey Thompson

A look inside Spring Term at Abby’s House

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

Of all the things happening at Abby’s House this term, one of the biggest piece of news is the addition of Lisette Cervantes to the Abby’s House professional staff. After receiving a grant last March, Aislinn Addington, Abby’s House Director, initially struggled to find someone to fill the position; however, it worked well to hire Cervantes because of her unique perspective as a student, her training and her experience at Western.

Moving forward, Cervantes will spend 60-70% of her time at Abby’s House and 30-40% with the Food Pantry. Addington shared that her duties will be beneficial because she will provide direct support to Spanish-speaking students as well as reach out to traditionally underserved populations like LGBTQ students and students with disabilities to see what ways they can be better served at Abby’s House. This will also be the first time that professional staff hours have been dedicated to supporting the Food Pantry.

On top of welcoming Cervantes, there are a number of events coming up during Spring Term that students can put on their calendars.

“April is traditionally Sexual Assault Awareness Month, but in Oregon we’ve switched that up a little bit so it’s Sexual Assault Action Month,” said Addington.

Coming up, Abby’s House will be promoting their Start by Believing Campaign, which urges students to be loving and supportive of individuals who come to them about sexual assault.

Another event Addington is excited about is called “The Truth about Trafficking,” which will be held on April 18 in Abby’s House.

“Ashley Anstett from the Sexual Assault Task Force is coming to campus to talk about human trafficking in Oregon,” said Addington. She will be talking with the Western community about the issue locally as well as what people can do to be supportive to survivors.

On April 25, Abby’s House will be collaborating with Alpha Chi Omega to have a Denim Day table where they will have students make DIY denim crafts. They will also tell them about Denim Day — a day recognized every year which commemorates an instance in Italy in 1992 where a young woman was sexually assaulted by her drivers ed instructor, but where the court initially ruled that she had given consent because she was wearing tight jeans.

“Jeans are just a reminder of the amount of victim-blaming that goes on and the difficulty that we have in prosecuting these crimes everywhere,” said Addington.

A couple of other things that students can look out for in the upcoming term are the Student Health and Counseling Center beginning to offer forensic exams for students and Abby’s House putting on an event about alternatives to traditional menstrual products.

If students would like to learn more about any of these events or if students are interested in becoming an Abby’s House advocate for the 2019-2020 academic year, they can email Addington at addingtona@wou.edu or Cervantes at cervantesalmontel@wou.edu. They can also contact a new confidential advocate email address, confidentialadvocate@wou.edu, if they would like to share something with a confidential advocate like Addington or Cervantes.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Autism Acceptance Month: Student stories

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

April is Autism Acceptance/Awareness Month, a time each year when people with autism share their stories in order to spread both awareness and acceptance of autism — a condition that the Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 1 in 59 people has.

According to the American Psychiatric Association, “Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex developmental condition that involves persistent challenges in social interaction, speech and nonverbal communication and restricted/repetitive behaviors.”

In order to learn more about autism, I spoke with a number of Western students with autism who shared their stories with me.

 

Katie:

Katie, who wasn’t diagnosed with autism until age 20, is a firm believer in the need for further research about autism. Since Katie’s autism was not recognized because she did not exhibit certain signs of autism — many of which are more stereotypical in males with autism — she is an advocate for people with autism who may not fall into this narrow mold.

“Autism in general is not very well researched, and it’s definitely not very well researched in anyone who isn’t a straight, white male,” Katie said.

Having also researched the intersection between autism and LGBTQ identities, Katie explained that sex education is often inferior for people with autism because they are erroneously not thought of as sexual beings; this problem is added onto by the fact that LGBTQ sex education is rarely taught as well.

Katie also described the social and stimulatory challenges she faces because of her autism.

“Every 10 minutes I’m outside without earplugs, it means 30 minutes of wanting to nap,” said Katie. “It’s the lights and sounds and there’s a lot of leaf blowers outside. Then, there’s lots of people talking, cars going by — it’s a lot all the time.”

In her view, people’s outlook on autism is often too negative, also.

“Autism is not a fate worse than death, I swear. I actually like how autism affects me most of the time,” said Katie. “Yeah, it does suck sometimes… but it allows me to focus on things for a long time and it allows me to do things that most other people might consider boring or repetitive.”

Katie then imparted a final piece of wisdom.

“When we listen to folks who have different perspectives, it makes our society better,” said Katie.

 

Kevin:

After earning his AAOT degree, Kevin transferred to Western with the goal of majoring in visual communication design. And, while there have been some challenges in getting to graduation, he has utilized the resources around him in order to be successful.

“I got in touch with disability services to get accommodations that would be best for my learning experiences,” said Kevin. “They really do come in handy, especially when you’re doing exams or quizzes. Those guys can really come in handy whether it’s at a university or a community college.”

Despite the fact that things like speaking and maintaining eye contact can be difficult for him, Kevin knows that having autism is an important part of who he is.

“Having autism is just part of life; there’s nothing really you can do,” said Kevin. “It’s not like being cancer-free. It just sticks with you for your entire life. Being autism-free would kind of take away your memories. If you do that, then I’ve forgotten who I was.”

Something that Kevin has found joy in is competitive swimming, an activity his mom originally signed him up with to help him with his autism.

At Western, one thing that has made him feel empowered having some people go out of their way to support people with disabilities.

“I know one of the members of the disabilities club is just an ally,” said Kevin. “She just likes being there to help students with disabilities in this club.”

Finally, while some of the other students preferred the term acceptance, Kevin has a positive association with the original wording.

“I like awareness more,” said Kevin. “Autism Awareness Month is a strong phrase for autistic people.”

 

Lyvonne:

Lyvonne is a non-traditional student at Western who went back to school after getting married and having a family. As a mom to a son who also has autism, Lyvonne is passionate about fighting for acceptance in the world that her son is growing up in.

While people can sometimes be quick to devalue skills of people with autism, Lyvonne described a few of the ways she has seen autism in a positive light.

“Autism to me is like having a super power,” said Lyvonne. “My autism makes me hyper-aware of what other people are doing around me. It also causes me to be hyper-focused on my school work and incredibly grades driven, which can cause me to put a lot of undue stress on myself. But my autism also lets me really get into my favorite books, movies or television shows.”

One such example that Lyvonne has observed in her son is that, even though he is only seven, he is already studying algebra.

One thing that Lyvonne wished people knew about autism was that it is a fluid spectrum, not a static one — meaning some days are easier than others.

“There are days where I can make a speech in front of a classroom full of people I don’t know, and then there are days where I can’t even make eye contact with my physician at a checkup,” said Lyvonne.

With this in mind, Lyvonne has a clear hope for the future: acceptance.

“People are aware that those with autism exist; what many fail to think about is how many situations push us out to the fringes of society,” said Lyvonne. “People are aware of our existence, but they don’t accept us in so many ways.”

Striving to combat the narrative that her son will be a drain on society or that employers will be unwilling to hire her due to her autism, Lyvonne explains that awareness isn’t enough. Acceptance is the vital next step that we need to take as a society.

[fruitful_alert type=”alert-info”]Editor’s note: Last names were kept private at the request of some of the students interviewed.[/fruitful_alert]

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton

Athletic Bands Director Ben Protheroe talks about current success and future growth

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

Dynamic halftime performances, crowds singing along to the fight song and football games infused with the energy of much larger schools: these are things that Ben Protheroe, director of athletic bands, dreams of for the future of Western’s Athletic Band.

Although having a band is not something that is new for Western, the current aspirations of the group extends beyond anything that the Western Athletic Band has attempted in recent years.

“The Athletic Band has been around in some capacity for a long time. They used to have a marching band back in the ‘80s… it was a pretty big deal back then, and I’m not sure why it fizzled out,” said Protheroe.

Even though it can be challenging for the band to recruit at times since Western has a small Music Department and music majors aren’t required to participate, Protheroe still sees it as a valuable opportunity for many students as well as positive advertising for the program.

“An athletic band is a really good marketing tool for both the music department and the school,” said Protheroe. “When a lot of people look to where they want to go to school, especially if they have been involved with music, being in a marching band can be a big part of it.”

With this thought, he was even able to confirm with a student in the room that she was very close to not coming to Western initially because there used to not be a marching band. Over the span of this year, though, that has begun to change dramatically.

“We started the year with 10 members, which has been the norm for the past five years,” said Protheroe. “And at our biggest this year we hit 34 winds. If you add the drumline to that, it adds another 15.”

This determined group takes their work very seriously and takes pride in their work, but Protheroe shared that they also like to have fun in the process.

“Most everybody has gotten a nickname, and nobody goes by their real names for the most part,” said Protheroe. “And it’s usually something silly.”

Currently, the band only practices once a week for two hours on Sunday nights, but Protheroe explained that this could change in the future if the band continues to expand and take on more group commitments, like local parades or sporting event performances.

Protheroe also shared that it is not required that anyone audition for the band, only for those students who are applying for one of the 10 scholarships that are offered to band members.

“We’ll find a place for you. If you don’t know how to play something, we’ll find a place for you,” said Protheroe, reinforcing the idea that anyone can be involved if they have the desire to.

If students would like to learn more about the band, they can contact Protheroe at protheroeb@wou.edu.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton

Introducing the English Studies major

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

In fall of 2019, Western will welcome the English Studies major. This program, while distinct and innovative in its own right, is nestled within the umbrella of the English major. At a time where many curricular reforms are coming to Western, the Humanities Department took this opportunity to restructure the programs that they offer.

As one of the professionals who was instrumental in bringing this program about, Dr. Cornelia Paraskevas, linguistics professor, shared what the faculty’s intent was in implementing this change.

“Our students were graduating with about 210 credits on average, and that was a problem,” said Paraskevas. While 180 credits are needed to graduate from Western, the multitude of requirements for English majors has been tacking on additional time and financial burden to students.

In addition to re-designing the English major with fewer credits required, having an English studies major is giving students the chance to get a balance of literature, writing and linguistics classes — something that has been rare until recently.

“Historically, English programs were literature programs,” said Paraskevas. “The English Studies goes back to the idea of the tripod; that an English degree consists of three parts of equal value — writing, linguistics and literature. So, I think it will be a popular major.”

While students interested in pursuing an English degree will still have the option of concentrating in one of these three areas, they will also be able to do an English Studies major, which offers a balanced selection of all three.

All in all, while the altering of these concentration requirements and the addition of the English Studies major may not seem very different from the status quo, it shows a regard for student time and money as well as the things that they are wanting to learn.

“A bunch of students I’ve talked to are very excited about it. Very excited. And a lot of English programs are going this direction because the concentrations are not working for students,” said Paraskevas. “To compare right now, the (English Studies) major is 61 credits. (An English major) used to be … 77 credits. That’s a term less. It makes a huge difference financially.”

Paraskevas also shared that the title of this major is something that many employers and graduate programs will be familiar with, so it will be treated just the same as other types of English degrees would in those arenas.

For any students who are interested or would like to learn more, Paraskevas suggested talking to her — she can be reached at paraskc@wou.edu — or any of the other English faculty, as they all have the information for this new major.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton

Analyzing the 2019-2020 IFC final decision

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

After months of deliberation, Western’s Incidental Fee Committee finalized their decision for the 2019-2020 school year IFC fee on March 6, nearly three weeks after their Feb. 15 preliminary decision. In the weeks between these two budget decisions, the committee held open hearings on Feb. 21 and 22 for members of the Western community to express their opinions about the budget, and they also tabled in the Werner University Center to get student feedback.

With this information in hand, Rachel Bayly, junior interdisciplinary studies major and IFC Chair, discusses what her experience was like in leading the committee to a final decision.

“This year was a tough year. With inflation and with enrollment dropping next year, there was going to have to be a huge increase in the fee just to keep everything funded where it’s at,” said Bayly. “We had to make cuts — that was known going in. So, going into the preliminary decision, we went for our worst-case scenario; this is the most cuts we want to make, and hopefully for our final decision we can add some back in based on what we hear from students.”

Reflecting on the open hearing process, Bayly shared how much she appreciated students being so respectful and understanding about the difficult decisions that had to be made.

“Some people were even saying, ‘thank you for only cutting us three percent.’ There was that much understanding, which I thought was so great,” said Bayly. “Another thing that struck me was people saying ‘I’m not involved in that, or I’m not involved in these departments, but I see the benefits that they bring. And I know people who are involved.’ And that interdepartmental support between students was so great.”

When it came time to make their final decision, the committee utilized this student feedback to add back funding to a number of the departments’ budgets.

Bayly then conveyed the significant changes that IFC made between the preliminary and final decisions.

“The biggest change was that we put quite a bit of money back into campus recreation. With the cuts that we had applied, they were looking at having to cut quite a few hours of the wellness center,” said Bayly. “They got the most money added back into their budget, but almost every budget got money added back in. And we were even able to add back in a couple of enhancements — extra things for people to get to do next year.”

With these changes, the fee is now set to increase 16 dollars from the 2018-19 to 2019-2020 school years, from 363 to 379 dollars per term. This is four dollars more than the preliminary budget was originally set at.

If students would like to learn more about the IFC process or final decision, Bayly recommended reaching out to anyone on the committee for more information. Bayly can be reached at rbayly16@wou.edu.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Western Oregon University

Facebook   Instagram   X  YouTube

WESTERN OREGON UNIVERSITY
345 Monmouth Ave. N.
Monmouth OR 97361

503-838-8000 | 1-877-877-1593

Tools

Campus Maps
Canvas
Find People
Portal
WOU Email
Technical Support

Resources

A-Z Index
Accessibility
Academic Calendar
Class Schedule
Jobs at WOU
News
Explore WOU
Partnerships
Student Services
Freedom of Expression

Western Oregon University’s Land Acknowledgement
Western Oregon University in Monmouth, OR is located within the traditional homelands of the Luckiamute Band of Kalapuya. Following the Willamette Valley Treaty of 1855 (Kalapuya etc. Treaty), Kalapuya people were forcibly removed to reservations in Western Oregon. Today, living descendants of these people are a part of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Community of Oregon and the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians.

Accessibility    Public Records    Privacy    Student Consumer Information

WOU prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, national or ethnic origin, age, religion, marital status, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression in all programs, activities and employment practices as required by Title IX, other applicable laws, and policies. Retaliation is prohibited by WOU.