Schedule for Multicultural Reunion 2023
Theme: The Road Ahead Together
Please note this is a tentative schedule and subject to change.
Friday, November 10, 2023
8 a.m.–5 p.m.
Registration and Information Desk Open
Joe Rosenfield ’25 Center (JRC) 1st Floor Lobby
Stop by the registration desk to pick up your schedule and materials. Also, this is the spot to ask any questions you may have.
8 a.m.–10 p.m.
Quiet Room
JRC 203
This room is available to anyone who needs a quiet space to take a break from the events and programs of the weekend.
10 a.m.–2 p.m.
Class Visit Opportunities
JRC 1st Floor Lobby
Come by the registration desk to select a class to attend. Class choices will be first–come, first–served.
12–2 p.m.
Lunch on your own
JRC, Marketplace
Enjoy eating amongst the students.
2–4 p.m.
Cooking Demonstration
Humanities and Social Science Complex (HSSC), Marcus Family Global Kitchen
Watch a student and alum prepare a dish in the demonstration kitchen, then enjoy a tasty bite while hearing the story of the recipe.
4–5 p.m.
Alumni Panel
JRC 101
Learn about the Multicultural Archive Project, a collaboration between students, alumni, staff, and faculty to establish an Internet–based platform for collecting and documenting the histories of Grinnell College’s rich legacy of multicultural student organizations. Our main goals are to capture, preserve, and share the institutional memory that has gone undocumented, to show the impact that multiculturalism has had in shaping the College’s history.
5:15–6 p.m.
Welcome Reception
Grinnell College Golf Course
Welcome back to campus! Join fellow alumni, students, faculty and staff for a welcome reception to start the weekend right. Meet Bernard Jackson ’86, alumni council president, and Rick Rose ’88 & Phoebe Lostroh ’94, co–chairs of the Grinnell Rainbow Alumni Affinity Group.
6 p.m.–7:30 p.m.
Welcome Dinner
Grinnell College Golf Course
Join us for a delicious buffet meal, and hear remarks from Bernadine Douglas, vice president for alumni and donor relations, and Marc Reed, vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion, and chief diversity officer.
6:30 p.m.–7:30 p.m.
Shabbat Table
JRC 209
Join Chaverim and Rabbi Sarah Brammer-Shlay for services and shabbat. Chaverim, the Jewish student organization, is a diverse community in which students celebrate and learn about Judaism. They hold religious services on campus as well as educational, cultural and social programming. They also participate in interfaith dialogue, multicultural activities and promote diversity on campus.
7:30–9 p.m.
Keynote speaker: Yoruba Richen
JRC 101
The Black Freedom Struggle, the LGBT Rights Movement and the Ongoing Struggle for Equality
Come hear award-winning film director, screenwriter, producer and intersectional scholar Yoruba Richen, whose work examines the overlap and tensions between the Civil Rights Movement and contemporary LGBTQIA+ liberation as they intertwine with and propel each other. A Fulbright and Guggenheim fellow, Richen is Founding Director and Associate Professor at the Documentary Program of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at The City University of New York (CUNY). Her multi-Emmy nominated films include The New Black, The Greenbook: Guide to Freedom, and The Killing of Breonna Taylor, among others. Her most recent film, The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks, airs on NBC’s Peacock, and won a 2023 Peabody Award.
9–10:30 p.m.
Paint & Sip
Bucksbaum Studio
Paint along with Amanda Na ’22 a piece from the Grinnell Museum of Art.
9–10:30 p.m.
Lotería
Bob’s Underground
Join this fun party with prizes and learn a little Spanish while you're at it! Loteria- sometimes referred to as Mexican Bingo- has existed longer than Grinnell has. Though its origins trace back to Italy, this game was made popular in the late 1700's in Mexican fairs. We will be playing Mike Alfaro’s Millennial Loetria, a 21st century reimaging of the original game. If bingo is your game-o, then join us for refreshments, a little Español, and a good time!
Saturday, November 11, 2023
8 a.m.–12 p.m.
Registration and Information Desk Open
JRC 1st Floor Lobby
Stop by the registration desk to pick up your schedule and materials. This is the place to ask any questions you may have.
8 a.m.–10 p.m.
Quiet Room
JRC 203
This room is available to anyone who needs a quiet space to take a break from the events and programs of the weekend.
9:30 – 10:30 a.m.
Recentering Yoga
JRC 101
Start your second day of Multicultural Reunion with yoga for all abilities.
10:30a.m.–noon
Connect and Share Workshop
HSSC, Global Living Room
A skills-based sharing event for alumni and students. Do you want to connect and share with students and alumni? Do you have advice to share with students and alumni about life and career skills? Then join us in this community building space.
12–2 p.m.
Lunch in the Dining Hall
JRC, Marketplace
Join alumni, students, and faculty in the Marketplace Dining Hall. We have reserved the Whale Room, located through the doors on the west side of the dining hall. Enjoy some of your favorite foods, share your stories, and don’t forget to grab ice cream.
2–5 p.m.
Individual Student Organization Events
Various locations
Learn more about the student organizations who will be hosting events below:
- African Caribbean Student Union (ACSU)
This group seeks to celebrate the rich diversity of the African diaspora by engaging the campus through education, community, and dialogue, coordinate activities with multicultural peer organizations, and serve as a home–away–from–home for international Africans, Caribbean students, black Americans and all students with interest in the efforts and values of ACSU.
- Asian American Association (AAA)
This student organization hopes to educate the student body about Asian American culture and issues, and exists to provide a safe space for all students and faculty where one can discuss the experiences of Asian Americans on campus.
- Black Student Union (BSU)
BSU is committed to the growth and engagement of the entire Black Grinnell community.
- Chaverim
Chaverim, the Jewish student organization, is a diverse community in which students celebrate and learn about Judaism. We hold religious services on campus as well as educational, cultural and social programming. We also participate in interfaith dialogue, multicultural activities and promote diversity on campus. All of our activities are open to everyone.
- Chinese Student Association (CSA)
CSA strives to enrich campus diversity and enhance cross–cultural understanding by organizing a diversity of Chinese cultural events and activities, including Chinese New Year and Mid–Autumn Festival, for a wide audience.
- Disability Cultural Center Open House
Steiner 209
The Grinnell College Disability Cultural Center aims to form a diverse, disability–centered community for students, faculty, and staff. We seek to empower our community by expanding our views of normality and success. We aim to foster campus connections and revolutionize Grinnell’s view of disability. Through advocacy, we will make Grinnell College’s disability culture prominent and respected.
- International Students Organization (ISO)
ISO promotes international understanding within and beyond the College community. ISO encourages students to broaden their horizons and explore and experience different cultures and acts as a networking group for members.
- Stonewall Resource Center (SRC)
Younker Hall basement
The SRC is an all-inclusive, welcoming resource center focused on serving Grinnell’s LGBTQAP+ community. The center offers a safe space for individuals, educational programming, and hosts LGBTQ+ activities on campus throughout the year, as well as hosting identity-focused sub-groups.
- Student Organization of Latinxs (SOL)
The purpose of SOL shall be to create a community that will nurture cultural pride, as well as awareness, amongst all its members. SOL resolves to create and support a cultural and social network that preserves and encourages cultural identity and autonomy; promotes awareness of political and social issues affecting Latinx society; and serves as an education resource for the community.
2–3 p.m.
Institute for Global Engagement Open House
HSSC N1164
Stop in and see the Institute for Global Engagement space. Interact with students from the Off-Campus Study staff.
5 p.m.
Social Hour
Main Lounge
Enjoy social time, hors d’oeuvres, and refreshments before dinner.
6 p.m.
Multicultural Alumni Weekend Gala Dinner
Quad Dining Hall
Celebrate the culmination of the weekend with students, faculty, staff and fellow alumni at a capstone banquet featuring remarks by President Anne F. Harris. We will honor the Diversity Champion Award recipient(s).
9 p.m.
Drag Show by Queer People of Color (QPOC)
Harris Center
A tradition for Grinnell College students since 2006. The Xtravaganza, which occurs in the fall and spring, raises money for various humanitarian organizations. It is an event that encapsulates the best of Grinnell: a celebration, exploration, and performance of diversity and self-expression, with a commitment to social justice. Come see what all the fuss is about.
Sunday, November 12, 2023
10:30 a.m.
Black Church
Herrick Chapel
Enjoy a worship service featuring a performance by the Young, Gifted, and Black Choir and sermon.
Ongoing
Multicultural Archive Project display, oral histories, and digitization of ephemera.
Learn more about Multicultural Reunion 2023 on the Multicultural Reunion homepage.