Articles

Welcome from Director Paola Lopez

January 31, 2023

Welcome back to campus in the winter season, a time of great reflection and connection. As the Days-Massolo Center team and respective cluster student organizations get ready for an incredible semester, I am reflecting on how far we’ve come since my arrival to Hamilton in 2019. This Friday, February 3, 2023, will be the first time we’ve celebrated the annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Dinner since February 2020. 

The Dr. King Dinner was in the series of one of my first events to plan and host, and it was also my last before our world changed. We hosted Bishop Dr. H. Bernard Alex as our keynote speaker and recognized Ms. Phyllis Breland as our honoree. Bishop Alex delivered a powerful speech hitting home that individually and collectively we have an infestation problem with what is in our “attic”, and challenged us to ask what we are going to do to clean it up and prevent another infestation. It was powerful! 

This year, we will once again break bread, connect with friends, colleagues, and family, and be charged to do more than be consumers of good words but doers from our keynote speaker, Vice President Sean Bennett. Dr. Bennett will share remarks on the intersections and a way forward. 

If you have not RSVP’d and are now burning to attend Friday’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dinner, please email the Days-Massolo Center at dmc@hamilton.edu. We have a few spots left and welcome you with open arms. 

Hamilton College, the Days-Massolo Center, and everyone is different. The last three years have changed us. We are more aware of global dynamics, interconnectedness, and the need for community. We are members of the Hamilton Community, our friend groups, families, and the world. It is due time that we cherish more of our interconnectedness and identify our part in this greater community. The work of equity and inclusion may be within the DMC mission, but it is a community charge. A charge to consider areas of growth, areas of collaboration, and areas of leadership. Individually, collectively, departmentally, and as a community, we have the grand opportunity to recognize our collective accountability to one another and community ideals for equity and inclusion, and collective responsibility to each do something about the needs of those in our community and our very being. I am proud to have witnessed the growth of our student leaders and share about their work to bring the community together. This month the Asian Student Union is hosting an Asian New Year event that encompasses Lunar New Year (Chinese New Year, Korean New Year, Taiwanese New Year, and Vietnamese New Year), Oshogatsu, Losar, Nauryz, Bangladeshi New Year, and Songkran. Closing February during Womanist Week the Black Latinx Student Union, Center for Intersectional Feminism, and C. Christine Johnson Voices of Color Lecture Series have come together to host Angela Davis. Dr. Davis' discussion will focus on collective accountability and responsibility. We hope to see you there in person or virtually. (See College Events calendar and campus email for more information.) 

I encourage those who are reading our newsletter to view all the upcoming events and programs as an opportunity to get engaged. There’s opportunities to join an upcoming reading groups led by the DMC, academic departments, and student organizations; or get connected with other opportunities on-campus or off-campus that help us become human beings who live with humility, honor, accountability, and tenacity for life—a people who “know themselves”. 

All my best, 
Paola C. Lopez

Pronouns: she/her/hers
Director of Days-Massolo Center

Update to DMC Director operations: This spring I have transitioned to serving as a remote employee with occasional travel to campus. I am available to connect with students, staff, and faculty via email (plopez@hamilton.edu), Zoom, GChat, or a phone call (315) 557-8202. I am in Zoom Monday-Friday from 12-1 p.m. EDT (Zoom ID: 95470013452), or you're welcome to use my calendar scheduler to find a better time: https://calendly.com/plopez-3.