A Mexican American's Musings

New website

2011-12-17T21:35:00.001-08:00

I am now posting on the following website:

http://joelperez.net/

Working with Undocumented Students

2011-12-05T21:47:00.000-08:00

Below is a link to an article I wrote for Koinonia, the newsletter for the Association of Christians in Student Development.

http://www.acsd.org/detail/working-with-undocumented-students/

The Power of the emerging Latino market

2011-09-20T20:43:00.000-07:00

Interesting interview with Manny Espinoza, CEO of the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting.

The Masters of Hispanic Destiny

2011-09-18T11:02:00.000-07:00

This taken from a recent article in the Wall Street Journal. You should read the entire article as it makes very good points.

Democrats are so intent on making Hispanics the next victimized minority seeking entitlement programs and all that, that the Republicans are starting to believe it!” exclaims Mr. Rangel. “And they’re wrong on both ends. This is a great community that’s poised to do great things—but you gotta challenge it. Don’t pander to it.”

That’s the essence of Mr. Rangel’s message, and answering the call is the mission of UNO, which he has led since 1996. Inspired by the community organizing philosophy of left-wing theorist Saul Alinsky, UNO got its start tapping the latent power in the small Hispanic-Catholic churches of 1980s Chicago. Its premise today is that Hispanics in the U.S. are masters of their own destinies, responsible for their affairs good and bad, and duty-bound to invest in American civic life.

The nation’s largest dropout rate, gang violence, and teenage pregnancy, among other problems, have for decades created a rift between Hispanic potential and accomplishment,” says its mission statement, adding that these pathologies can’t be excused by “politically-expedient and media-driven agendas . . . portraying Hispanics as a victimized community in need of social justice.” Instead, UNO insists that “Hispanics must be challenged to take full advantage of American possibilities through civic participation and deep investments in family, neighborhoods, and education."

30 Days Immigration Episode

2011-08-19T20:49:00.000-07:00

Tonight my wife and I viewed an episode of 30 Days on immigration. Below I have embedded a scene from the episode. I would encourage you to view the segment as well as the episode. It is available on Netflix for streaming.

A bit of a reprieve

2011-08-19T20:46:00.000-07:00

On Thursday the Obama administration issued an order for the Department of Homeland Security to prioritize the deportation of those who are currently in proceedings. The priority will be on those who have criminal records and not those that are "low priority." The statement below is taken from the White House press release.

Under the President’s direction, for the first time ever the Department of Homeland Security has prioritized the removal of people who have been convicted of crimes in the United States. And they have succeeded; in 2010 DHS removed 79,000 more people who had been convicted of a crime compared to 2008. Today, they announced that they are strengthening their ability to target criminals even further by making sure they are not focusing our resources on deporting people who are low priorities for deportation. This includes individuals such as young people who were brought to this country as small children, and who know no other home. It also includes individuals such as military veterans and the spouses of active-duty military personnel. It makes no sense to spend our enforcement resources on these low-priority cases when they could be used with more impact on others, including individuals who have been convicted of serious crimes.

This is a step in the right direction, especially for those students that are eligible if the DREAM Act were to be enacted, although it appears that unless immigrants are in deportation proceedings their cases will not be heard. This is hard for me as an educator as I know several students that would benefit immensely from legislation like the DREAM Act. What is needed is comprehensive reform, but our leaders are not willing to take the necessary steps to have the hard conversation. We need to continue to put pressure on our lawmakers to pursue comprehensive reform.

California DREAM Act, AB 130

2011-08-11T22:05:00.000-07:00

On Monday, July 25th Governor Jerry Brown signed the California DREAM Act (AB 130) into law. This is a good first step to providing financial aid to undocumented students. The financial aid that will be available to students will be from privately funded scholarships. The problem is that AB 130 benefits primarily undocumented students who want to attend schools in the University of California (UC) system. The reason is that UC's have access to privately funded scholarships where community colleges and schools that make up the California State university system do not. The majority of undocumented students in California primarily enroll in community colleges and the Cal States. The bill that would benefit the majority of undocumented students is AB 131. This bill would allow undocumented students to be eligible for the Cal Grant program. It is the hope of immigration advocacy groups that AB 131 will become law.

Amigo Leadership

2011-07-28T20:25:00.000-07:00

Below is an article I wrote the National Association Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) Latino Knowledge Community emagazine. I think that you will find it helpful if you are someone who is involved in trying to communicate a vision that requires significant change.

I have been reflecting much on the term “amigo leadership.” I first heard the term from Noel Castellanos, CEO of the Christian Community Development Association, in the context of what we as Latinos bring to the table in regards to our leadership styles. The main reason I have been reflecting on this term is that it directly relates to my work as the Chief Diversity Officer on my campus. I believe that the cultural value of friendship goes a long way in helping me bring people along in the institutional change process. I believe that as change agents we need to move away from beating people over the head with a 2x4 when it comes to doing diversity, or any work, for that matter. I have found it much more effective to walk alongside people in this process. I also believe that this approach earns immediate rapport with institutional leaders.

There is a balance between coming alongside and pushing for change. There is a healthy tension that exists and one should continually ask questions about how hard to push for change and when to nurture people along in the process. My opinion is that when you nurture change it becomes much more sustainable. We all know that acquiring social capital can go a long way in helping us in change efforts as well as how we progress in our careers. I believe this approach to leadership is a way that we can demonstrate the benefits of diversity on our campuses. Amistad means valuing someone’s friendship. How many times have we been in a room where we are able to get a lot more done when we have a friendship with a colleague sitting across the table?

How does one develop these types of friendships? I’ve provided a few examples below.

· Take people to coffee

· Have lunch

· Ask about hobbies

· Ask about their passions and values

· Allow them to hear your story

· If they have been at the institution for a long time, ask them why they have been there so long.

· If they are resistant to the type of change you are promoting, ask them why

Will this approach always work? Most likely not, but it is better than the alternative and it will save you from burning out and feeling like you need to leave your position sooner than you should. Reflect with me on what other aspects of our culture add to the concept of “amigo leadership.”

Higher Education for Undocumented Students

2011-07-18T19:40:00.000-07:00

Below is a news story that the Chronicle of Higher Education ran today. This verifies what I tell people when I speak to students and their parents that are undocumented. That if the choose to go to private institution they are more likely to receive more aid than if the choose to go to a public institution. There are still financial barriers that need to be overcome, but a private school has more flexibility when it comes to this issue.

Public colleges are more likely than private colleges to admit undocumented students as a matter of policy, but they are less likely to offer such students financial aid, according to a new survey.

The survey by the National Forum on Higher Education for the Public Good, at the University of Michigan, was sent to members of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators in February. It found that 36 percent of public colleges and 21 percent of private colleges had policies that allow undocumented students to enroll, while 29 percent of public colleges and 57 percent of private colleges provide them with institutional aid. The initial survey findings were released Sunday at Nasfaa's annual conference here in Boston. The final report will be released in late August.

The New Mestiza

2011-07-13T16:03:00.000-07:00

Blog by Sara Mata

From my office window I look out for a view of inspiration, a calming sight, or just a mental break from the computer. Wanting to be out in the beautiful sunny day, I have to remind myself of its deception. Here I stand in a comfortable cool (sometimes cold) room, out there the heat index is close to 100 degrees-quite a contradiction but only the first I ponder. Sitting at my desk I hadn’t noticed but standing at the window, the strong scent of freshly cut grass is in the air. The culprit responsible for the scent in the air and the noise, there below me, stands a man with a weed-eater—a brown man. From my initial sizing him up, I conclude he is Latino. My minds inquiries begin making many assumptions about the man as I watch him carefully edge around the steps of the building. In that moment, a great sense of guilt overwhelms me. Placing the initial reasoning for the guilt, I find difficult to pinpoint. It then dawns on me; it is my guilt of privilege.

How do I have privilege? On many levels, privileged I am not. As I look down, literally and figuratively, from the walls of the ‘ivory white tower’ I see through the eyes of my privilege. This man represents so many Latinos in todays’ society. The sad reality, there are more Latinos like him, working in 100 degree weather making a living, then there are like me, college educated with air conditioning. With thoughts of guilt-ridden gratitude, my mind spans back several generations to that of my great-grandparents. Although work brought them to the United States, it was Santa Fe Railroad that went to Mexico looking for workers. My great-grandparents paid their five cents to cross the border and a life they began in America. Although five cents sounds pretty cheap, it definitely came with a huge cost. At a time when assimilation was the remedy for culture, and a language other than English was forbidden, a Mexican heritage for several generations was diluted. The man below me is no longer in sight but I can still hear his weed-eater. This Hispanic heritage is something he and I both share however our experiences are vastly different. My struggle to reconnect to my culture, as an adult is one the weed-eater man has most likely lived his entire life. Despite the loss of language and culture it is my education I know brings me privilege.

This privilege I have been afforded I manifest into social activism for those who are not given the same opportunity I have had. Immigrant issues, specifically for students who are undocumented are my most fueled passion. There is something completely anger invoking about refusing education to those who seek it. But this also brings contradictions. My brown skin blends in with others who look like me, but on the inside, I am separate; countries apart. My life is lived in the words of Gloria Azuldua for I am la mestiza. “…a struggle of flesh, a struggle of borders, an inner war.” The war will always remain internal but will be a source of fuel for me. I know when I walk into a room my brown skin represents all those who look like me-to include the brown man with the weed-eater. I will continue to take this as a responsibility in everything I do. My accomplishments are not self-gratifying. I carry with me the blood of my people and am reminded within this skin I am more than me.

“The new mestiza copes by developing a tolerance for contradictions, a tolerance for ambiguity. She learns to be an Indian in Mexican culture, to be Mexican from an Anglo point of view. She learns to juggle cultures.” These cultures I juggle, this privilege I will foster, and I will live with purpose, where I fit best, within my skin.

Sara Mata serves as the Grant Coordinator for College of Human Sciences at Oklahoma State University.

What Does record Low Migration from Mexico Mean for Immigration Reform?

2011-07-11T21:01:00.000-07:00

A recent report from immigration impact reports that immigrants coming from Mexico to the US has fallen. A part of that report is cited below. For the full story you can click on the following link.

W hat does record low migration from Mexico mean for immigration reform.

In what could be an historic event, the number of unauthorized immigrants coming from Mexico to the United States has fallen drastically in recent years—dropping from 525,000 annually in 2000-2004 to fewer than 100,000 in 2010. In fact, unauthorized immigration from Mexico has dropped to a net rate of zero—meaning that the number of new migrants entering the United States each year is roughly equal to the number who leave or die. That is one of the central conclusions to emerge from new research by the Mexican Migration Project (MMP) at Princeton University and the Universidad de Guadalajara.

Educating the undocumented

2011-06-19T10:55:00.000-07:00

On Friday undocumented.tv posted a guest entry that I wrote on their blog. Below is what I wrote for them.

Introduction: Many of us are familiar with the national political debate surrounding immigration reform. These debates spill over into many of the communities in which our institutions reside. In addition, this issue is salient for us in private Christian colleges, because some of our institutions have decided to admit students who are undocumented. This decision, whether you agree with it or not, raises an important question that each institution needs to answer. How does one support and assist these students in being successful at our institutions?

History: In order to consider how to support these students one must gain a historical perspective on the issue of immigration as it relates to education. In 1982 the Supreme Court ruled in Plyer v. Doe that undocumented students must be given the right to public education. Currently this decision affects approximately 1.8 million children under the age of 18; about one-sixth of the total undocumented population. An estimated 65,000 undocumented students graduate from our nation’s high schools each year. Our country has made a substantial investment in the education of these students. For many the dream of higher education is an elusive goal, as only about ten percent of undocumented high school graduates enroll in college. These students do not qualify for federal aid, and only have access to state financial aid if they live and attend schools in the following states: New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma. These states allow them to apply for state grants in addition to paying in-state tuition at state schools. Other states that provide undocumented students with an in-state tuition benefit are California, Utah, New York, Washington, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, and Wisconsin.

Characteristics: It is important to note the characteristics undocumented students exhibit. Perez’s research states that these students exhibit academic achievement, leadership participation, and civic engagement patterns that exceed their US citizen counterparts. His research is based on case studies of undocumented high school, community college, university, and graduate students who are valedictorians, honors students, and other exceptional student leaders. For many of these students their stories begin at a young age when their parents decided to cross the border illegally to gain access to the American dream. These children did not have a voice in determining whether their families should make this journey. For many of them arriving at a young age has allowed them to grow up as Americans, therefore these undocumented immigrants consider themselves Americans.

Current Status: It is not illegal for institutions to permit undocumented students to attend. The federal government is currently allowing institutions to develop their own policies. Some of our colleges and universities do not require students to provide a social security number (which are not available to the undocumented) in order to enroll, or in some cases, qualify for institutional aid. Therefore undocumented students do attend colleges and universities. Institutions do not need to provide that information unless federal authorities request it.

Institutional Support: The challenges that these students must overcome in order to complete their education are many; and many of them have already shown resiliency by gaining admittance to our institutions. That being said, institutional support is critical to their success.
Undocumented students do not qualify for work-study positions and will therefore not be able to work on campus. Institutions can begin to think about how they could provide financial support by creating think tanks to brain-storm ideas. One idea would be to develop a fund that is accessible to these students and supported through private donations.
Admissions and Financial Aid staff should be informed about outside resources that are available to undocumented students. The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), the University of Southern California Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis, the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute, and the National Council of La Raza have extensive lists of scholarships for which these students are eligible.
Admissions and Financial Aid staff should also be trained on how to guide these students through the application process. Staff should be made aware of ways to avoid making these students feel as if they are being criminalized. In addition, student life staff should be informed about the issues so they can better support these students.

In the spring of 2010 as part of our institution’s commemoration of Cesar Chavez we screened the film Papers (papersthemovie.com). This film documents the experience of five undocumented youth and provides a platform for engaging students and staff about issues surrounding the DREAM Act and immigration. The institution believed that it was important to educate our community about this national issue so as to provide a space to talk about the experiences of undocumented students. Other films that engage immigration issues include El Norte and The Visitor. Books on this topic include We ARE Americans, A Home on the Field, and Enrique’s Journey. You can also visit my blog A Mexican American’s Musings as well as William Perez’s.

Conclusion: Ultimately, it is my belief that institutions need to ask themselves whether being open and supportive of undocumented students fits with their mission as Christian Colleges. If it is not a mission fit and does not have the support of the executive leadership then it is better not to attempt to receive these students.

Christians at the Border

2011-06-08T21:26:00.000-07:00

Guest blogger Jennifer Perez

Christians at the Border: Immigration, the Church, and the Bible by M. Daniel Carroll R.

For the past two years or so, I have been doing a great deal of reading about the topic of immigration in the United States. A number of resources have been helpful to me in my study, but this book is one of the best. Dr. Carroll is an Old Testament scholar, and so I expected, and found, a well-developed theology of immigration. However, it is the introduction and first chapter (“Hispanic Immigration: Invasion or Opportunity?”) that makes it such a uniquely helpful resource, for two reasons.

First of all, though it may come as a surprise judging by his name, Dr. Carroll is bicultural, having grown up in Central America as well as the United States. As a result, he has a unique perspective on the issue of immigration, as US-born citizen as well as a member of an immigrant community. He is able to discuss the topic with a nuance and balance that I have rarely seen. Secondly, the opening chapter of the book provides the most concise and yet comprehensive overview of the history of Latin American immigration to the US and of the issues relevant to the discussion.

The remainder of the book is helpful, particularly for those thinking through what the Bible has to say about the proper Christian response to immigration, but it is considerably more dense and challenging to read.

Because I am well known in my community for my work regarding immigration, I am frequently asked for recommendations of resources. If I could recommend just one, it would be the first chapter of this book.

Undocumented, not unAmerican

2011-04-29T11:52:00.000-07:00

Below is an article written by a student at a college that recently came out of the shadows. I share this with you all as you can see the dilemma that many undocumented college students face on their campuses.

My name is XXX. I sit next to you in class. I am undocumented. That means that I am currently living in the United States illegally, but not by choice. It also means that I am only one traffic stop away from deportation. This is my reality.

My family and others like myself are not considered full participants in society despite having grown up in this country. All we ask for is an opportunity to pursue the American Dream.
I have proven myself to be hard-working and, other than my status, law abiding. Because I am undocumented, I cannot receive financial aid through the federal government nor have I been able to participate in study-abroad programs. I cannot serve as an RA or dorm senator. Above all, I can be deported at any time.

My mother gave birth to me in a hospital without electricity. My family lived in a one-room shack without plumbing. They could not make enough money to put food on the table, much less move to a better or safer home.

It was not my choice to leave Mexico. I immigrated to the U.S. at the age of 7 with my family. They wanted more for their children and that is why they brought us to this country. With only high school educations, my parents have only been able to get manual labor jobs.

Even though I have grown up in the U.S., I do not feel accepted by society. I cannot feel part of a society where laws make it a crime to be undocumented. The more I try to blend in and just be myself, the more I am reminded that I am not welcomed here.

In summers I tutor incoming freshmen at my high school. I am a Young Life leader at XXX High School. I have been an active member of society and above all, I have contributed to this country I call home. Yet, I am an “alien” that does not belong.

I constantly fear being deported out of the country. The fear leaves me paralyzed. I also fear for my family’s safety. I have no interest in returning to Mexico where violence is getting out of control. This country is my home. I just wish I could go through everyday life without having to worry about my safety.

In my four years at XXX I have not been able to participate in study-abroad programs. Every time you asked me if I was planning on studying out of the country I found myself telling a lie: I am not interested. The truth is I was drowning in tears of frustration.

I wanted to go with you to experience Paris, The Great Wall of China and the ancient ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru. I have done my best to get the most out of my education at XXX.

Finding scholarship money to help pay for tuition was an entirely different process from yours. Because of my undocumented status I was not eligible for FAFSA or any federal financial assistance. However, through perseverance, I earned my way with three different scholarships to attend this school.

Unfortunately, those scholarships only cover my Bachelor’s degree. If I decide to attend graduate school I am left to scavenge for privately funded scholarships once again. You think you are worried about jobs: I graduate knowing I will be lucky to get a job unpacking your grocery boxes or building your kitchen or mowing your lawn.

The only way I will ever feel “accepted” into society is through passage of the DREAM Act (Development Relief and Education for Alien Minors). This bill will allow me and thousands of students in my situation to obtain citizenship. I feel entitled to my citizenship because I know I have earned it. The DREAM Act will take away my fear of being sent out of the country and above all, it will allow me to achieve my fullest potential.

My hope is that by this point you have gained a better perspective on why I decided to write this article. I hope you understand my story.

Working with undocumented students

2011-04-22T11:00:00.000-07:00

Last week I conducted a workshop for our enrollment staff at George Fox University on working with undocumented students. The presentation was well received and people walked away thinking about things they knew little or nothing about before the workshop. The purpose behind this presentation was to help them understand what issues undocumented student face when they attend an institution of higher learning. Not only the students, but parents as well. Increasingly our financial aid staff are working with students who are US citizens, but whose parents are not. I was asked how many undocumented students we have and responded by saying, "I know we have...." But there are probably students that are that I do not know about. This was supported by our VP of Enrollment Services. I composed this presentation that I was able to get from California State Long Beach which conducts this training on a regular basis. I also took information for the Pew Hispanic Center. In addition I shared my experiences of working with students and interacting with my colleagues across the country on this issue. My hope is that other institutions will begin to do the same as I think we will continue to see an increase in this student population. In addition I think that at some point in the next two years some version of the DREAM Act will pass congress and we need to be prepared to assist these students.

Enrique's Journey

2011-04-17T21:25:00.000-07:00

On January 4th I posted an entry about the books we were considering for our common book program at George Fox University. The decision by the committee was to use "Enrique's Journey" as this year's book.

In this astonishing true story, award-winning journalist Sonia Nazario recounts the unforgettable odyssey of a Honduran boy who braves unimaginable hardship and peril to reach his mother in the United States.

Our hope is that this book will generate meaningful discourse about immigration. The issue of immigration will continue to be important as we approach a presidential election, as well as a desire by both parties to court the Latino vote.

Defintion of an undocumented student

2011-04-06T21:58:00.000-07:00

I thought it important to define the term "undocumented student." I hope this will be helpful to people as they think about the issue of immigration as it relates to students in our country. The definition is provided by the National Immigration Law Center.

An undocumented student is a foreign national who: (1) entered the US without inspection or with fraudulent documents; or (2) entered legally as a nonimmigrant but then violated the terms of his or her status and remained in the US without authorization.

Most of the students that I interact with were brought to the US by their parents and did not have a choice in the matter. Their parents came to this country seeking jobs that would help give their children a better life. I believe that this issue is directly tied to the US economy and needs to be talked about jointly as opposed to trying to make the issue stand alone. You can not talk about immigration without talking about our country's economy. They are directly related.

Another issue that was brought to my attention recently was that it is a civil offense to be in the country illegally, not a criminal offense.

Robert J. Barron, a leading immigration attorney in Colorado Springs, confirmed that it's not a crime to be in the United States illegally. It's a common misconception that feeds immigration hysteria. Federal law says it's a civil infraction — just as it's a civil violation, and therefore "illegal," to send e-mail spam without an "unsubscribe" option. The difference between a civil and criminal offense is colossal.

The key is to educate people about the law and not let people who want to create panic and hysteria rule the day.

Panel discussion on 14th Amendment honors legacy of Chavez

2011-04-01T22:10:00.000-07:00

Last night we hosted a panel discussion on the 14th amendment in honor of Cesar Chavez's birthday. We had a good turnout. Most of those in attendance were students. The quote of the night for me was made by Jose Orozco. He stated the following about immigration: "The US could be improved by the integration of immigrants." He made the comment based on what he believed Ceasr Chavez believed in regards to the benefit immigrants can have on democracy in our country. The best approach to immigration in my opinion is to provide a path to legal residency for immigrants along with an educational system to assist immigrants in becoming integrated into our country.

The other thing that was stated by another member of our panel, Dr. Richard Eutalatin, was that this discussion about the 14th amendment is a side show that is being used to take us away from the real issue of immigration reform that needs our attention. The view was shared by the other panel members. All in all the event went well and I believe those in attendance learned a lot about the issues.

Next week I have been asked to be part of a panel on immigration at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. I have been asked to share about the DREAM Act and where the legislation currently stands. I am honored to be asked to be a part of this panel. All I can hope for is that we educate more people about this issue so that people become well informed. The panel starts at 3:30pm and if you are in the area please plan on attending. The others on the panel include an immigration attorney; Rebecca Shine, the producer of the film "Papers"; and a student who is undocumented. This student will share his or her story in the hopes of educating people about the need for comprehensive immigration reform. I'll update you next week about the panel and the discussion we had.

Update on Arizona

2011-03-21T21:01:00.000-07:00

Today Immigration Impact reported the following:

Last week, Arizona’s business community worked with state Senators to kill an omnibus package of anti-immigrant bills—bills which included provisions to limit citizenship to the U.S. born children of immigrants and would have teachers and medical professionals checking people’s papers. While the content of these bills seemed like a draconian stretch, many thought if any state was going to pass such measures, it would be Arizona. But common sense prevailed when these anti-immigrant bills were overcome by sensible voices asking the right questions—are these bills economically or politically feasible for our state? The question now is whether other states will again take Arizona’s cue on immigration.

It seems that some of the major businesses in Arizona rallied around immigrant advocates to squash some of the legislation that was being proposed. The question is will businesses in other states do the same. We can only hope.

Panel discussion on 14th Amendment honors legacy of Chavez

2011-03-18T15:59:00.000-07:00

We will be hosting a panel discussion on the 14th amendment in honor Cesar Chavez on March 31 from 6 - 8pm in Hoover 105. If you are around Newberg, OR you should stop by and check it out. I will blog more about this topic after the event. Last year we screened the documentary "Papers." We had a room full of students and community members.

Panel discussion on 14th Amendment honors legacy of Chavez | George Fox University

The Honorable Darleen Ortega

2011-03-16T08:04:00.000-07:00

Below is the speech given by my good friend the Honorable Darlene Ortega, Judge of the Oregon Court of Appeals. She gave this speech as a recipient of the Mercedes Diez award at the Oregon Women Lawyers dinner held on Friday, March 11th in Portland, Oregon. I was lucky enough to be in attendance as was moved so much by her words that I wanted to share them with you. In addition you can read Darlene's blog about films at the following site, Opinionated Judge.

Thank you so much! I can't think of an honor that would mean more to me than this one.

I am so honored to be in the company of the prior recipients of this award, and Mercedes Diez herself. I also want to congratulate my co-awardee Kate Brown. I can't imagine anyone I'd rather share this night with.

Thank you to all my friends and loved ones who are here--who support me in and hold me to my best intentions, who inspire me with your questions and your example, who weather my frustrated tirades at the slow pace of change and buoy me up when I get discouraged.

Thanks especially to Alec, and to my other current and former staff members, who are my sounding boards and who make it possible for me to shoulder the load I push myself to carry.

To the many of you who honored me with letters in support of this recognition--I am humbled and grateful. And most of all, I am so, so happy to know that the time we have spent together has benefitted you and helped you to feel heard and welcomed and empowered. Yes! That's the vision that inspires me and fills me with the energy to do what needs to be done!

And that's the vision I would like to impart tonight if I can. It's become popular to tout diversity as a value, which is wonderful--but my own experiences and the experiences of the students and lawyers with whom I interact every week convinces me that we as a community don't yet know how to mean it when we say we value diversity. One of my goals is to help us mean it--I want us to value diversity deep in our bones, to hunger for it, to continually invite the challenges that come with opening up the legal community to people who may question our most cherished assumptions. When we say we value diversity, I want that to mean that we embrace those very challenges.

I began holding what I call "debriefing sessions" with first-year, mostly ethnic minority and LGBT law students, three years ago. These are very open conversations; I don't come with an agenda, other than to listen, to provide support, and to provide a safe context for students to "debrief" their law school experience with each other, to struggle aloud with the questions they may be afraid to ask in class, to challenge anything and everything about what they are being taught and how they are expected to learn.

I began holding these weekly sessions for a couple of reasons. First, I wanted the students to know they were not alone. I understood from my own law school experience and from many of my professional experiences that law school, and law practice, can be very alienating, particularly if you don't easily fit in or if the way things are done seems counterintuitive to you. I wanted students who needed it to have at least one arena in which they are truly invited to express their very own actual reactions to what they were being taught.
But I had another reason for starting the debriefing sessions. Over more than two decades of experience with the legal profession, I have watched over and over again as minority law students and lawyers struggle to find their place in the profession. I have watched people I know to be bright and extraordinarily capable struggle to achieve grades that reflect their true potential; I have watched them struggle to pass the bar exam; I have watched them enter law firms and spend months begging for work assignments; I have listened to their reports of being criticized and dismissed and misunderstood. Part of the reason I started the debriefing sessions was to broaden my own exposure to the stories of minority law students. Perhaps I could gather enough data to find out why minorities so far have not been able to achieve influence in the legal profession that is more reflective of their relative numbers in the population, and more reflective of what they truly have to offer.

Unfortunately, in a world, and a profession, that loves pithy answers, the hours I have spent with minority law students and lawyers have not yielded any silver-bullet solutions. I have not found any shortcuts.

What I have learned instead is that there are no shortcuts; there is no substitute for really listening to the experiences and perspective of those who are outsiders to the dominant legal culture. The kind of listening I am talking about is not yet part of our legal paradigm. What happens instead--and I say this with confidence because I observe it over and over again, and I have experienced it myself--is that we invite in the few people from underrepresented cultures who meet criteria which already may have wrongly disqualified other worthy minority candidates, and we require those lucky few to fit into what already exists. At best, we may think to instruct them on how they need to alter themselves in order to conform to expectations that may be embedded rather than expressed. But we are not yet imaginative enough to recognize the talents they bring that are not already part of our definition of a successful lawyer or judge. We are not very good at honoring their questions about why we do things the way we do by really entertaining the possibility that our existing assumptions are not the best that could be arrived at. When they don't come prepared to succeed on our terms, we don't seriously question that there might be something wrong with our terms. We don't honestly wonder whether we are missing contributions that they are uniquely qualified to bring but that we have not yet thought to value.

When the inevitable communication breakdown occurs, it often does not occur to us to wonder how we might have failed to communicate our expectations, or whether our expectations are even fair. Instead, we feel completely justified in simply informing these newcomers-- who we invited because they were different--that they have failed to meet our expectations.

We can do this because we are part of the existing power structure. We define what is important, what is possible, what competence looks like. Nothing requires us to revisit any of it. I include myself in this because I am now part of the power structure too. As to those who come behind me, I can very easily insulate myself from any serious challenge to my point of view. In fact, that insulation will inevitably happen without effort on my part to prevent it.

But here's what happens if we don't make that effort. And here I want to switch perspectives and speak from the vantage point of the outsider. All of us have had the outsider experience--but those of us who enter law from groups that are underrepresented know the outsider experience particularly well. And here's what we experience:

Nearly every day, we bite grooves into our tongues because we know that people are not ready to hear the reactions that pop into our heads. We know what it is to state an opinion and have people regard us as though we have lost my minds. When that happens, as it so frequently does, it is up to us to rehabilitate our lost credibility if we can. We know what it is to inadvertently cause offense by asking a question before we realize that we have challenged something that people perceive to be beyond question. We know what it is to be told that our idea is not only unworkable, but naive and misguided. We know what it is to leave a meeting frustrated that there is no way to say what we mean to say and be heard--and yet knowing that no one even suspects our frustration. We know what it is to struggle to express our ideas in a language that doesn't do them justice, because our own language won't be heard. When we are criticized, it is up to us to sift through comments that we may find deeply offensive or unfair for advice that we ignore at our peril. When we are advised to change our appearance, or our manner of speaking, or our strategy, it is up to us to struggle over how much of that advice we can take without destroying too much of who we are. We don't get extra credit for weathering these difficulties or engaging in these efforts. Rather, we make these efforts because we must.

As long as these experiences are such a regular part of daily life for members of underrepresented groups, our legal culture will not be a place that can be said to truly welcome diversity. As long as we impose upon those least able to bear it a disproportionate share of the burden of bridging our differences, we hinder them from bringing us their best. We cannot expect them to do their best work when they are demoralized and alienated. We do not receive the benefits of their different perspectives if we are not open to challenges to our own.

This situation will change--is changing--only to the degree that insiders--all of us who have acclimated to the dominant culture--are willing to recognize and give up the privileges of dominance and share in the work of bridging our differences. It will change to the degree that those of us who don't have to change choose to open ourselves to the possibility of challenge to our perspective. That's why, when I speak and write about mentoring, I always emphasize that mentoring must be mutual. The best mentors listen as much or more than they speak. They don't offer advice without learning about the perspective of the person they seek to advise. They enter every conversation expecting to learn as much or more than they teach. They are willing to confront the limits of their awareness, and to listen to problems they don't know how to solve. They commit themselves to helping the outsider find a way to succeed inside, and lead the way to valuing the outsider's unique contributions.

My dream of a community that truly embraces diversity comes true a little bit every year for a long weekend when a group of attorneys and judges, in conjunction with the Oregon State Bar's Affirmative Action Program, puts on a conference we call OLIO--Opportunities for Law in Oregon. It's a law school orientation program for ethnic minority students. This wonderful program--founded by Stella Manabe, a prior recipient of this award and one of my heroes--seeks to help these students prepare for a law school experience which history tells us many of them will find especially baffling and alienating. The content is practical and includes advice on things like time management and networking and introductions to legal writing, exam taking, and professional ethics.

But more important than all of that is what happens over the course of the conference. All these students, who come from quite diverse backgrounds, spend three days interacting with judges and attorneys about things they know nothing about. They arrive tentative, intimidated, even a little lost. And in the course of three days, you can watch them relax. They laugh; they (along with the attorneys and judges) embarrass themselves and survive; they begin to show their personalities and tell their stories. You can see them opening up; you can see they joy on their faces. They feel welcomed. They feel invited to be just who they are. It's a beautiful thing.

I participate in planning this event every year because it inspires me. I know that whatever happens to these students when they leave--and experience tells me they will encounter hardship and disappointment and alienation and perhaps even failure--I know they now have a sense memory of what it is like to feel welcomed into a legal context and invited to contribute whatever is unique to them. I want them to remember that. I want them to know in their bones what that feels like.

And that's my dream for a legal community that truly embraces diversity. I dream of a community where difference is welcomed; where we expect to be constantly changing and are grateful for every opportunity to learn where our perspective is lacking; where at every meeting we look around for who is missing at the table; where the burdens of bridging our differences are shared among both outsiders and insiders. Let's inspire each other to create that community.

Changing demographics

2011-03-10T21:39:00.000-08:00

A story ran in the LA Times on March 9 which reported that in California Hispanic non-Whites is approaching that of Whites non-Hispanics. My wife always tells me to avoid the comments section of news articles, but as usual I could not resist. The first comment states the following:

I don't think it is fair to include all the illegal aliens in the population numbers. Take them out and the California Latino population drops by half.

I wanted to respond by saying if you did that then the California economy would even be worse. There has been recent discourse about making available a path to citizenship so we can tap into the earning potential of immigrants and the related tax base. Robert Reich, President Clinton's former labor secretary, has gone on record saying that allowing immigrants a path to citizenship would generate tax revenue that could go a long way toward prolonging the solvency of Social Security.

In a related story in USA Today it was reported that Ohio's population has actually decreased over a ten year period.

Unlike cities in other states, Ohio's cities are gaining few Hispanic residents, says Brookings Institution demographer William Frey.

Hispanics and other immigrant groups are important in providing financial health to communities, contrary to some of the rhetoric about how they are a drain on the economy.

Troubling times in Arizona

2011-02-23T08:41:00.000-08:00

I am extremely troubled by what is happening in Arizona. My hope and prayers is that congress will take action to keep similar bills from being considered. Even though I believe some of these bills will not stand up in court. It still is troubling to see the rhetoric that is being used. This is a moral issue that both republicans and democrats must work on together. As people of faith we must intervene through prayer and action to shape the discourse on this topic.

Arizona immigration bills aim for bigger crackdown

Philanthropy and Immigration

2011-02-22T09:44:00.000-08:00

Below is a link to a story of a banker that was so moved after an immigration raid that he put up half the money to bail those being held out of jail and the immigrant community responded by raising the other half. He then got the idea of doing the same thing for kids of immigrants that want to go to college. If immigrants raise $1500 his firm will match that amount. This I beleive is a great example of philanthropist getting behind this issue, now if we can get some legislators behind comprehensive reform to give students that take advantage of Mr. Hildreth's generosity a path to legal residency.

Banker to match immigrants' college savings.

Commendable approach that falls short

2011-02-15T20:10:00.000-08:00

The following link it to a recent article in USA Today about Utah's attempt to find a compromise to the dividing issue of illegal immigration. The idea is to provide temporary work permits while requiring immigrants to go through background checks, pay taxes and learn English. Although, this approach is commendable I do not think it would stand up in court. I believe it is another approach to force the issue so congress will start looking at comprehensive reform.

The Aftermath of the Ellensburg, WA Immigration Raid and Lessons from Past ICE Enforcement Efforts

2011-02-07T22:31:00.000-08:00

Recently there was a raid by ICE agents in Ellensburg, WA. Below is a link to a story about the raid and its aftermath. The victims of these raids tend to be the children that are left behind because their parents are deported. As you can imagine these types of incidents devastate a family and a community. What should are role be as people of faith when these types of events occur in our communities? My wife, Jennifer, has been involved in assisting parents whose children are born in the US by providing information about how to obtain a US passport in case these incidents happen. The key is to help people prepare for the worst. The other is for us to advocate for more just laws concerning immigration in the hopes for comprehensive immigration reform. I believe that both Republicans and Democrats can work together to find common ground on this issue. I would encourage you to call your congress people and senators and ask for comprehensive reform.

The Aftermath of the Ellensburg, WA Immigration Raid and Lessons from Past ICE Enforcement Efforts

Reflections on my visit to Washington DC

2011-02-05T19:10:00.000-08:00

Last week I was in Washington DC for the 35th annual Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) president's conference. As I've shared before I was invited to share about my doctoral research. You can find out more about my research at Diversity in Higher Education. During the last day of the conference I made my way to the Lincoln memorial. This was my first visit to the memorial. As I walked toward it I imagined myself walking with the many that were there to hear Martin Luther King Jr. speak. This speech is now referred to as the "I have a dream" speech. It was an emotional moment for me as I know that what the civil rights movement was able to achieve made it possible for me to receive a doctoral degree. It also made it possible for us to a elect a multiracial president of African descent. Although we have made some progress there is much work and change that still needs to happen. Poverty is still a problem in our country as well as achievement gaps between students of color and their white peers. These issues need attention and require all of us to examine ourselves and ask ourselves what can be done in order to shrink the gaps. Is there an easy solution? No, there is not, but I believe that as believers in Christ we must make every effort to assist in this so we can move toward the ideals of Lincoln and MLK.

Diversity presentation

2011-01-25T21:15:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow I leave for the 35th annual CCCU college presidents conference taking place in DC. I will be sharing my doctoral research. My hope is that those in attendance will learn the importance that tying diversity work with institutional mission as well as the important role they can play in moving this work forward as presidents of their institutions. The title of the presentation is Diversity at Christian Colleges: It’s About the Mission. The implications for practice is as follows:

Starts with mission and theology
Leadership is vital
Tension should be acknowledged and accepted
A framework for institutional change is necessary
Leveraging history to make progress
Identification/employment of a chief diversity officer
Diversifying the board of trustees
Hiring an ethnically diverse workforce
Faculty development
Use of scholarships for increasing enrollment
Programs remain important

Dear Mr. Smith, Your Pants are on Fire. Sincerely, The Facts

2011-01-20T20:26:00.000-08:00

There are some troubling things coming down the pipe as they relate to immigration. In particular potential hearings to explore repealing the 14th amendment. We need to be active in dispelling myths and educating people about immigration. I would encourage you to follow the link below.

MYTH: The granting of automatic citizenship to the children of foreigners comes from a misinterpretation of the 14th Amendment. The framers never sought to guarantee citizenship to children of illegal immigrants. During the debate in 1866, the Senator who authored the 14th Amendment said it would “not of course include persons born in the United States who are foreigners.”

FACT: The framers intended to end discriminatory definitions of citizenship that create a permanent underclass. The quotation is taken out of context, and reaffirms birthright citizenship when read in full:

“Every person born within the limits of the United States, and subject to their jurisdiction, is by virtue of natural law and national law a citizen of the United States. This will not, of course, include persons born in the United States who are foreigners, aliens, who belong to the families of ambassadors or foreign ministers accredited to the Government of the United States, but will include every other class of persons. It settles the great question of citizenship and removes all doubt as to what persons are or are not citizens of the United States. This has long been a great desideratum in the jurisprudence and legislation of this country.”

In other words, the terms “foreigners” and “aliens” are used to describe those “who belong to the families of ambassadors or foreign ministers accredited to the Government of the United States.” Constitutional citizenship as enshrined in the 14th Amendment and affirmed several times by the U.S. Supreme Court, was intended to ensure that all those born on U.S. soil are treated equally with rights of citizenship, and no state or national legislature may re-define citizenship to exclude certain groups of people.

Dear Mr. Smith, Your Pants are on Fire. Sincerely, The Facts

This is why I work with college students

2011-01-18T19:52:00.000-08:00

Today I posted a video link on my Facebook page of an interview with Cornell West. After I did this I received the following message from a former student of mine from my time at Pomona College. His message was the following:

Hey Joel,

First off Congrats on the PhD my man. Big accomplishment. Secondly, I just wanted to write and say thanks for all that you post. It is all fascinating material and for someone like myself that is really busy doing medicine but still very interested in all the issues you speak of, it is a true blessing to have the material you put up available. Thanks. I was wondering if you can just include me in your email list whenever you send stuff out because i want to and need to continue to learn about all this. The cornel West excerpt was brilliant. My favorite part: "When you love poor people THAT MUCH, when you love working people THAT MUCH, that makes you the freest man/woman in the country." Sigue adelante amigo!

Messages like these remind me of why I do what I do with college students. May the work I and others do with college students continue to be a blessing to the students we work with.

Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X

2011-01-15T20:28:00.000-08:00

This Monday our country will be commemorating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In light of this event our congregation, FOG or 5 o'clock gathering, is highlighting the life of Dr. King during our service tomorrow night. The way we are doing this is by talking about aspects of King that not very many people know about, to demonstrate that just like us he was on a spiritual journey and his faith evolved over time. One aspect of King's life that most people do not know about is how toward the end of his life his ministry began to find common ground with the work that Malcolm X was doing. Many of you may know that Malcolm X was seen as a radical and a militant. What many of you may not know was that toward the end of his life he was moving more toward King's philosophy. A convergence was occurring. Below are quotes that demonstrate this convergence.

King's statement following the death of Malcolm X (LA Times)

Malcolm X's slaying came at a time "when he was reevaluating his philosophy showing more tolerance for white people and the nonviolent movement."

Malcolm X's quote from "The Ballot or the Bullet"

Although I am still a Muslim, I'm not here tonight to discuss my religion. I'm not here to try and change your religion. I'm not here to argue or discuss anything that we differ about, because it's time for us to submerge our differences and realize that it is best for us to first see that we have the same problem, a common problem.. Whether we are Christians or Muslims or nationalist or agnostics or atheists, we must first learn to forget our differences, let us differ in the closet; when we come out in front, let us have nothing to argue about...

King's statement on Black Power (Chapter 29 of Autobiography)

There is a concrete, real black power that I believe in. I don't believe in black separatism, I don't believe in black power that would have racist overtones, but certainly if black power means the amassing of political and economic power in order to gain our just and legitimate goals, then we all believe in that. And I think that all white people of good will believe in that.

I hope that you will take some time to reflect on the work of Dr. King and recognize that we still have a long way to go given our current political environment. This goes for all of us no matter what your political views are.

Americas Quarterly - What Will Immigration Reform Advocates Learn from DREAM’s Defeat?

2011-01-10T22:28:00.000-08:00

People have been asking me what the future of the DREAM Act is. Below is a link to a story about what might be in store for the DREAM Act. The key is to advocate and contact your representatives to push the issue. Si Se Puede.

Americas Quarterly - What Will Immigration Reform Advocates Learn from DREAM’s Defeat?

Cesar Chavez

2011-01-10T22:17:00.000-08:00

Today I was doing research for an upcoming service at our church commemorating Martin Luther King Jr. I was researching the connection between MLK and Cesar Chavez. I came across an article concerning a movement in Texas to remove Cesar Chavez and other prominent Latino leaders from textbooks. I was stunned, but not surprised. Apparently there are some on the Texas Board of Education that believe Cesar Chavez does not have the stature of a historical figure and should not be held up to children as someone to be emulated. I completely disagree, for children of color and in this case Latino children it is important to have role models that look like them. Stories about people who look like you can be powerful motivators to assist you on your journey. I know for myself it was important early on my career to hear about people like Cesar and other successful Latino leaders. These stories inspired me to pursue my education and serve as a role model to others. To take Cesar out of a text book sends the wrong message to our kids and eliminates stories that can inspire children to continue on a positive trajectory. I have been working hard at introducing my kids to strong role models that are Latinos in the hopes that they will be inspired and learn about the positive contributions Latinos have made to the history of our country. I hope that the Texas Board of Education will decide to continue educating not only Latino kids, but other kids about the positive contributions that Cesar made to our country by providing a voice for the voiceless. If you want to learn more about Cesar Chavez you can learn more by clicking on his name.

A Latino Leader

2011-01-08T22:02:00.000-08:00

Back in November the Pew Hispanic Center reported on the results of a study they conducted to see who Latinos in the United States saw as a national leader. The results is that we do not have a national leader. I believe that this is an important point, in that this proves we are a very eclectic group and can not be put into a box. This also makes it hard to predict who we will support and what issues are important to us. Below you will find the the story and the bar graph to go along with it.

By their own reckoning, Latinos living in the United States do not have a national leader. When asked in an open-ended question on a nationwide survey of Latinos to name the person they consider "the most important Latino leader in the country today," nearly two-thirds (64%) of Hispanics said they did not know. An additional 10% said "no one." The survey also explored the subject of leadership in another way. Survey respondents were presented with the names of eight prominent Hispanics and asked if they had heard of each. Those who said they had were then asked if they considered that person to be a leader. Of the eight prominent Hispanics tested in the survey, four were identified as leaders by between 20% and 50% of survey respondents. The other four were seen as leaders by fewer respondents.

First Year Reading

2011-01-04T23:11:00.000-08:00

One of my roles as Dean of Transitions and Inclusion is overseeing our first year experience program. This next year we are re-instituting our common book program at George Fox University. We have narrowed list of books we are considering to five books. They are listed below:

City of Refuge by Tom Piazza
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortinson and David Oliver Relin
Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario
Brother, I'm Dying by Edwidge Danticat
Half the Sky by Nicolas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

I would love to hear what people think of requiring all our first year students to read one of these books and if you have a preference. One of the intended outcomes of our first year seminar program is that our students will be exposed to an area of diversity as part of this course. We are using the common book program to help meet this outcome. Look forward to seeing your comments.

The DREAM Act

2010-12-26T15:33:00.000-08:00

Lynne Hybels a prominent evangelical Christian woman posted on her blog the following post in regards to the DREAM Act. I am active support of this legislation as I have come into contact with many high school and college students that live in the shadows. In response to her blog I made the following comments in the hopes that reader of her blog would be better informed about what is at stake for many students in the US that have been education in our system, but when it comes to college they have been shut out. Below you will find her post and my comments.

Lynne Hybels: Like many of my friends, I am profoundly disappointed by Saturday’s defeat of the DREAM Act by just a few votes in the Senate. I have to confess this is the first time I have actually called the offices of politicians to ask for their vote on a particular piece of legislation. I had really hoped that Senator Kirk would change his mind and vote Yes. I’m grateful to Senator Dick Durbin for sponsoring and championing this bill, and to Representative Melissa Bean for voting Yes and helping to pass the bill in the House of Representatives last week.

I want to say to the many God-loving, hard-working young people—some in my church—whose hopes were dashed by the failure of the DREAM Act that you will not be forgotten. Your dreams will not be ignored. Your value and dignity depend not on the affirmation of any government, but on the affirmation of the God who created and loves you. Your friends will continue to work on your behalf.
My comments: Being a college administrator and one who has spoken extensively with high school and college students who are undocumented, the defeat of this bill was devastating not only for me but the students I work with. This has been shared before, but for some of the students that have a desire to pursue college degree do not discover their immigration status until they begin to apply for financial aid. I have had high school college counselors share with me their experiences in advising students who discover their status during the financial aid process. I would encourage all of you to watch “Papers.”

Is the DREAM Act perfect? No, but it is a start and there are several laws that have far worse loopholes than the ones listed above. I believe that this is a moral issue for us as believers. If a Republican congress wants to work on new legislation I encourage them to do so.
In regards to immigrants being enculturated, Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform reports that within 10 years of arrival more than 75 percent of immigrants speak English well. Having parents myself who immigrated to this country from Mexico and watching them obtain US citizenship I would say if there was a path to legal residence, most immigrants would take it and be productive citizens of our country. I would also encourage all of you to get to know immigrants in your communities. You will be surprised by their resiliency and determination to succeed in spite of their circumstances. The Mennonite Central Committee which has put together excellent resources on immigration.

Tamales and Culture

2010-12-24T20:37:00.000-08:00

Today was the third year we made tamales as a family. This has become a tradition in our home, for a couple of reasons. The first, is we really like tamales and for me this is a comfort food, as it was a meal we shared as a family while I was growing up in Huntington Park, California. The other reason is that I find it important to share my culture with my boys. They are half Mexican and half Caucasian. As our boys continue to get older I find it more and more important that they learn as much as possible about their Mexican side of the family, as I believe that learning about ones culture is very important and encourage everyone to do the same with their family. Another tradition of my family was opening gifts at midnight on Christmas eve. I have not been able to convince Jennifer that this is something we should, but in her defense opening presents on Christmas day was part of her culture and important to her. Feliz Navidad a todos.

Dissertation acknowledgements

2010-12-23T22:07:00.000-08:00

Below is the acknowledgments section of my dissertation. I share this so you can how many people supported me through this process. I was not able to include everyone, but I think it's important to thank all those involved.

The journey I have traveled in obtaining a Ph.D. has been long and at times challenging. If not for the help of many people along the way, I would not have completed this process. I offer my gratitude: First, to my wife, Jennifer, for her continual support as I completed my masters and now my doctoral program. She spent countless hours proofreading my work and, in essence, deserves a doctorate as well. Her willingness to watch our boys while I spent evenings writing at Chapters Coffee & Books is greatly appreciated and I am indebted to her for this. I love you, Jennifer.

To my parents, Mami y Papi, for their loving support during my formative years, and especially to my dad for telling me one day, “I want you to work with your mind, not your hands.” Those words inspired me to start at Biola University and now finish at Claremont Graduate University.

To my advisor and doctoral committee chair, Dr. Daryl G. Smith, for her support in serving as a mentor and motivator in this endeavor. Her tenacity in providing quick and great feedback made much of my progress along the way possible.

To Dr. Jack Schuster for his support from the beginning of my doctoral program to the end. Our conversations concerning the history of higher education and our love for the game of baseball were extremely helpful in providing enjoyment during the early years of my doctoral program.

To Dr. Martha Romero who agreed to serve as one of my qualifying paper advisers without knowing me very well at the time. I appreciated her candor and encouragement in that process and in the process of completing this dissertation.

To Mr. Glen Kinoshita for his desire to take a first-generation Mexican-American student under his wing and mentor him through college. If not for his counsel, I would never have begun to see myself as a leader and a scholar in higher education. Thank you, Kuya.

To Mr. Henry Gee for his encouragement and candor in my development as a professional in the field of student affairs. His ongoing counsel has been extremely helpful in my development as a professional.

To Mr. Drake Levasheff who has been a peer mentor to me since our undergraduate years at Biola. Our early Saturday morning meetings in Southern California were extremely helpful in my spiritual and educational formation. His friendship continues to be a source of inspiration.

To my New Song Church family in San Dimas, California. They were there when I began this journey and have continued to be a source of encouragement even though we live in Oregon. I would especially like to thank George Haraksin and Alan Harmon who have provided spiritual mentoring along the way.

To my colleagues and friends at George Fox University, for years of encouragement and support: Rick Muthiah, Dave Johnstone, Steve Sherwood, Sarah Baldwin, Jere Witherspoon and Patrick Allen. To Dr. Brad Lau, my supervisor and friend, who has given me the freedom to write and focus on my studies. To Dr. David Brandt who encouraged me to pursue the topic I had chosen because of his belief that my findings will be a benefit to Christian higher education.

To Dr. Robin Baker for his support in completing this program. His leadership at George Fox has inspired me to continue on in administration. To the many students who have inspired me along the way. My desire to serve as a role model was a factor in helping me through this process. The success of students who are like me, members of underrepresented groups with a desire to achieve a college education, is central to my desire to be a leader in higher education. I would especially like to thank my Act Six family and Enrique Ruiz, who was the first student I helped recruit to attend George Fox University.

Finally, to the four institutions that participated in this study and to the Association of Christians in Student Development (ACSD) for their financial support in completing my research.

Sorry for the delay

2010-12-23T22:02:00.001-08:00

It has been over year since my last post. I've been busy over the past year. I just completed my doctorate in Higher Education Administration from Claremont Graduate University. The title of my dissertation was "Drivers that Motivate Christian Colleges to Seek Change in the Area of Diversity." I have started a professional blog diversity change in higher education. I would encourage you to take a look and let me know what you think. This will continue to be my personal blog where I will share more of my musings as well as about my wonderful family.

Anniversary #14

2010-12-23T21:46:00.000-08:00

Although our anniversary is not until December 28th we decided to celebrate our 14th wedding anniversary today. Every year we pick a film to commemorate our anniversary. Below is the list of films we have seen over the years.

Jerry McGuire - 1996 (We were on our honeymoon)
Titanic - 1997
You've Got Mail - 1998
Anna and the King - 1999
The Family Man - 2000
Ali - 2001
Two Weeks Notice - 2002
Love Actually - 2003
Spanglish - 2004
King Kong - 2005
The Pursuit of Happyness - 2006
Juno - 2007
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - 2008
Invitcus - 2009
Voyage of the Dawn Treader - 2010

The passing of a friend and colleague

2009-08-09T20:29:00.001-07:00

Last week Joe Snell the current Director of Multiethnic programs at Azusa Pacific University passed away from a heart attack at 45 years of age. He will be greatly missed by students and colleagues. Over the last year and a half I got to know Joe well and I can say that he was passionate about racial reconciliation and seeking change on campuses in the area of diversity. He worked at Seattle Pacific University prior to his time at APU. Please join me in praying for APU as the mourn the loss of a leader on their campus.

2009-06-15T19:12:00.000-07:00

Last month I attended the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity (NCORE) in which Cornell West was the keynote. If you ever have a chance to hear him speak you should take the opportunity. He is an intellectual and I believe has a lot to say to us regardless of where you stand on the diversity issue. The quote I took away from his talk was the following: "Justice is what love looks like in public." I have been reflecting a lot on this as of late in regards to our role when it comes to issues of immigration and other social issues. I would challenge all of us to reflect on this quote as it might provide insight into allowing God to shape us more into his image.

Wisdom from Desmond Tutu

2009-05-30T13:20:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago I had the honor of being able to hear Desmond Tutu speak at the University of Portland. It was an amazing experience to hear from Bishop Tutu speak on the topic of reconciliation. There were many things to take away from his talk, but the thing he said that had the most impact on me was his call for people and organizations to create safe spaces. Safe spaces were true dialogue can occur which is often missing when discussing topics on diversity. For me as someone who is doing the work of diversity this is very important and at many times missing. We as people of color need to be willing to create spaces were our brothers and sisters from the majority culture can ask hard questions that many times they are afraid to ask for fear of being labeled a bigot or worse a racist. I have always striven to be a bridge between people of color and people from the majority culture my hope and prayer is that I will be used in this way and will be someone that can create the space necessary to have difficult dialogues.

ABD. Let the fun begin.

2009-03-27T19:36:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned earlier I am now officially ABD (all but dissertation). I wanted to update you all on what the final research questions are. I have chosen four Christian colleges to do case studies on. I am in the process of obtaining permission from their presidents to conduct my research. The working title for my dissertation is the following: Diversity and Christian Colleges: Examining the role mission plays in furthering or hindering diversity at Evangelical Christian Colleges. The research questions are as follows:

For those institutions that have shown some evidence of a commitment to diversity using Smith’s (1995) dimensions of diversity, what drives these efforts?
- What role if any do their missions play in driving the change?
- Does tension exist between their mission and diversity?

How have institutions linked their diversity work with their history and theology?
- If they have linked their efforts to their theology; what biblical texts do they use to make that link?
- Are there things in the institution’s or their denominations history that either hinder or help change in the area of diversity? Which could include the following:
- Adherence consciously or unconsciously to the homogenous units principle
- Role in relationship to racism and slavery

What types of efforts are being made to facilitate change in the area of diversity?
- How are they coordinating their efforts?
- How are they monitoring their progress?

Please feel free to provide me with any feedback.

2009-03-07T10:33:00.000-08:00

Last week I had the opportunity to attend the 13th annual SCORR conference with thirteen George Fox students and two other staff members. It was an amazing experience. This was my twelfth SCORR conference that I attended. I was also given the opportunity to present a workshop along with Joe Snell the Director of Multiethnic Programs from Azusa Pacific University. Our workshop was centered around the race based bias incidents that have occurred on our campuses over the last year and how students can use their voice during these type of incidents to encourage more change on a campus. We had over fifty students and staff attend. We had very good dialogue that continues to take place over facebook and email. I am reminded on how much farther our campuses need to go, although progress has been made. Please pray for our Christian campuses that are grappling with these issues on how to better reflect the Kingdom of God. The demographics of those who attended the conference also gave me a glimpse of what I believe the Kingdom of God will look like as described in the book of Revelation. This conference encouraged me to continue to make progress on my doctoral program as I hope to seek ways Christian colleges can make meaningful change.

All but dissertation

2009-02-28T17:32:00.000-08:00

It has been a long time since I have posted, so I thought I would write a quick note to let you all know that as of Friday, February 27th I have officially advanced to candidacy or ABD (all but dissertation). It is a surreal feeling, but I am very glad to be at this point, later this week I will let you know what the official research question will be as it is different from my earlier post. I am currently at that SCORR (student conference on racial reconciliation) at Biola and will post some thoughts about the conference. Be back soon. I promise.

Meditation on Perfection

2008-12-29T19:23:00.000-08:00

Below is a copy of our annual Christmas letter for those that have not seen it. We look forward to writing many more in the years to come.

A Meditation on Prayer

A couple of weeks ago I was reading one of the “mommy blogs” I follow. The author wrote that throughout the year she tries to give her readers an honest and realistic picture of what life is like in her family, warts and all, but when it comes to taking their Christmas card photo, she suddenly develops an intense desire for perfection. She didn’t want the kids being happy and playing and enjoying one another, which causes messy hair and out-of-focus shots. She wanted them looking happy and…perfect.
I have to admit that as I read her confession, I was critical and judgmental. Why is she worried so much about what other people think of how her family looks? Doesn’t she know how shallow she sounds? And then I saw our photos. We had a good time taking them, nobody was crying or fighting or refusing to cooperate, we had a great setting in front of my parents’ fireplace, and my brother, who took them, is an amazing photographer, so I was sure ours would be…perfect. And they’re not. The alternative was one where everyone had great smiles but you couldn’t really see Samuel because Noah was in the way. And I caught myself facing the same temptation, to maybe photoshop a couple of different shots together, so we would look more…perfect. Just so you would get an accurate picture of what the moment was truly like. Not because of any concern for what you might think. Of course not.
So this is the real us. Our outfits are not coordinated. Two of us are not looking at the camera. One is not staying in his assigned seat. There are a couple of somewhat forced smiles. (This is fun. We’re happy. Really.) But we’re together. And that’s a pretty good picture of what our life is really like.
Our house is rarely, if ever, as clean and organized as it “should” be. The kids are not perfectly well-behaved. (As I write, two boys are cleaning up the contents of an entire box of Cheerios intentionally dumped on the living room floor, while another, who is supposed to be napping, is crying in his crib. Just to give you an idea.) We are not always patient with and kind to one another. We sometimes use our time and resources unwisely.
But the truth is also that we really do love each other, and we love our families and friends and community, and we are so very, very blessed. When it’s my turn to tuck the boys into bed we pray that our Lord will help us to love him and others more each day, and he is. We are healthy and learning and growing. Samuel, who will be 5 years old (!) in a couple of months, loves preschool and time and numbers. Noah, who is “two-half,” is our cuddler and loves animals. Seth, 11 months, is saying “uh-oh” and “mama” and clapping and thinking about learning to walk. They all adore each other, giving lots of hugs and kisses and wrestling (and stealing toys and fighting and yelling, to be honest). We have an amazing new church family, which is very different from our other (still much loved and missed) one in California, but is evidence that our God is truly everywhere. We have access to plentiful and nutritious food, clean water, and the best medical care in the history of the world. Joel and I both love our work and are continuing to develop new friends and interests. We are blessed to live in the age of facebook and the internet, where reconnecting and staying connected with loved ones from all parts of our lives and throughout the world has never been easier.
Life is not perfect. Friends get sick, and sometimes die, even small children and babies not yet born. Marriages dissolve. Loved ones lose jobs or are unhappy in the ones they are stuck with. People can be thoughtless and even cruel. We are mindful of evil and suffering throughout our country and world.
And yet we have hope. We have hope in a Father who inexplicably loves us so much that he allowed his Son to be born into shocking conditions, to live among us, and then to die, so that we might be adopted into his family, and to conquer evil and suffering and death, so that his will might be done on earth, as it is in heaven. We have hope that how we choose to live can help to build his kingdom. And while life is certainly not perfect now, we have hope that one day it will be, and this is our prayer this Christmas. Come, Lord Jesus, Come.

Celebrating our anniversary

2008-12-29T19:13:00.000-08:00

This last weekend Jenn and I celebrated our 12 year anniversary. This also marked the twelfth time that we selected a film to view during our anniversary. This has become our annual tradition. We think it's cool and so I thought I would share it with you. Below is a list of the 13 films we have seen. I've included our first film which we saw during our honeymoon which started our tradition. We don't always select award winners and some we have selected more out of convenience then quality, but we've enjoyed them all.

Jerry McGuire - 1996
Titanic - 1997
You've Got Mail - 1998
Anna and the King - 1999
The Family Man - 2000
Ali - 2001
Two Weeks Notice - 2002
Love Actually - 2003
Spanglish - 2004
King Kong - 2005
The Pursuit of Happyness - 2006
Juno - 2007
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - 2008

Who know what it will be next year, but I look forward to adding a lot more films to this this list.

Update on life

2008-12-07T22:06:00.001-08:00

A couple of weeks ago it was made official that I have completed all four of my qualifying exams in my doctoral program. I have reached a milestone in the program and now all that is left between me and my dissertation is my oral defense of the quals and the approval of my dissertation proposal. The questions that I intend to answer in my dissertation research area as follows:

1. What if any tension exists between the mission of evagelical Christian colleges and diversity.

a. For those institutions that are members of the CCCU that mention diversity in their mission and or value statements what was the impetus for deciding that diversity should be mentioned in the mission statement?

2. How have institutions linked their diversity work with their history and theology?

a. Are there things in the institutions or their denominations history that either hinder or help change in the area of diversity? Which could include the following:

i. Homogenous units principle
ii. Racism and Slavery

3. How are these institutions approaching change in the area of diversity and are they monitoring their progress over time? If they are, how are they monitoring that progress?

I hope to gain approval by mid January. I will keep you all posted. At some point I will share with you what I have discovered while writing my qualifying papers.

We've finally decided

2008-12-07T22:00:00.000-08:00

After attending Newberg Friends for over two years we finally decided to become part of the Friends church. We think that at this point in our spiritual journey that it makes sense for us to call Newberg Friends our home. This decision was made after much prayer and discussion. We look forward to the years to come.

Faith Walk

2008-10-21T13:18:00.001-07:00

This last Sunday I was asked to give my reflection on my faith walk and the incident that happened at George Fox. What follows is the transcript of what I said.

I was born to Juventino and Trinidad Perez in the year of 1972 in Los Angeles California. I and my brothers grew up in a community that was predominantly Latino and we were Mexican American. Spanish was my first language and I grew up being the translator for my parents an interesting role to take on as an elementary school child. I remember when it came to my attention that I was Latino. Although our community was primarily Latino there were a few families that were white in our community although “white flight” had been occurring as I was growing up. I think I was six years old when my parents told me that our next door neighbor was an elderly white woman and that the doctor that delivered me was white. Up until that point I did not now I was different ethnically from those in my community from that point on my interaction with white people transpired between myself and aging white folks in our community. At some point growing up everyone in our community was Latino. The older white community had moved out or into homes for the elderly.

The next time it came clear to me that I was different ethnically than the majority culture was when I started college. The high school I attended was 98% Latino and within that group a majority of us were Mexican American. I did not decide I was going to college until my freshman year of high school up until that point I had not known of anyone that had gone to a four year college from my family or community. I had heard about it being talked about, but I did not see myself attending until my freshman year. By my senior year I was ready to make college a reality for myself and be the first in family to attend. I decided that I would go to Biola University a Christian college. I visited the campus and I did notice that there were not a lot of students with a brown complexion like mine, yet at the time I did not think it was going to be a challenge. I was wrong. I remember vividly for first day. My parents were not in town so my brother Oscar had to take me to school. We packed up our truck one early Saturday morning and made our way to Biola. We arrived, after forty minutes we had unpacked our truck and my brother gave me a good-bye hug and left. I remember seeing him drive off and a sense of loneliness set in. This loneliness was exacerbated because as many of you know for most students the experience of their first day of college is shared by family members. I did not have this type of experience. As my week went on it became a reality to me that there were not very many students that attended Biola that looked like me. The experience of being one of a few became a challenge for me greater than I thought it would be and by the end of my first year I was not sure I would return mostly because I was not a good student. I had failed some of my classes and was on the verge of flunking out and by that time I was making a strong effort to assimilate into the majority culture. In essence I had denied my cultural heritage in the hopes of being accepted into the majority culture these attempts had failed. I was a lost Mexican American boy in a sea of white faces trying to find himself and failing academically.

The summer after my first year while away at a youth conference sponsored by the Assemblies of God, yes I grew up Pentecostal, I recommitted my life to Christ. At this point in my life I realized that first and foremost I was a Christ follower, but that I was also a Mexican American who should be proud of how God had uniquely made me. I could no longer deny MY ethnic and cultural heritage and I must embrace it along with my relationship with Christ, not only my ethnic and cultural heritage but those of all my brothers and sisters in Christ. I think that the author of Living in Color: Embracing God’s Passion for Ethnic Diversity Randy Woodley says it best. “We need a plethora of perspectives and cultural worldviews if we are to see a clearer picture of the immense grandeur of our Creator God.”

A little over two years ago my family and I moved to Newberg, Oregon from Los Angeles. We came because I had decided to direct a program to help develop a “plethora of perspectives and cultural worldviews” at George Fox. That program is the Act Six program. A program designed to bring students from diverse backgrounds to Fox. Students that are a lot like I was. I knew I was leaving the ethnic, political, cultural, socioeconomic diversity of Los Angeles for Newberg Oregon, but I saw this as an opportunity to further the kingdom of God. Once again my being different then the majority culture was highlighted for me before we even moved here. It was while we were being driven around by our realtor looking at potential houses for us to live in. The “Southside” as it was referred to was noted by our realtor as a different place. Where the Hispanics live, I informed her that I was Hispanic and that my first language was Spanish. She was taken back a bit but continued on. We decided to live on the “Southside” one of the factors was that I wanted to make sure the diverse students in the Act Six program would feel comfortable walking to my house and that our neighbors would not think of them as being out of place. My family and I have enjoyed living on the Southside and I look forward to walking past families that look like me and greeting them in our native tongue.

This brings me to three weeks ago. On the morning of Tuesday, September 23rd I arrived at work and opened my email inbox to read a message informing me about the cutout. Earlier that morning a student working for housekeeping discovered a large cutout of Senator Obama hanging in a tree with a note attached to it that read “Act Six Reject”. She immediately took it down and took it to the Dean of Students Office. After reading the email I was frustrated, but unfortunately not surprised. You see we live in a fallen world and sin is very much a part of our reality even on a Christian campus. I am very proud of how we handled the situation regardless of what many may think I think it was the way Christ would have wanted us to address the situation. While in the midst of speaking to the press and receiving angry emails and phone calls I thought back to the sermon that Greg gave on the Esther 4:14 “for such a time as this.” The scripture encouraged me and reminded me that God was with us in the midst of this time.

Now that the dust has settled the real work begins of putting actions to our words of “on earth as it is in heaven.” Is it possible that something like this will happen again? Yes, it is possible, but my prayer is that we can learn from this and create a place where we are able to engage in meaningful dialogue about God’s Kingdom. I am proud to be at a Friends institution and attending a Friends church because historically we have not stood for racism and bigotry existing and have been vocal about it in the past. Yet because of this history I believe that we have a heavier burden to bear when it comes to creating discourse about this issue and other issues of injustice to raise awareness in the hopes that people’s hearts will be changed. My hope is that you all can search yourselves and see yourselves as part of the solution and engage in conversation with friends, family, and others about these type of issues.

For myself I cannot help but have these types of conversations and wrestle with these issues because it is part of my reality on a daily basis. Yet as I have stated earlier it is how God has uniquely made me and I am thankful. My culture, ethnicity, and issues around diversity will continue to be part of my faith journey for the years to come.

Why I am voting for Barak Obama

2008-10-18T20:23:00.000-07:00

Recently I was asked as a Christian how I could vote for Obama due to his stances on the abortion issue and homosexuality. What follows is how I responded about why I will be voting for Obama.

Let me begin my saying that I look at more than just those two issues when I go to the polls to vote. I do not like it when people base their votes on one or two issues because for me life is much more complex than abortion and homosexuality. I think on the issue of abortion which has become a litmus test for many. I consider myself pro life even though Obama does not; yes I am a Christ follower who is a democrat. What I do like about what he says about this issue is that we need to get at the root of the problem as to why women seek abortions in the first place. For many women it is not a birth control pill like many have labeled it. The circumstances surrounding unwanted pregnancies reach into issues of poverty, bad choices because of lack of education and a solid upbringing. That is to say there are social issues that need to be addressed. The New Testament is filled with stories about how Christ went into communities that were shunned and shared God’s love and loved people who did not feel loved. This is why we need to invest time in rebuilding our cities which for many in the church have turned their backs on for to long. This means loving the fatherless and abandoned and caring for their needs in the hopes of giving them homes so that when things go wrong such as an unwanted pregnancy they have loving people to go to for good guidance. These are things that you and I had growing up, this is not always the case today. I think Senator Obama has that in mind when it comes to public policy to help those in need in the hope of decreasing the number of abortions that take place.

On the issue of homosexuality I believe the act of homosexuality is sin and for me the Bible is clear about that. I would disagree with Senator Obama on this issue. On this issue I believe that it is necessary to hate the sin but love the sinner. This view has gotten me into trouble when I worked at Pomona, but I was able to engage in meaningful conversation about this issue with students and staff that were gay. For some they had never met a believer who was willing to engage in that type of loving conversation. For many of us Christians we are quick to judge without hearing people’s stories and understanding who they are as children of God. How can we try to convert them when they do not know first hand they need converting.

I guess what I am saying is that I do not just use these two issues in how I decide to vote, but look at all of the factors. Health care is another huge issue for me mainly because I grew up without it and I would like to see a national health care program because I remember how difficult it was for my mom and dad to not have the means to take me to a doctor. I also believe that immigration needs to be reformed beyond building a wall and that there are children in this country who were brought here by their parents not by choice but by necessity and after they graduate from high school our government turns its back on them. I think we need more regulation in a financial markets to keep those that are greedy from ruining it for a lot of us. This is why I am voting for Obama. I think that the Bible has a lot to say about these issues along with abortion and homosexuality that needs to be looked at as well.

Update on life

2008-09-24T21:00:00.001-07:00

It has been a long time since my last post and needless to say a lot has happened. The Dodgers will be clinching the division within the next couple of days, I am nearly complete with my qualifying papers and will be advancing to candidacy soon, and work has been extremely busy. This week at Fox has been a whirlwind of activity. Yesterday morning we had an incident please see our web page at www.georgefox.edu. My day started with an interview with our local NPR affiliate you can hear the interview at the following website http://www.opb.org/thinkoutloud/. Look for the talking about race on campus story. My experience today as being the spokesperson for the university was exhausting but an honor. I think our President Dr. Robin Baker did the right thing and I was happy to be part of the response. Our Act Six students are doing well and have handled the situation extraordinarily well and should be commended. Please pray of our campus as we continue to engage with this issue and for my work in continuing to assist the institution in reflecting the Kingdom of God.

Manny in LA

2008-08-02T20:19:00.000-07:00

Tonight Manny hit his first home run as a Dodger. I am sure as myself other Dodger fans are hoping this helps that Dodgers make the post season. I still miss being a lot closer to major league baseball.

Samuel's first T-Ball game

2008-07-12T14:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Samuel's first t-ball game. He did fairly well with the exceptional running around the infield kicking up dirt. He batted well, but did not like trying to field the ball mostly because he would have to battle the rest of the kids to get the ball. We're not sure if we'll be doing t-ball next year, but we'll wait and see.

The Rodeo

2008-07-05T13:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I attended my first rodeo, the St. Paul rodeo in Oregon. Leading up to the event I was really thinking I would not like it, but my attitude started changing right before the rodeo. Well after sitting there for 2.5 hours I really began to dislike it. It just wasn't my thing. I don't think I'll making an effort to attend more in the future. The coolest thing was wacthing the boys enjoy the bull riding and the horses. Ah the things you do for kids.

Fast Company

2008-06-14T20:57:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since I have posted. Today I was reading the latest issues of Fast Company. In an attempt to finish reading it before the next one comes so I don't get behind in my magazine reading. For those of you who have not ever read Fast Company I would highly recommend it. Many of you who know me know that this is one of my favorite magazines. The following article is by Elizabeth Spiers on the "buy-local" movement. Since I live in a small city there are many locals in the city that beleive strongly about buying local products. This article raises some very good points to consider. After reading it I would love to read your thoughts.

One of my favorite British sitcoms of the last decade, The League of Gentlemen, features the characters Edward and Tubbs, a couple that owns a local shop descriptively but unimaginatively called the Local Shop. "Are you local?" they inquire ominously when prospective customers enter to browse. "This is a local shop for local people." Inevitably, in nearly every episode, the customer is an out-of-towner, and the couple murders him in a grisly fashion -- for not being local.

Maybe it's from too much exposure to the show, but when I see exclamation-mark-laden signs in neighborhood stores demanding that I "buy local," I can't help but think that death and dismemberment are implied if I don't buy the sweater knit by area hipsters or locally grown produce. At the very least, I risk a condescending eye roll when I protest, "It's a cheaper and identical tomato."

The ostensible economic benefits of buying local are fairly simple: It cuts out the middleman, puts more money into the local economy, and reduces transportation costs and environment-destroying, energy-wasting long hauls.

The best defense of buying local is probably the last one. I'm not going to argue that energy conservation isn't better for everyone. Except, well, long-haul truck drivers.

The other arguments fall apart easily enough under the pressure of a gentle poking with comfy pillows (to borrow another British comedy motif). For starters, the middleman doesn't live in Middle Earth. He's often local and dependent upon large companies with better economies of scale to provide him with products he can afford to buy wholesale and for which there is a large enough market to resell profitably.

As for local money staying in the local economy, when you walk into your least-favorite national chain store, no one working behind the counter is likely to be, as Edward and Tubbs would sneer, nonlocal. Nor are the recipients of its property taxes or many of the vendors that service it.

In urban enclaves such as my neighborhood in Brooklyn, where people are overeducated and generally have liberal sympathies, the buy-local hordes seem completely oblivious to much of the actual local economy, which is partially, if not mostly, supported by the companies the movement most enjoys deriding. The same people who are horrified by the xenophobic implications of "buy American" campaigns also engage in a different sort of provincialism when it comes to their own consumption choices.

Why? Let's face it, much of the buy-local movement has nothing to do with geography. The emotional tenor, at least, is much more about shunning corporate behemoths. If the farmer next door happens to be Monsanto, you rethink buying local. What buying local really means is buying boutique-branded artisanal products that are crafted with tender loving care by actual human beings.

Or that merely appear to be. Witness the success of the slightly-more-expensive-but-supposedly-made-with-love-by-seemingly-small-companies Muir Glen, Kashi, and Odwalla -- owned by General Mills, Kellogg, and Coca-Cola, respectively. Large corporations certainly aren't unaware of local appeal and are happy to exploit it as a marketing tool. Every gargantuan retail-financial institution in the country declares itself your "friendly neighborhood bank." And one of the first steps in Starbucks's reinvention was to put signs on the door that say, "Come in for the neighborhood's best espresso."

The challenge for the socially conscious consumer is to determine whether a "local" purchase actually achieves what it's supposed to achieve -- a decision that should be made without fear of death and dismemberment.

From Issue 126 | June 2008

You can see more of the magazine at www.fastcompany.com.

Hispanic magazine turns 20 years old

2008-05-26T10:09:00.000-07:00

One of the magazines I subscribe to, Hispanic magazine just turned 20 years old in April. I have enjoyed reading this magazine, becuase it keeps me updated on what is happening nationally with my community. Here is an excerpt from the anniversary issue which provides an intereting perspective on the last 20 years for our community. It is take from an artile writing by Ruben Navarratte Jr who also is a commentator on CNN.com.

In 1988, the United States was still-for the most part-a black and white country. Hispanics were treated as an afterthought by the media, Hollywood, political parties and much of Corporate American.

Immigration was not a hot issue-despite the fact that, two years earlier, President Reagan had signed the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, which granted amnesty to nearly 3 million illegal immigrants. Republicans had pushed that bill through Congress over the objections of Democrats, who had been ordered by organized labor to fight any legislation to legalize the undocumented, and thus bring them into the workforce where they could compete with U.S. workers.

And there was talk of a new free trade agreement for the three North American countries-the North American Free Trade Agreement, which promised to tear down trade barriers between Mexico, Canada, and the United States.

Oh, in 1988, CNN's Lou Dobbs was still a capatalist and had not yet begun to take on teh role of a ratings-starved demagogue.

Today, 20 years later the United States is no longer black and white. Hispanics outnumber African Americans and represent the largest minority in the country. No longer an afterthought, Hispanics are more prominent in the media, more powerful in Hollywood, more heavily courted by the political parties, and more prevalent in America's corporations.

In 2008, immigration is a hot issue, but what has been discussed in Washington isn't fully amnensty. The 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States could become legel residents only if they paid fines, learned English, and met other conditions. Today, you'll find Democrats and Republicans on both sides of the debate.

And on the trade front, more people on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border have reached the conclussion that NAFTA was a mixed bag that didn't deliver everything it promised and spread its benefits unevenly, enhancing the bottom line of some companies but making harder for others to compete.

Hispanics are realizing that life in the United States can be a tad schizophrenic. It's the Dickensian era. It't the best of times, and the worst of times. America wants us-and it doesn't. Along the new prominence came more resistence and more racism. There are concerns over changing culture as some nativists try to keep the country from becoming more Hispanic.

Good luck with that, folks.

Meanwhile in 2008 at Little League games and block parties and universities, from Main Street to Wall Street, the nation's 46 million Hispanics continue to work hard, raise families, start businesses, pay taxed and all the rest. Along the way, they'll weave their stitch into the great American tapestry.

Twenty years ago, demographers audaciuously christened the 1980s "The Decade of the Hispanic." In the areanas of politics, business, media, and entertainment, anything seemed possible. A world of opportunity was just over the horizon.

Today, with all that Hispanics have already accomplished and contributed to this country and all they have yet to achieve, the notion of a Hispanic Decade seems limitling. To paint in full the portrait of what Hispanics will mean to the United States, and their fellow Americans, in years to come, we'll need a bigger canvas.

Welcome to the Hispanic Century

As a Hispanc/Latino reading this I felt moved of what my community has acheived and yet to achieve.

Time in Southern California and a change

2008-05-12T20:40:00.000-07:00

We just arrived from So. Cal. We drove there and back and it was a good trip. We were dreading the trip since we were going to be traveling with a 4 year old, 2 year old, and a 4 month old. They did very well on the trip and did better than we expected. We were able to see old friends and visit our old/home church. It was a very refreshing trip and So. Cal still feels like home even after being gone for almost two years. I had a very productive meeting with my doctoral advisor and am making good progress, but much work needs to be done if I am going to be done by spring of 2010. I am looking forward to returning to work. Mainly because I will be taking on a new role. My new title will be Dean of Student Transitions and Inclusion. In addition to all the things I am currently responsible for I will be overseeing Multicultural Student Services and International Student Services. I truly feel blessed and look forward to how God will use me in this role.

The passing of a leader

2008-04-16T10:06:00.000-07:00

Last week Dr. Clyde Cook, President Emeritus of Biola University passed away. I received a note from a college friend and was very saddened by the news. Although I did not always agree with Dr. Cook he was still a leader within Christian higher education and I respected him greatly. It was very sad, mainly becuase it was just a year ago that he retired from the presidency after serving 25+ years as president of Biola. Biola and Christian higher education will surely miss this amabasador.

Hate crimes against Latinos on the rise

2008-03-27T20:41:00.000-07:00

I just read that hate crimes against Latinos is on the rise. Recent FBI statistics say that there has been a 35 percent increase against Latinos between 2003 - 2006. The Southern Poverty Law Center also reports that there are 888 hate groups operating in the US. As troubling as this may be for me I am also concerned that 11 of these groups reside in Oregon. I share this with you becuase last week as I was driving to George Fox I say a truck going down the road with a large Confederate flag waiving from the bed of the truck. I had Samuel and Noah with me and my first thought was my responsibility as a parent to explain to them why this type of hate exists and how we can combat it. My hope is that I can contribute to the discourse about immigration in the hopes that people will understand all perspectives. There is the unfortunate thought that in some cases there will be nothing we can do to combat deep imbeded hate in which we can only blame sin.

I really miss being in LA during this time of the year

2008-03-27T20:29:00.000-07:00

I received the Dodger game tickets I ordered on-line for my upcoming visit to LA in late April yesterday. As I looked at the tickets I felt a little home sick. Mainly because I now have to drive three and half hours to see a major league baseball game and an American League game at that. I miss being forty minutes away from the stadium where Los Dodgers play. I look forward to enjoying a Dodger dog during my upcoming visit and will probably tell you all about it when I blog after my visit. GO DODGERS!

Do we perpetuate racism as educators?

2008-03-14T20:03:00.000-07:00

I just returned from the national NASPA (national associate of Student Personnel Adminstrators) conference in Boston. Professionally it was a very enriching conference. On the last day of the conference I attended a workshop entitled "Student Affairs Educators as Culprits in the Cyclical Reproduction of Racism in America." As you can imagine the title lead me to beleive that this could be a controversial presentation. The presenter began by sharing the following advertisement from Intel

He did some investigating and found that the chief designer had a bachelors and a masters and was white. The team that helped in the design was also white and all had bachelors degrees. His question to the audience was how can it be possible that this group of people graduated from institutions of higher learning and in the case of the lead designer two institutions and not realize the problem with an add like this? He took it even further by asking; is it possible that this group of designers came in contact with our peers in student affairs and had little or no meaningful discussion around issues of race and ethnicity and the power images play in perpetuating stereortypes and racism? Have we contributed to the cylcle of racism by not providing meaningful education in this area?

These are tough questions to consider. In the end he challenged us to see ourselves as educators and engage in providing an education that challenges our students to think through these issues and just as faculty do when they are designing curriculum we must do the same to educate students outside the classroom. The ad was also a reminder that we have a long way to go when it comes to the work of diversity at our institutions. I look forward to seeing some of your comments and thoughts.

The passing of my abuelito

2008-02-29T10:14:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week my Abuelito (grandfather) passed away. It was not expected and it was very sad for me as this is my last grand parent. I will be making my way back to California (where heaven is, see earlier post) to pay my respects to my abuelito. I have included an email that my cousin Zeke wrote yesterday that will describe to you what my abuelito meant to us his grand children.

Friends,

I write with a heavy heart as my abuelito Gudino has gone to be with the Lord. He was 84 years old when he passed away late this past Tuesday evening at Downey Regional Hosp. He was suffering acute pain aided only by morphine as he was diagnosed with Colitis. The surgeon found massive infection throughout his intestinal tract and informed the many family members present that he would deteriorate quickly, not regain consciousness and gave him only hours to live.

He fought for approximately eight hours before finally succumbing.

Those of you who met my abuelito will remember his quiet demeanor, love for family & gatherings as well as his devoted love for my abuelita, who went to be with God in 2002. I will miss all about him but especially his love for God, in which he actively demonstrated up until last weekend serving the men in a Tijuana prison he frequented.

I will miss his playful, almost mischievous smile, his devotion to his dogs & roses, and most certainly...Dodger games will never be quite the same anymore as he loved taking in his Dodger baseball games, whether in person or with the aid of his trusty radio.

Service and burial arrangements are pending but he will be laid to rest with my abuelita & Tia at Whittier's Rose Hills Cemetery. I will advise everyone upon finalizing the arrangements.

Please keep my mom & extended family in your prayers during this difficult time. We all are blessed to have known my abuelito and felt his Christ-like, unconditional love for all he came in contact with. May we accept his legacy of unwavering faith, his displaying of love for all people irregardless of need or status, humility, devotion to family & redeeming the time granted by God in fulfilling Christ's perfect will for his life.

As the Apostle Paul wrote, my abuelito's race is finally finished. He contended for the faith and finished well. He is now talking with God, the saints, Tia, abuelita and their son, Jorgito, who they both lost much too early.

"Te amo abuelito. Gracias por tu ejemplo. Mandamos saludos a toda la familia. Nos veamos un dia pronto..."

Sincerely,

Zeke

Samuel and the wii

2008-02-25T20:17:00.000-08:00

As I posted earlier I purchased a wii a few weeks ago. I consider myself a pretty good video game player, well tonight Samuel handed me my hat in bowling. I lost in bowling to my four year old son by forty points. This is the beginning of many things to come.

Why we chose the name we did for Seth Judah Perez

2008-02-25T20:12:00.001-08:00

Seth means “placed” or “appointed.” Because Seth was originally a surprise to us,
we believe he was uniquely appointed by God to our family in this time and place.
In the book of Genesis, Seth was the third son of Adam and Eve.

Judah means “praise.” We chose this name in honor of Jenn’s mom, Judy Jansen,
who has been a tremendous example and support to us in raising our boys. Judah was also chosen in memory of Judson Levasheff, the son of our dear friends Drake and Christina. Jud was born on Christmas Eve 2004 and died November 7, 2007. Although we had no idea at the time, the day we shared with the Levasheffs that we were expecting this new little one was the last time Jenn and the boys would see Jud on this earth.

In the face of tremendous suffering during Jud’s illness and in the wake of his loss, his parents have steadfastly honored our God. In naming our son, we praise God for their faithful example, and for their precious boy, whom we will never forget.

EA Sports

2008-02-02T19:40:00.000-08:00

So a few weeks ago I purchased a Wii as a reward to myself for finishing a draft of my third qualifying paper. I then purchased EA Sports Tiger Woods Golf 2008. Samuel has taken a liking to the game and wants to play it constantly. Jenn told me the other day while I was away Samuel was playing with his letter puzzle and picked up the E and the A and said "EA Sports to the game." For those of you not familiar with EA sports video games the opening tag line is, "EA Sports It's In The Game." Jenns response was, "and so it begins."

The Shack

2008-01-26T10:11:00.000-08:00

I just recently read Young's "The Shack." I would highly recommend this book. Especially to those that struggle with what seems to be at times God's distance when we are experiencing great loss and need. If you have a chance you should make an effort to read it.

My thoughts on immigration

2008-01-20T21:53:00.000-08:00

It has been a long time since I have posted. We are adjusting well to the addition of Seth, our third boy, to our family. He looks a lot like a Perez boy and his brothers enjoy having him around.

I have been thinking a while about sharing my opinion on the issue of immigration. Many of our friends and family have asked what my thoughts are about the issue. Living in Oregon has made me think about the issue more because of the large number of immigrants living in our community and the daily fear that they live in. This was not as real to me when we lived in southern California, mainly because people in southern California take the presence of undocumented immigrants as a way of life and a means to help them purchase items at a reduced price because of the cheap labor.

Working at an institution of higher learning has caused me to think about the opportunities for students that are educated in our K – 12 system who desire to attend higher education. Many of them came to this country because their parents wanted to make a better life for themselves. In essence they had no choice in the matter. I believe that these students should have the same opportunities to attend higher education as their dominant culture counterparts. I do believe that we should develop a system for their parents who have contributed to our economy and who value the opportunities that this country provides them. What would this system look like? I am not sure, but as it currently stands something needs to be done. I believe that the current policy has been inadequate in dealing with a growing issue and a new policy needs to be developed to stop illegal immigration from continuing. I am not for opening our borders completely, although I do believe it is unrealistic to think that just denying services to undocumented immigrants and building a large wall will solve the issue. I was a supporter of the recent DREAM Act (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DREAM_Act) that was defeated in Congress. I know that this issue will be a major issue in upcoming presidential election. If you would like more information on the DREAM Act you can visit the following website http://www.nilc.org/immlawpolicy/DREAM/index.htm.

As a Christ follower I think it is my moral obligation to be loving person and assist all of my neighbors, regardless of their ethnic heritage or country of origin. What has been missing in the current discourse on this topic is compassion. What is happening is both sides have become so entrenched that they are not listening to each other.

An addition to the family!

2008-01-07T14:04:00.000-08:00

At 4:25am this morning Jennifer gave birth to our third son, Seth Judah Perez. Weighing in at 6 pounds, 6.5 ounces and measuring 20 inches. Mom and son are doing well. As you can imagine our lives will get busier and I am sure I will have more material now to share with you. When Samuel was first introduced to Seth he asked "What kind of baby is it?" Pictures soon to come.

Raising Boys

2007-12-30T10:24:00.000-08:00

I recently read something that caused me to think about what it means to raise boys. This quote is poignant because of the work I do at George Fox University. Our institution has a 2:1 ratio of women to men. Those of us who work in Student Affairs are challenged every year to get the male students to take on leadership roles. I have been thinking lately of that type of father I will be with my two boys and am challenged by what I read. My hope is that my children will be leaders in their God given vocations and that I will be a facilitator in their training.

I have included Tony Woodlief's blog on my blog roll. Jenn (my wife) clued me in to his blog and I have really enjoyed reading his posts. Here is the quote.

Something in my heart tells me, however, that if we insist on molding wild-hearted boys into compliant creatures, then we destroy the essence of what was meant to emerge as courage and strength. We seem to think that we can get real men without the messy early stages, the wrestling in church and the converting of grocery carts into pirate ships, but it's just not possible. Real men come from the wild, fidgety, loud, hardheaded boys. Instead of beating or training the essence of boyhood out of them, we've got to figure out how to channel it toward manhood. I've got to figure it out. Me, the unmanly guy with the secret crush on Emily Dickinson. God help me.

Tony Woodlief, Raising Wild Boys Into Men: A Modern Dad's Survival Guide

Thoughts on prayer

2007-12-29T18:14:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since my last post as my family and I have been busy with the season. There is a sense of excitement in the Perez household as we await the arrival of Perez child #3.

I just recently completed reading Yancey’s book on Prayer. If there is one book I would recommend, it would be his. He provided some very good insight on the topic. It was extremely helpful as I journeyed with our friend Drake in the midst of the loss of his two-year-old son, Jud. Currently I have been reading The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs, an agnostic Jew from New York. The book chronicles his attempt to follow the Bible literally for a year. The following excerpt is from his book.

Day 103. I’m trying to pray for a half hour a day in three ten-minute intervals, usually in the corner of Julie’s [his wife] office, a couple of feet from the basket full of Real Simple magazines. A half hour’s no record, I know. But at least I’m not glancing at the clock every minute as I did in the beginning.
And once in a while, I actually find myself looking forward to those ten-minute sessions, especially at night. It’s decompression. When I was a kid, I spent several minutes each night before bed picturing water skiers slaloming over choppy waves. I don’t know how I came up with the ritual. It’s not like I was a big fan of water skiing – I had tried it at camp and ended up with a gut full of lake water. But I found visualizing it relaxing. Maybe prayer will serve the same purpose. I get to close the door, close my eyes, and sink into a meditative state, or as close to one as my brain will allow me.
Plus, I’ve discovered another category of prayer that I like: praying on behalf of others, for the sick, needy, depressed – anyone who’s been kicked around by fate. Intercessory prayer, as it’s called.
I’ve read a bunch of articles about intercessory prayer recently – mostly about how it’s sprouted up all over the internet. You can place prayer requests on websites like ePrayer.com and CyberSaint. (Recent examples include “I am expecting my first child. Please pray for a speedy delivery,” and “Please pray for me to complete my thesis work, it is delayed by eight months.”)
Intercessory prayer can be found sprinkled throughout the Bible – with everyone from Moses to Paul pleading with God for the sake of others. Abraham is the first to try it, and he’s far from successful. It’s a curious scene. God announces to Abraham that he’s considering laying waste to the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Abraham asks him: “Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; wilt thou then destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it?”
And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”
Abraham answered, “Behold, I have taken upon myself to speak to the Lord, I who I am but dust and ashes. Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking? Will thou destroy the whole city for lack of five?”
And He said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”
It continues. Abraham is able to haggle the Lord down to ten people – if there are ten good people in Sodom, God agrees not to smite it.
In the end, though, as you know, Sodom didn’t meet the quota.
At first I found the whole passage comical. I mean, here’s Abraham sounding like a salesman at a bazaar trying to get rid of his last decorative vase. But on reflection, what’s wrong with what he did? It’s actually a noble, beautiful – if ultimately doomed – attempt to save the lives of his fellow humans.
I’m not finished with my year, so I’m withholding judgment, but my rational side says that intercessory prayer today is no more effective than Abraham’s effort. I still can’t wrap my brain around the notion that God would change His mind because we ask him to.
And yet I still love these prayers. To me they’re moral weight training. . . .

This was interesting to me as Jacobs, a non-believer, is having the same struggle with prayer that many of us who are believers have. It will be interesting to see where he lands on this issue. I find comfort in knowing that even though God chose not to heal Jud we are still his sons and daughters and I believe he wants us to ask the challenging questions knowing that his love for us is great. Just as Jacobs struggles to “wrap my brain around the notion that God would change His mind because we ask him to,” I too struggle with that same question. After reading Yancey’s book my take on the issue is God is merciful in spite of some bad things that happen. That is the problem with evil in this world. Yet it is ok to struggle with these difficult questions and having them makes me no less of a faithful believer than those pretending to have all the answers. Yancey provides a check list for us to consider before we begin to pray for healing or other things that we desire from God. The list is helpful and can provide us a way to “check ourselves” and our motives before. The one thing I like is that is causes us to think about intercessory prayer before we begin going down that road.

Am I expecting a miracle as an entitlement?
Am I using the benefits of God's `common grace'-the healing built into our bodies and the medical knowledge we have gained?
Do I wrongly blame God for causing suffering?
Am I prepared for the possibility that physical healing may not take place?

I look forward to hearing from some of you about your thoughts on prayer especially prayer that you believe to be unanswered.

Update on my doctoral work

2007-12-14T21:55:00.000-08:00

As many of you know I am pursuing a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from Claremont Graduate University in Southern California. Before leaving for Southern California last week I completed a draft of my third qualifying paper. It was a review of the literature on the topic of diversity and institutional change. The literature on change in the area of diversity stresses the importance of linking institutional mission with diversity efforts. As I was finishing my paper I developed what will most likely be my research question for my dissertation: Do institutions of higher education that were founded from a Wesleyan tradition have characteristics that make it easier to implement changes in the area of diversity compared to schools from a Reformed tradition? This question will most likely lead me to do case studies on institutions from each of these traditions. If you have authors you can recommend that have written on the history of the Wesleyan and Reformed tradition please let me know.

I am very excited as this question will guide me as I write my fourth qualifying paper which will be a review of the literature on the historical underpinnings of Christian higher education and the historical underpinning of diversity. In essence when I complete this qualifying paper I will have the first two chapters of my dissertation completed. This is very encouraging and I am thankful to Jennifer who has been very supportive through this process.

Frustration

2007-12-03T20:05:00.000-08:00

This morning I had a very funny interaction with Samuel. I was asking Samuel to do something and he was having a hard time obeying. I told him that he needed to choose to obey or there were going to be consequences. He looked at me with a straight face and told me that he was getting frustrated and told me to stop talking. I asked him why he was getting frustrated and he told me “because you’re not choosing to obey.” Once again I could not help but laugh.

Great Ceasar’s Ghost

2007-11-25T21:23:00.000-08:00

A couple of nights ago I was putting Samuel to bed. I was looking for something and could not find it, and Samuel looked at me and said “great Ceasar’s ghost, Papi.” I could not help but laugh. We have no idea where he could have heard this phrase. I thought you all would enjoy this funny moment.

Heaven is somewhere in California

2007-11-18T20:26:00.000-08:00

A week and a half ago I received word that Judson had passed away. He was going to turn three in December. We are very good friends with his parents and as you can imagine we were very saddened with the news. We had been praying earnestly to God for healing, but it was not God’s will. Yet we still prayed faithfully and believed that God could heal. Last weekend our family traveled to be with our friends the Levasheffs and their family. We were able to be with our friends and grieve with them. It was a difficult weekend for us and I can only imagine what they were feeling. As I had stated in an earlier entry, I believe we are called to co-labor with fellow believers and as I reflect on this I see this as central to what Christian community is about. I still wonder why God seemed so distant and silent during this time. Yet even in my questioning of his method I am still at peace with who God is and his role in our lives. We continue to pray for the Levasheffs in their grief and are very sad that we cannot be there with them and spend more time with them.

During our trip Samuel, our three-year-old who had been praying along with us for healing for Judson asked why we were boarding a plane to go to California. We explained to him the best we could that his friend Jud had gone to heaven to be with God. He asked why. We told him that it was time for Jud to go and that now Jud would no longer be in pain. During our visit Samuel told us that he did not want to go to heaven. I was moved to tears when he said that and very sad for my friend Drake as I wish Jud did not have to go to heaven at such an early age. A couple of days later Samuel asked us where heaven is and whether we could go there to visit Jud. We told him that we can’t go there because no one knows where it is. Samuel said “I think it’s somewhere in California.” This brought a chuckle to both Jennifer and I. Being a native Southern Californian I knew that Samuel was on to something.

Co-Laboring with a friend in need

2007-11-05T20:00:00.000-08:00

Today I received bad news from my friend Drake Levasheff (see praying for a friend blog). His son Judson seems to be close to passing on. His son is a few months younger than Samuel, so you can imagine how and what he might be feeling. Samuel prays for him nightly as we put him to bed and will occasionally ask how he is doing. Prayer is all we have left and everyone that knows them has been faithful in praying for healing because we know that is what God desires from us during this sickness. During this difficult time for he and his family my family has been drawing closer to God becuase of how they have been handling this season of their lives. Drake and I have shared many things in our journey since we met in college. It was very difficult to hear this news and I wept along with him.

During late August I went down to Southern California just to be with them during this difficult time. I felt led by God to make myself available to them as a brother in Christ. I went with no agenda other than to be with them as I believe what a friend and a believer should do. It was hard even during those early stages of the onset of the disease to see Judd in the pain he was in. I felt led to lay hands on him and pray. I share this post more because I have been at times angry with God about the suffering that Judd is experiencing and this anger has been shaping my relationship with God in a positive way. I know this is difficult for some to imaging. I have been reflecting on unanswered prayers in the bible by some faithful servants which I beleive are helping shape my faith. That is to say that I will remain faithful even if God chooses not to heal because I beleive God to be at the center of who I am. I would rather face these types of situations with him at the center than an afterthought. I know that God is working in Drake's life and his faith has made mine stronger.

God I pray for healing in Judd as I know that you are the only one who can deliver him.

Amen.

Restaurant review.

2007-10-27T21:57:00.000-07:00

On Friday night Jenn and I had a date night and visited the local gourmet restaurant, The Painted Lady. I had been looking forward to this as I had heard great things about it. As we entered I noticed the decor and was quite pleased. We were greeted immediately greeted and made to feel at home. The many options on the menu seemed very yummy and it was difficult to decide. For $45 you have the choice of an appetizer, entire, and a dessert. I found myself thinking I've seen some of these dishes featured on the Food Network. I was really looking forward to the meal.

After much consideration I decided on the veal sweetbread appetizer. It was yummy, it was a great way to start. I then ordered the leg of lamb on a Parmesan risotto. I was not prepared for the texture and was caught off guard. The best part of that dish was the risotto, I did not care for the lamb. Jenn ordered the sea bass, that dish was very yummy, I finished off half of it. For dessert I ordered the selection of artisan cheese it too was enjoyable yet I didn't think it was much of a dessert dish. Jenn ordered a pumpkin creme brulee, the presentation was amazing and it was very tasty. Overall I would definitely return even though it was a small fortune. Won't be doing that every weekend and I won't be ordering the leg of lamb again. We had a very enjoyable time and would recommend this place to anyone. It's quite a place even if it is located in Newberg.

A recent conversation with Samuel

2007-10-27T21:49:00.000-07:00

So a couple of weeks ago Samuel accompanied me to my office, as I had forgotten something that I needed to get. As we were walking to my office Samuel asked if he could come to work with me on a regular basis. I asked him if some day he would like to work at the same place I work. He responded by saying "I would like that." I told him we could have meetings together. He said "Yeah," and then he told me, "I can have a computer." I said yes you can have a computer. He said, "then I could send you email." I chuckled and said, "yes." He then got a serious look on his face and said, "Papi, I don't have any work clothes." I could not help but laugh and said that I think we could get him some. From that moment he asks every day if he could go to work with me as I am getting ready for work. It has been a source of enjoyment for me.

Is it easier to do diversity work in Christian or secular higher education?

2007-10-23T21:23:00.000-07:00

This question has been posed to me by a colleague. After having worked for 8 + years in secular higher education before returning to Christian higher education I would say that diversity work in some cases can be easier in secular higher education, but in many ways it comes down to the purpose of doing diversity work. In Christian higher education, Christ is the center and everything we do should revolve around doing kingdom work. "On earth as it is in heaven," this statement rings true for me it motivates me in what I am doing. I truly believe that we should be striving to experience God's kingdom in heaven on earth. I believe this is different from doing diversity work in secular higher education in which the focus much of the time is the bottom line. That is to say institutions embark on this mission because they believe that in order to be competitive in today’s economy and appeal to a broader audience they must attempt to do diversity work mainly because of changing demographics. Although this is true for institutions in Christian higher education the center piece is Christ in that we are called to be Christ to all people and we are all in this together. We need to be actively engaging today's culture which means understanding all ethnic groups and preparing disciples to engage in these conversations. I can honestly say that engaging in conversations about diversity has been more meaningful for me on a Christian campus then they were on a secular campus. I would challenge my friends who attended Christian institutions and now work in a secular setting to share their thoughts on this matter.

Conversation about race with Samuel

2007-10-20T14:42:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I had my first conversation about race with my three year old Samuel. It happened while we were visiting my in-laws. I was in the process of putting him down for a nap and he noticed a picture on the wall which was from Haiti. He asked why all the people in the painting were black. I was caught off guard as I was not ready to start talking about race with my three year old, but I knew that if I did not address his question properly he could form misconceptions about issues around race. I started by talking about how people in the part of the world have more melanin in their bodies then people in the west and that this is why there skin is a darker color. I then explained that he too has a lot of melanin in his body and that as he grows up he will notice that he is darker than most kids. Although we have not had a subsequent discussion about race I think that I was able to handle this question well. It reminded me of Beverly Tatum’s book, “Why are all the Black kids sitting together in the cafeteria?” She describes a similar situation with her three year old. The point is that we should address these questions when they arise instead of making something up because we are afraid to address the question. The other thing to be prepared for is to think through these issues before they arise. If you have not read this book I would encourage you to do so.