NYU DC StoryCorps

Highlighting NYU Washington, DC students and their experiences!

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GLOBAL EQUITY FELLOW CORNER I May 12, 2020

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By Jolie Radunich

May 12 , 2020

NEWS

After racism claims, Museum of Fine Arts creates a diversity fund

UN chief asks for inclusion of people with disabilities in COVID-19 response

Google Diversity Report Shows Little Progress For Women And People Of Color

MOTIVATION

Master’s candidate at Harvard University Donovan Livingston delivers a convocation speech in the form of spoken word poetry. He explains the experience of education from the slavery period to Livingston’s personal experiences in the education system.

WHAT TO WATCH – FREEDOM WRITERS

Two years after the L.A. Riots, a new teacher is faced with a racially divided classroom of at-risk students, deemed incapable of learning. She encourages them to journal their life experiences as gang members, children of prisoners, and freshmen unsure of their futures. Based on a true story, Erin Gruwell helps her students connect their experiences with The Diary of Anne Frank, and take an interest in their own education. Available on Netflix and also as a published diary filled with the real students’ journal entries?

GLOBAL EQUITY FELLOW CORNER I May 4, 2020

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By Jolie Radunich

May 4, 2020

NEWS

‘Together In Pride: You Are Not Alone’: GLAAD’s Livestream Event Raises Funds For LGBTQ Centers, Pete Buttigieg Urges Audience To Vote

Now More Than Ever We Need To Talk About How Lack Of Equality At Home Affects Women At Work

COVID-19 shakes up international student life — and university budgets 

MOTIVATION

Similar to last week, here is a compilation of motivational speeches alongside beautiful, scenic videos. A great step to add to your morning routine!

WHAT TO WATCH – DIFFERENT

A facet of IDBE sometimes overlooked is the disabled community. Instead of a Netflix recommendation, here is a 5 minute short film. “A deaf girl comes across a boy who is paralyzed from the waist down, but neither of them know about each other’s differences.”

GLOBAL EQUITY FELLOW CORNER I April 27, 2020

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By Jolie Radunich

April 27, 2020

NEWS

McDonald’s apologizes after restaurant in China bans black people

Exclusive: Top Hispanic group launches ‘Latinos con Biden’

Diversity will take a big hit in MLB Draft

MOTIVATION

This is a stressful, frustrating time. As much as you are worrying about your family, friends, and members of whatever country you may be in, you cannot aid effectively if you disregard your own mental health. Listen to these powerful affirmations to help shape the reality you want to see (starts at 0:26).

WHAT TO WATCH

Most of us remember Rachel Dolezal as the most hated caricature of 2015. A white woman posed as African American, attended the HBCU Howard University, and used her experiences in black spaces to become President of the NAACP branch in Spokane, Washington. The Rachel Divide on Netflix explores her life leading up to the scandal. Dolezal’s children are shown, including her youngest son Langston, (named after African American poet Langston Hughes, of course).

GLOBAL EQUITY FELLOW CORNER I April 20, 2020

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By Jolie Radunich

April 20, 2020

NEWS

Virginia governor signs LGBTQ nondiscrimination measure into law

Work permit, visa extension: Relief for foreign students stranded in US

Coronavirus: Ethnic minorities ‘are a third’ of patients

 

MOTIVATION- LOOKS AREN’T EVERYTHING, BELIEVE ME I’M A MODEL

Cameron Russell has no problem admitting she won “a genetic lottery.” After physically transforming during her speech, she explains the disparity between acting as a seductive construct of the fashion industry to that of a relatable, insecure woman.

 

WHAT TO WATCH – ON MY BLOCK

Escaping gang life, searching for a cash prize, and falling in love are three themes that follow these protagonists in this series. Growing up in the predominantly Hispanic and Black neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles, On My Block tells a coming-of-age story about book and street-smart youth who confront the challenges of high school. I binge-watched all three seasons in three days. 🙂

GLOBAL EQUITY FELLOW CORNER I April 13, 2020

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By Jolie Radunich

April 13, 2020

NEWS

After Zoom calls hacked with racial slurs and pornography, CEO admits “mistake”

Stop Looking Away From the Race of COVID-19 Victims

Coronavirus pandemic a perfect storm for LGBTQ homeless youth

 

MOTIVATION – BARACK OBAMA’S 2004 KEYNOTE SPEECH

“It is that fundamental belief, I am my brother’s keeper, I am my sister’s keeper that makes this country work.”

Here’s a speech that lacks the inevitable divisiveness in politics today. In the spirit of election season, I thought I’d recommend a powerful throwback speech from “a skinny kid with a funny name.”

 

WHAT TO WATCH – TIRED OF WATCHING TIGER KING?

Watch “Miss Representation,” on Netflix.

Boys learn that their success is tied to dominance, power, and aggression. The media sells the idea that girls’ and womens’ value lies in youth, beauty, and sexuality and not in their capacity as leaders.

This film tells the stories of teenage girls and female leaders in various fields, including Katie Couric, Rosario Dawson, Gloria Steinem, Margaret Cho, Condoleezza Rice, Rachel Maddow, and Nancy Pelosi. 

GLOBAL EQUITY FELLOW CORNER I April 6, 2020

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By Jolie Radunich

April 6, 2020

NEWS

With Coronavirus Keeping Them in U.S., International Students Face Uncertainty. So Do Their Colleges.

How the US census misses people of color – and why it’s so harmful

Minority, low-income youth thrive in Youth Orchestras of San Antonio

MOTIVATION

Imagine a workplace where all people are able to climb every rung of the corporate ladder, and diversity lessons are practiced inside and outside the workplace. How do we get there? Watch this TED Talk, “How to get serious about diversity and inclusion in the workplace.” The themes are especially relevant for students enrolled in the NYU DC internship class!

WHAT TO WATCH

“Teach Us All,” on Netflix reminds us that educational inequality remains one of the most urgent civil rights issues, 60 years after the 1957 Little Rock school desegregation crisis. The documentary follows schools in Little Rock, New Jersey, and Los Angeles. Let me know if you want to talk about it- I’ve just begun watching it myself.

NYU DC VIOLETS I OPINION I High Schools Should Prepare Students For Success, Not College

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By Brianna Hall 

When we think of a really smart person, or a really wealthy person, we probably envision that they graduated college. This is a view that is widely enforced by our education system. Our lens of academic success has narrowed into whether or not students go to college, and what calibre of college they are admitted to. This is a problem. While all students should have the opportunity to pursue higher education, it should not be something they feel that they have to do if they want to be viewed as intelligent and professional. 

Highschools that have the resources to have gotten into the habit of grooming juniors and seniors to achieve one goal: college. However, the goal of college should be replaced with the goal of success. Every student should be given the resources to choose their own path of success, regardless of whether or not that path leads to college. 

I haven’t met a student who says that at one point they did not feel overwhelmed by the pressure of getting into college. This is largely due to the pressure that high schools place on students to go to college. If highschools explored multiple paths such as trade school, apprenticeships, interning, and jobs, that all lead to success students would not feel confined to fit themselves into the mold of college. 

While college is a great fit for many students, for many it is not, and they are often viewed as less intelligent and successful. Teenage years are full of difficult decisions that can be easily impacted by social norms. Highschools need to break the rigid outline of success for students and prepare them for any option they make after graduation. 

 

Image Source: https://www.google.com/search?q=graduation&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjIg8bU4InoAhWKlXIEHRdUAd8Q_AUoAXoECBMQAw&biw=500&bih=296&dpr=2

NYU DC VIOLETS I FEATURE I Kim Cobb: A Notable Combatant of Climate Change

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By Kyra Brown

During the first semester of this academic year, American climate scientist and professor in the School of Sciences of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Kim Cobb, visited students of New York University’s D.C campus to speak about her findings on the impending implications she believes climate change is having on our oceans and environment. 

Cobb’s research utilizes the study of corals and cave stalagmites to reconstruct the effects of changes in tropical Pacific temperature and rainfall patterns over the last decades to millennia. 

“What we’re seeing in the last 50 years is outside any natural variability.”

Cobb relayed to students that scientists have suspected an apparent cause-and-effect relationship between climate change and El Niño, which is a natural weather cycle that has heated and cooled the equatorial Pacific ocean for many thousands of years,  in turn causing large-scale weather irregularities.

However, according to Cobb, there may be hope in reducing the cause of these climate changes. 

Her goal for the coming years was to save at least 1 million pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere, she has since surpassed this goal with the help of her students and donors of her community,

Reducing all of society’s carbon footprint seems like a nearly impossible task, however, Cobb says that even the smallest of efforts made by many people could produce great change. She has already taken it upon herself to pursue the challenge.

Cobb now walks or bikes to work and minimizes her need for long-distance travel. She has centered her lifestyle around her avoidance of carbon emissions and urges people of this generation and future generations to do the same.

Image Sources: 

https://www.berkshireeagle.com/uploads/original/20190206-185427-kim_cobb_002-T5_05926.jpg 

http://shadow.eas.gatech.edu/~kcobb/people/images/2018_group.png 

https://live.staticflickr.com/8664/16561142711_bc0b6bd809_n.jpg

NYU DC VIOLETS I FEATURE I Finding Your Place

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By Michael-Scott Greco

NYU — the real NYU — is a massive university in the biggest city in the U.S..

There are plenty of opportunities to get involved within the university system and outside, in all that New York City has to offer. All of these opportunities could also mean that “finding your place” can be overwhelming.

Some opportunities for students include clubs and teams, volunteer for a non-profit, intern, and part-time work. 

To encourage club participation, NYU deployed a web portal, Find My Club, to gauge students’ interest and guide them to various clubs around the university.

Personally, I never “found my club” at NYU. And I tried, but the Parliamentary Debate Union, Urban Design & Architecture Society, and Stern Student Council — for some reason — never kept me engaged. Throughout my first year of exploring NYU clubs, I also pursued other opportunities as they popped up.

A Sternie at heart, I entered the undergraduate research program at Stern’s social impact program. And as a Sternie, I appreciate the work, studying strategy and brand development in the sharing economy.

I know, it’s not exactly fascinating work… at least not for everyone. But for me, research is a great opportunity to be part of a constructive team dynamic that I didn’t find during my first-year.

TLDR/My two-cents: New York’s sheer size can be overwhelming, but also has enough opportunity to find your place. Look for and take advantage of the opportunities in front of you.  You might surprise yourself.

NYU DC VIOLETS I FEATURE I A Restaurant Review: Lapis

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By Yuanle Ma 

Kalorama is a placid residential neighborhood in midtown Washington DC. Unlike most parts of the city, a complex of glass office buildings, it is elegantly decorated by some delicate residential houses and the quietness thereof. The Kalorama park, this tranquil lush garden, placates the haste and bustling of the city by its peacefulness. It is in this opulent neighborhood where Lapis, an exquisite Afghanistan restaurant, busily resides. 

Unlike most parts of the Kalorama neighborhood which serve their DC residents with quietness and relief, Lapis offers them with excitement into the adventures of cuisine. In Washington, one’s diety can not be maltreated: distinguished DC steakhouses may offer them with some finest steak in the country, as luxure Asian Cuisine may seize their clients with luscious sushi. But out of all the admirable restaurants, it is the role of Lapis to seize the appetites of the DC residents with its alluring Afghanistan grill. The dishes of Lapis deliver something more than a pleasant experience of the tone; it is more to the enjoyment of the mind.  For “afghan shepherd”, one of its signature dishes, it serves well cooked lamb chops with Afhgan rice and bread. The lamb is so properly grilled that it is fully covered with golden lamb oil on the surface, while it is accompanied by tempting sources and spices. The selection of rice is best characterized by thoughtfulness — the rice is not cooked too dry that its surface would turn hard , nor is it too moist that it would be sticky; it is in the state of almost perfection-soft and warm-decorated by Middleeastern pepper mixture. Finally, when proceeding to the Afgahn bread, the diner will find that the bread is perfectly soaked in the lamb oil and the spices; mixed with the taste of lamb and the sweetness of wheat, this bread itself has already turned into a delicacy.

Beyond the marvelous food, the decoration of the restaurant is another amazement. The first floor, with a delicate but not too sumptuous setting, welcomes its diners with the warmth of home. The bar which is located in the basement, is where the bustling and celebration reside; one would walk on well polished marble stairs, occasionally passing by some Greeco-Roman statues, into this basement full of classic decorations– it almost renders the illusion of being in a ancient classical temple which is constructed in a near east cave. 

In this city where its people would rush from places to places, where the hustling of life often besieges the castle of peacefulness, Lapis is the harbor which would appease the tired hearts of its travelers with some delicious meals. A fine piece of pearl on the necklace of Washington DC becomes what Lapis is.