“The homeless are no different than the rest of us,” said Howie Harkema, operations manager of St. Barnabas Soup Kitchen. “Something emotional has happened in their background, they need respect and dignity.”

Linfield’s annual Hunger and Homeless Awareness Week sought to inspire respect for the homeless, as well as to educate the Linfield community about hunger and homelessness in Yamhill County ─ a prevalent issue, as Oregon is ranked number one in homelessness and number three in hunger out of all 50 states.

The week, which was organized by Linfield’s student leadership team Change Corps, ran from Nov. 12 through Nov. 15.

“In Mac there are less than 180 beds total for a homeless count of 815,” Harkema said, “There’s a gap here, we need to fill in the gaps of what is missing in our community.”

Harkema was one of three panel members for the awareness week’s Nov. 13 event: a panel discussion regarding hunger and homelessness, focusing on Yamhill County.

Joining him in the discussion were panel members Lindsay Combs, client services manager for YCAP, and CherylBlevins, operation manager of Yamhill County Gospel Rescue Mission.

Despite the overwhelming demand for better poverty outreach services, there are significant opportunities for growth.

“We really have a lot of strengths in this community, especially McMinnville,” Harkema said.

Linfield has proven to be one of those strengths.

“This year, a big change I have seen in our Hunger and Homeless Awareness Week is that we have a larger quantity of food donations,” said sophomore Vesta Namiranian, Linfield’s poverty service coordinator.

The Food Drive Dorm Storm on Nov. 14 encouraged students to go dorm to dormwith friends to collect food donations that will go to YCAP barrels placed around campus. The event also urged friendly competition between student groups.

“Since we are having the food drive competition, the support from Linfield’s student groups has helped make our food drive a greater success,” Namiranian said, “Thanks to the help from FUSION, Black Student Union, Native American Alliance and Pre-Nursing club, we have made the week a more interactive week that gets more students on campus involved.”

The Hunger and Homeless AwarenessWeek’s other events also saw an increase in student involvement.Students were invited to kick-off the awareness week with a hunger banquet, an immersive experience to help attendees better understand what it means to live in hunger Nov. 12.

This year, Peace Corps started a new event, the Tie-Blanket Project and Reflection. Students were invited to reflect on the week and make blankets that would be donated to emergency shelters in McMinnville.

“We were inspired to start this after someone was found frozen to death on the street,” Namiranian said. The project and reflection took place Nov. 15, ending the Hunger and Homeless Awareness Week.

The event-filled week may have come to an end, but hunger and homelessness continues just outside our campus.

“About 469 families with a combined total of 815 persons were homeless in Yamhill County in 2012,” Harkema said.

Within that count, 313 children and school-age youth were found to be homeless in Yamhill County. And that’s just a snap shot, Combs said. The homeless count does not include a large portion of the population who do not wish to reveal themselves.

Homelessness comes in many different forms, said the panel.

“Homelessness isn’t really the shopping cart guy,” Blevins said.

According to Yamhill County’s 10-Year Ending Homelessness Plan, many experience homelessness because they suffer from mental illnesses or alcohol and drug problems. The homeless population also includes individuals emancipated from foster care, victims of domestic violence and even those who live from month to month. Many may fall into homelessness after just one medical emergency, job loss, eviction or other traumatic event.

“In Mac, most of the homeless are folks who experience unemployment,” Harkema said, “Many are just one pay check away from it.”

All three panel board members are involved in the Yamhill County 10-Year plan to end homelessness, which was created in 2008 and adopted in June of 2009.

“I think that each of us has a responsibility, not only to get involved but to start conversation,” Combs said.

The panel encouraged Linfield students to fulfil their responsibilities as members of the community.

“There are always volunteer opportunities,” Blevins said. “It’s a rewarding experience.”

Students who are looking to get involved can contact the Yamhill County Gospel Rescue Mission to volunteer or give donations.

YCAP also has volunteer and employment opportunities and always accepts donations.

Students can apply to prepare and serve hot meals at St. Barnabas Soup Kitchen, a ministry of St. BarnabasEpiscopal Church located at 822 S.W. Second Street in McMinnville.

“Whatever your passion, you can fit it into to community engagement experiences. You can take that with you. It’s like a ripple effect,” Blevins said. “Start off little, and before you know it, you’re making a difference.”

Chrissy Shane

Features editor

Chrissy Shane can be reached at www.linfieldreviewfeatures@gmail.com

Robert Owen Gardner, 

Associate professor of sociology; program in environmental studies

“It started in grad school,” said Robert Gardner, associate professor of sociology, of his musical endeavors.

Although Gardner played trumpet through seventh and eighth grade, his musical pursuits flourished in graduate school.

“A friend of mine decided to buy a guitar,” Gardner said. “Our intention was to jam together.”

So, Gardner bought a bass, but soon discovered it was not his calling.

Photo courtesy of Robert Gardner
Robert Gardner, associate professor of sociology,
performs at a wedding.

“I quickly learned that I just wasn’t as cool at parties with a bass,” Gardner said, chuckling.

So he bought a guitar and learned some basics from his brother, also a guitarist.

“I got really into bluegrass music when I was in grad school in Colorado,” Gardner said.

Gardner attended a bluegrass music festival and left with a newfound love for the genre.

“I saw that there were all sorts of people jamming into all hours of the night,” Gardner said. “It inspired me to learn.”

After that, Gardner attended many jam sessions where he learned to play bluegrass music with people who would become his friends and future band mates.

“I ended up having a regular jam group that turned into a band,” Gardner said.

The social music group formed The Corn Whiskey All Stars, who went on to perform at a benefit show. After a band member moved out of state, another band was formed: Blue Moonshine, which performed at weddings and parties.

Now, Gardner brings his guitar to his office and plays when he can. However, with a recent addition at home, practice time is limited.

“I have a 10-month-old at home,” Gardner said. “She actually loves the guitar.”

Peter Richardson, professor of German 

Peter Richardson, professor of German, can be found in his third floor Walker office “frailing,” a traditional “bump-ditty” rhythm common to many folksongs, on his Fairbanks banjo, worn with time and use.

“I came to it in high school,” Richardson said. “I started out with a baritone ukulele. That’s what I learned on when I was a freshman in high school in 1956. Then, I switched over to the guitar and the five-string banjo.”

Although Richardson didn’t have formal music lessons, music was an important part of his social life. He often got together with friends to listen to their favorite records.

“We’d get together after school and listen to records and try to play what we heard,” Richardson said. “This is what we did instead of video games or TV. It was great fun.”

Music has always been in Richardson’s life in one form or another. He grew up listening to his father perform classical pieces on the piano, and later in life, his two daughters played in the orchestra as young girls. His older daughter played cello in the Portland Youth Philharmonic, and his younger daughter played the violin.

“We played Irish fiddle tunes together,” Richardson said.

Now, Richardson plays for his grandsons, but they’re not the only ones who get to hear him pluck tunes on his banjo.

“We sing every day in my beginning German class,” Richardson said. “They are taken aback at first when I ask them to sing.”

Richardson also owns a guitar and a mountain dulcimer, and one day hopes to learn the cello.

“It’s never too late,” Richardson said.

Chrissy Shane

Chrissy Shane can be reached at linfieldreviewfeatures@gmail.com

Chrissy Shane/Features editor
Peter Richardson, professor of German, practices his
Fairbanks banjo in his office.

Photo courtesy of Olivia Uphoff
Linfield alumna and owner of Robert Roe, Naseem Momtazi.

She smiles with the sort of confidence that’s genuine, yet withholding. Her eyes light up as she recalls the recent opening of her boutique.

“It was beautiful,” she said. “I don’t think, until that moment, people understood the magnitude of my ambitions. Fashion is something that I have always found value in.”

Naseem Momtazi’s new store, Robert Roe, is the most recent addition to the popular Third Street business community in downtown McMinnville.

She was a junior at Linfield College when she began thinking about opening her own clothing outlet. But she said, “I knew that if I wanted to get my dream going, I had to work at something else first.”

After graduating with a business degree in 2009, Momtazi began working for her parents’ well-known family winery, Maysara, as a sales and marketing specialist.

She said working for the winery has been a great experience. Not only has it helped her grow as a businesswoman, but it has also introduced her to many different cultures, experiences which have worked together to inspire her fashion sense.

Momtazi has traveled through most of the U.S. now, and has become familiar with the countries of Dubai and Sweden.

“You know, when I go to these places, I see many things,” she said. “I love seeing the different styles of cities and countries.”

She hopes to bring some of those styles to Robert Roe. The outlet carries products from brands like QI Cashmere, Naven, House of Harlow, Belle Noel, Lovers + Friends and Threads 4 Thoughts, to name a few.

Chrissy Shane/Features editor
Senior Olivia Uphoff, Naseem Momtazi’s sole employee, organizes accessories at Robert Roe.

It’s at the higher end of the price spectrum, but Momtazi hopes people will realize quality is a great investment. Her things may be a bit more expensive, but in exchange, they will last longer.

Prices for tops range from $13 for a T-shirt to about $170 for a blouse or cashmere sweater. Jeans run from $120 to about $210.

“I still have cashmere from high school,” she said. “It’s worth the investment.

“To me, it’s important for people to feel classy, to feel great about themselves, and I think clothes provide that quality.”

Inspired by the class she hoped to bring to the boutique, and wanting to avoid trading on the family name, she chose to name her business Robert Roe.

“I knew from the beginning that whatever name I picked it had to be different from our name,” she said. “I wanted something strong. Robert is so strong.”

Momtazi said her family is extremely close, so it was a bit of a challenge early on to get her parents to understand why venturing out on her own was important to her.

Her youngest sister, Hanna, said, “Our parents were a bit reserved to the idea because they didn’t want my sister to lose focus of the winery.”

Though they have since embraced the idea, she said, they are not stepping in. They are giving Naseem the room to test her wings on her own, unaided.

Hanna said their parents invested a lot of hard labor getting where they are today, and they want Naseem to understand what it takes. She said some people might view it as a lack of support, but it’s actually the kind of support designed to teach her the most important lesson of all—the value of hard work.

On the flip side, Naseem said, some people assume her family is underwriting her endeavor, when it isn’t.

“What’s been a little bit annoying is that a lot of people think this is something I’ve done with my family, but it’s been all on my back,” she said.

“That’s been really hard, to live in the shadow of everyone thinking it’s a family business when it’s not; it’s all mine.”

Momtazi sees Robert Roe expanding some day to cities like New York and Los Angeles. She admires the fashion tastes of Rachel Zoe and Kourtney Kardashian and seeks to emulate them in her shop on a grand scale.

But it all starts with McMinnville. She said it’s a fact of life that clothing options are limited locally.

“I just want people to not stick themselves in a bubble,” she said. “It’s funny how many get into this mentality of, ‘This is how I must dress.’ I want them to see possibilities and feel good.”

She said the biggest limitations she’s facing right now are the location and hours.

Robert Roe is tucked into Studio 10, on the second floor, above La Bella Casa. And she noted, “I’m only open two days a week, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., or by appointment. It’s what I can manage right now.”

Momtazi said one of her goals is to inspire other Linfield graduates, and current students, to create their own businesses as well.

“I want Linfield students to know that they can ask for internships so they can get a clear hands-on experience,” she said.

She’s also honoring her Linfield ties by offering students a 10 percent discount on clothing and accessories. Momtazi said the boutique isn’t fully where she wants it to be yet, but she isn’t easily discouraged.

“This is my baby,” she said. “There’s no way it’s not going to succeed. It’s going to happen.

“Opening this store is just the first step for me. People have no idea the things I’m creating in my mind.”

Blanca Esquivel can be reached at linfieldreviewfeatures@gmai.com

Photo courtesy of Nicole Wilson
Left to Right) Freshmen Julianna King, Nicole Wilson and Arianne King are all graduates of Colstrip High School, class of 2012.

The 1,000-mile trek from their reservation in Southern Montana to Oregon has been one of the biggest journeys the Linfield women of the Northern Cheyenne tribe have ever embarked on.

In their first time this far away from home, freshmen Nicole Wilson and twins Arianne and Julianna King set out on a new life adventure this fall.

The Northern Cheyenne tribe sits on the 444,000-acre reservation and is made up of multiple towns, but is centered around Wilson’s hometown of Lame Deer, Mont. Julianna and Arianne King both lived in the neighboring town of Busby. While the entire reservation is made up of almost 4,939 people, Lame Deer is the home to the majority of the reservation with 2,052 people, according to the 2010 census.

The three had to travel off the reservation to attend school, often times traveling up to an hour every morning.

“We did this for 12 years,” Wilson said. “I’d have to be on the bus by 7 a.m. or I wouldn’t make it.”

With the towns on the reservation being small, there wasn’t always a lot to do for Wilson and the King sisters.

“Since there wasn’t much to do, we all played sports throughout school,” Arianne King said. “That took up a lot of time, especially with commuting back and forth.”

Other than school activities, the three participated and attended pow-wows.

“There’s a big [pow-wow] every year on Fourth of July,” Julianna King said. “There’s dances and other performances to watch. A lot of people come from all around. It’s just like a big [gathering], where people come back after they moved away, and we get to see a lot of friends and family.”

Both Arianne and Julianna King used to dance in the pow-wows when they were younger.

“We both used to jingle dance, until we grew out of our outfits,” Julianna King said.

Photo courtesy of Ann King
(Left to Right) Arianne King and Julianna King compete in a Cheyenne pow-wow at 3-years-old.

Although the three freshmen grew up together on the small reservation, they were surprised by the differences between their home and Oregon.

“It was a big shock,” Arianne King said. “We were used to a place where everything was so spread out. There are highways to take you to one point to another.”

Coming from an area that doesn’t have consistent cell phone service, the busyness of the cities they’ve encountered has made for an exciting transition.

“The community [back home] is very tight-knit,” Arianne King said. “There, everyone knows what’s going on with everyone.”

“Everyone is also related to everyone,” Wilson said.

While knowing each other most of their lives, Wilson and the King sisters are all looking at following similar paths. All consider nursing as a possible major, but the three are still undeclared.

The biggest difference they’ve found is the lack of other Native Americans nearby.

“I’ve noticed there are not that many Natives around here,” Arianne King said. “I’m not used to it, because we used to be surrounded by only Natives.”

Photo courtesy of Tommy Robinson
Pow-wows are a time when people from all over come and celebrate their culture.

The three Cheyenne women are all members of the new Native American Student Association.

“It’s made for a big transition,” Julianna King said. “But it’s a fun experience. I like getting to meet all the new people. It’s different, but I like it.”

Kaylyn Peterson/Copy chief

Kaylyn Peterson can be reached at linfieldreviewcopy@gmail.com

Courtesy of Chrissy Shane/Features editor
Anatomy Lab instructor, Chris Hernandez, class of ’09.

Instructors in anatomy labs spend a lot of their work hours clutching a scalpel. But in his off hours, Linfield’s Chris Hernandez likes to trade his scalpel for an instrument of a very different kind — an orange Turtex guitar pick.

You would never guess it as he hoists a bag of frozen cat cadavers in his lab at Linfield, but he is simultaneously harboring a pair of seemingly incongruous dreams — becoming a medical examiner as his weekday gig and a professional musician as his weekend gig.

Hernandez, who graduated from Linfield in 2009 with a degree in athletic training, landed a job in Linfield’s anatomy lab in the spring of 2011. It’s ideal training for someone bent on earning his M.D. and becoming a medical examiner.

During the week, you can find him in the lab, wearing faded blue PF Flyers, a pair of Carhart jeans and seafoam green medical gloves.

Armed with a scalpel, probe and tweezers, Hernandez helps current Linfield students navigate their way through the masseter muscles of freezer-burned felines. He can brief students with consummate ease on the muscles that allow our mouths to masticate food.

Hernandez spends his weekends at venues like the Jackpot Recording Studio or the McMenamins White Eagle Saloon, playing guitar with Jack Ruby Presents. He can tune up his Fender Telecaster and churn out a rendition of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Bad Moon Rising” with the ease that only comes with long experience and lots of practice.

The band consists of a coterie of Linfield students who first played together at a campus concert in the fall of 2007.

“We had all been involved in groups during high school,” Hernandez said, “and we were all kind of missing it.”

During Thanksgiving break of Hernandez’s sophomore year, Jack Ruby Presents went on tour, playing eight shows at venues along the West Coast.

“I can’t remember who it was now, but somebody was sick on the trip,” Hernandez said. “By the time we played our Wednesday night show at the Caldera in Ashland, the vocals were severely lacking.”

But the band went on to have a lot of success. As it experienced its fifth anniversary Oct. 25, it was also preparing for the release of its second album, “Pale Road.”

“Every once and a while I’ll get an email from a student who addresses me as ‘Professor Hernandez’ because they don’t know me in person,” he joked, “and that kind of freaks me out.”

Hernandez says that he enjoys “working with other people who enjoy what they’re working on and who they’re working with.”  He also says that he has become more comfortable since he doesn’t know as many of the students in his classes, as he did when he first started teaching last spring.

As far as these two different parts of Hernandez’s life go, he says there is little overlap between them. He doesn’t see much intertwining of the two big parts of his life, but says that he would one day like to record a song with some lyrics inspired by his work with the human body.

Chris Hernandez is yet another representation of the dynamically diverse faculty and staff at Linfield College. Many have interests and passions that fall outside of their departmental designations. Hernandez, along with his band, performed at the Pro Cat Cab on Oct. 25 in the Fred Meyer Lounge, exactly five years after the band’s inaugural meeting.

Nic Miles for The Linfield Review

Nic Miles can be reached at linfieldreviewfeatures@gmail.com

Each year, millions of animals die because of the experiments they endure in laboratories that use animal testing.

The two sides in the animal testing debate are the animal activists who oppose testing and the scientists who support it.

Both arguments have valid points, but to me, perhaps because I like animals more than people, the misery of innocent animals outweighs any scientific advances it brings. They are still living beings that can feel pain.

The two most common experiments in animal testing are the Draize Test and the LD50 test.

The Draize Test is one “wherein a drop of the substance that has to be tested is dropped in the animal’s eye and the observations are recorded,” according to Abhijit Naik in “The History of Animal Testing.”

The LD50 is one “wherein a group of animals is fed a particular substance until half of the animals in the group die.”

The pain and suffering caused by such experiments is unnecessarily cruel, and it would be illegal if the same experiments were inflicted on humans.

Other than the experiments performed on the animals being cruel, the animals are also subjected to poor living conditions within the confines of a laboratory.

Furthermore, the results of animal testing can be inaccurate because animals respond to chemicals differently than humans do.

“Of the drugs marketed between 1976 and 1985, 52 percent were found to be more dangerous to humans than previously indicated by animal studies,” said “Vegan Peace” reporter Wanda Embar.

In addition, there have been many advances in non-animal testing methods in recent years, such as cell and skin culture research.

Because the results are often inaccurate and scientific advances have created tests that do not require animals, animal testing has been made unnecessary and should not be used.

Charles Magel, a professor of philosophy and animal rights activist, has said, “Ask the experimenters why they experiment on animals, and the answer is: ‘Because the animals are like us.’

“Ask the experimenters why it is morally OK to experiment on animals, and the answer is: ‘Because the animals are not like us.’ Animal experimentation rests on a logical contradiction.”

A way to support the anti-animal testing cause is to buy products that were not tested on innocent animals. For instance, Burt’s Bees and PURE organic products are all cruelty-free. Take the time to check   labels and know exactly what you are buying. It could one day help an animal.

Paige Jurgensen can be reached at linfieldreviewopinion@gmail.com.

Paige Jurgensen

Staff writer

It’s nearing Halloween again, and that means it’s time for popular, often offensive, costumes.

If you plan on dressing like an Indian or a Geisha, stop and think about the culture you are about to impersonate.

You could be committing what many people see as culture appropriation.

Culture appropriation is taking something specific to a culture, often with a history of oppression, and turning it into a fad or a novelty.

It is an act of privilege to have fun with something that symbolizes hardship for another group. It also perpetuates harmful stereotypes.

Essentially, it’s racism. Although I think this is a tad harsh, and definitely not intended by everyone who dresses up in such costumes, let me explain.

Native Americans are often grossly misrepresented. This is a group who has been treated horribly throughout history.

Americans dissembled their heritage by kicking them off of their homelands and labeling them as savages.

So when you wear a fake headdress, face paint, or even worse, sexualize Native American women with revealing dresses, you are attempting to own what isn’t yours, and representing it incorrectly.

It is incredibly offensive to see someone making fun of another person’s culture through a crudely put-together outfit.

Other examples I often see are people impersonating Arabs with turbans or headwraps, or long beards and sunglasses.

Sombreros, ponchos and empty tequila bottles all wrongly label Hispanic heritages.

I do think that people take the stereotypes and costumes way too far, but I also think that not all instances can be lumped together as racism.

There are plenty of people who are mindful of different cultures and histories, and embrace those symbols and icons with respect.

Cultures are shared, transferred and mixed all over the place. It is almost impossible to adhere to one culture alone, especially in the melting pot that is America.

Clothing styles, foods, religious practices, hobbies and ideas are all borrowed from other places, and there is nothing wrong with that.

It’s the way you go about it and with what intent that matters.

Have respect for heritages that aren’t your own, but please don’t perpetuate the white stereotype of being ignorant and privileged by wearing something that deeply hurts another. Just think about your potential Halloween costume.

We need to celebrate and embrace other cultures, not make a mockery of them.

Please feel free to disagree with me. I’d love to have a discussion about this.

Free speech comes with the knowledge that you can and will be critiqued for what you say or do.
Even the most offhand words and actions have real power.

Kelsey Sutton

Managing editor

Kelsey Sutton can be reached at linfieldreviewmanaging@gmail.com.

Once we get to college, we’ve already been in school for many years.  We’ve watched and interacted with numerous teachers for countless hours and years.

Essentially, we’re expert observers.

Most of us understand what works in a classroom and what does not. Linfield offers amazing classes and professors, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t areas needing improvement.

There have been a couple instances where I struggled to understand the direction a class was going, and I wasn’t alone.

As soon as the class ended and the door was shut behind us, almost every student walked away shaking their heads in frustration.

“I have no idea what’s happening in that class,” and, “I’m not even going to try anymore,” were a few of the comments I heard, and have even said myself.

Not even going to try?

Is that really what we should be saying after we walk out of a class that costs us upwards of $1,000?

As students, it’s our responsibility to get the most out of the opportunities presented to us.

One of the ways we can avoid walking away from a class frustrated in the future is by utilizing an important resource provided to us at the end of the semester: professor evaluations.

Although there are students who can exaggerate and have unreasonable attitudes about a certain professor or their teaching style, we have, for the most part, similar ideas as to what is reasonable, effective—and not effective—in the classroom.

Of course, it is equally important that students fill them out as honestly as possible.

However, an outlier isn’t going to throw off the results from a larger group of students.

Accounting for this is as much the responsibility of the student as it is the institution.

If the institution doesn’t take the surveys seriously, neither will the students nor the professors.

I want to stress that these surveys should not be seen as a tool to call out “bad” professors. I don’t believe Linfield has bad professors.

These surveys are not a time to “bash” professors, but should be seen as a chance for constructive criticism.

Evaluations should illuminate problem areas, and the information they provide should be used to make improvements.  Stagnation is a dangerous thing in any college.

I believe that taking the professor evaluations more seriously can be a key step in avoiding any sort of stagnation in the institution.

Linfield would be nothing without its professors. As students, we should respect our professors and ourselves.

We can do so by welcoming these constructive opportunities.

Chrissy Shane can be reached at linfieldreviewfeatures@gmail.com.

Chrissy Shane

Features editor

Lately, Linfield has been sporting a more diverse and accepting campus. We are more than happy to see this change in the student population.

This increased diversity is occurring thanks to many people like Jason Rodriquez, the director of Multicultural Programs.

In the two years he has been at Linfield, Rodriquez has created support for under-represented students, helping their voices be heard.

“My main job has been to foster dialogue in a very student-centered way. I’m asking what the students want,” Rodriquez said.

The students answered by creating and revitalizing clubs and unions.  For example, the Black Student Union was active in the ‘80s but has since been dormant until students met with Rodriquez and made a plan for the future.

The union now has consistent member, activities and executive boards.

Asian American Alliance is new to campus.  It is a place for students to figure out what it means to be Asian in America. Members can be Japanese, Korean, Chinese or allies.

The Native American Student Association was created when Rodriquez noticed these students were falling through the cracks. There are nine tribes in Oregon, so the need for this association was greater than anyone ever seemed to expect. Now the association has 40 members, including allies.

In November, these three programs will go in front of  the Associated Students of Linfield College to petition for full charter status.

Fusion, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender alliance, has been much more active on campus this year. Recently, the group helped educate and celebrate National Coming Out Day.

The Hawaiian Club and International Club have been visible groups on campus, so it is amazing to see other clubs begin to grow in size as well.

These unions and clubs are a chance for students to bring and share their culture to Linfield.

“It is important for students to know that the multicultural programs are for everyone,” Rodriquez said. “White is an identity too. British, Dutch and Irish could all exist here too. Either way, allies are always welcome and encouraged.”

The multicultural program has goals to host conferences related to ethnicity. In fact, Linfield College may even be the future host to an Asian-American Conference. The fact that such a small college is on a conference’s radar is a huge step in the right direction.

The student population as a whole is becoming much more well-rounded, and we couldn’t be happier. While we have made huge strides in the past year, Rodriquez admits there is still more to improve.

Linfield is increasingly committed to diversity and we hope students continue to help this worthy cause.

If you want to create your own club or union, plan an event, or find out more about your heritage, Rodriquez is more than willing to help. His door is always open to talk about even the most difficult issues regarding ethnicity.

If you see anything you want to join or create, “think big, let’s talk,” Rodriquez said.  Find a way to share your culture and better Linfield.

-The Review Editorial Board