Office of International Student Services Newsletter

 Volume IV, Number 19

· Flag Bearer information for students graduating May 2007

Important Information

· Immigration fees likely to increase after April 2, 2007
· Information about 2006 taxes
· Did you travel during J-term? Please bring in your travel documents to OISS!

Upcoming Activities

· Feb 21- Multicultural Forum Career Fair
· Feb 23 - Mardi Gras Party at the Wellness House
· Feb 27 - Film and Discussion to Focus on Racism and White Privilege
· Mar 2-9 - St. Thomas Heritage Week events
· Mar 9 - Heritage Week Community Service Project

Interesting Articles

· Assistantships available for Graduate Students
· Center for Writing helps students with the writing process
· Free Princeton Review MBA forum will be held March 1
· Looking for a place to call home in 2007-2008?
· Photo exhibit at St. Thomas captures Lake Superior’s North Shore
· STAR offers swing dance lessons

Personal Ads

· Free appliances at OISS!
· Salsa Dance lessons at the U of M (Word document)

Tuesday, February 27

Several University of St. Thomas departments will host an upcoming film and discussion on the notions of racism and white privilege in the United States.

The 50-minute film is “Mirrors of Privilege: Making Whiteness Visible.” Leading the discussion will be the film’s creator, Dr. Shakti Butler, a multiracial African American (African, Arawak Indian and Russian-Jewish) woman from California.

The program will be held in the O’Shaughnessy Educational Center auditorium on Tuesday, Feb. 27. It will open with a 5:30 p.m. reception. The film and discussion will run from 6 to 8 p.m.

Free and open to the public, the event is co-sponsored by St. Thomas’ Multicultural Student Services, University Lectures Committee and Faculty Development Center. For more information call Multicultural Student Services, (651) 962-6460.

The film features the stories of white activists – described as white people committed to ending racism – of various ages and backgrounds who have worked to understand what it means to be white and to fight individual, institutional and cultural racism. They share how they moved through the stages of denial, defensiveness, guilt, fear and shame to make solid, personal commitments to help end racism and build a more equitable society.

Butler holds a doctorate from the California Institute of Integral Studies in the School of Transformative Learning and Change. This is her third film dealing with discrimination.

In 1994, as executive director of World Trust Educational Services, she designed “Heart to Heart Conversations,” a national program designed to help people learn together and share deep feelings about race and culture.