INA, Ill. (November 4, 2024)—At Rend Lake College, we celebrate diversity. We want all our students to feel safe and welcome, no matter their age, race, gender or class. That is why in the month of October, RLC hosted a Diversity Week, October 28 - November 1, on campus.
On Monday, October 28, RLC welcomed Jill Wright, Director of Awareness and Prevention Education at SAFE. Her presentation was titled “SAFE: Consent and Bystander Intervention.”
SAFE is a local sexual assault agency; they have been in the area over 20 years and currently serve 11 counties in south central Illinois. SAFE provides free and confidential counseling, medical and legal advocacy, as well as prevention education in schools and community events.
On Tuesday, October 29, RLC heard from Dr. Sue Tomlin with a DEI activity, and author Charley Cass, discussing the topic of his book, Leaving Poverty: On Purpose and For Good
Dr. Sue Santoro Tomlin taught sociology at RLC for over 30 years. She earned a PhD in Sociology from Southern Illinois University. Sue is enjoying retirement; she loves to cook and travel.
While at RLC, Dr. Tomlin demonstrated her impact on students outside the classroom by arranging field trips to local prisons; she also has several projects for her students involving service to the community, which can be very powerful and educational experiences for many of them.
Charley Cass discussed first generation college student and how to support them throughout their journey. He also mentioned his book, Leaving Poverty: On Purpose and For Good. This book examines potential policy directions that can help end poverty. Each chapter is a segment of the life of Cass as he grew up in absolute and generational poverty coupled with a guided question to help make sense of poverty from a social science perspective.
Cass is a veteran school administrator. He is currently the superintendent of Bethel Grade School District #82 in Mt. Vernon IL. Cass was named the Illinois PTA Administrator of the Year for 2019 and the Illinois Middle School Principal of the Year in 2016.
Jessica Bertolozzi discusses the RLC October DEI book, The In-Between: Unforgettable Encounters During Life's Final Moments by Hadley Vlahos.
The In-Between is a memoir that combines stories from the final moments of Vlahos's hospice patients with her own personal journey.
Sarah Draper, Student Success and Wellness Coordinator and Chair of the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Cultural Events Committee, shared a presentation on Mental Health on October 30 and 31.
In these sessions, Draper wanted the attendees to increase their understanding of what mental health is and what impacts mental health, identify and increase their coping skills and learn more about mental health resources.
Dr. Ted Cohen, a historian of Latin America and the African diaspora, explored how and why African American history is conceptualized and why it is important today.
"African American history," he argued, "is more than just the study of events that shaped the lives of African Americans. It is about how we tell those stories, how we connect them to the rest of US history, and how we understand our own places in the world we live in."
On the final day of Diversity Week, November 1, Santiago Gualapuro, a Kichwa scholar from Otavalo with a research agenda investigating the linguistic and social aspects of Imbabura Kichwa in Ecuador and the Kichwa diaspora in the United States, discussed Native American History Month.
Santiago has a bachelor's degree in Agricultural Business from the Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador, an MA in Linguistics from the University of Texas at Austin, an MA in Hispanic Linguistics from The Ohio State University, and a Ph.D. in Hispanic Linguistics from The Ohio State University. He is currently an Assistant Professor at Southern Illinois University in the United States.
RLC would like to thank all of the presenters who shared their knowledge with our community, the DEI Committee for organizing Diversity Week, and all the students, faculty and staff who participated.
To learn more about the upcoming Diversity Week in the Spring 2025 semester and ways you can get involved, contact Sarah Draper at drapers@rlc.edu or call 618-437-5321, ext. 1264.
