Campus Currents

Monday, December 19
Performances at 4:00PM and 7:00PM
McCarthy Center Forum, Framingham State University

Over 4,000 exoplanets have been discovered. Are any home to life? Have you ever wondered what exoplanet science sounds like?

Don’t miss your opportunity to explore these questions during the McAuliffe Center’s unique holiday season event at Framingham State University! Join us for a musical celebration of exoplanets with performances of Octave of Light by Multiverse Concert Series, hands-on activities, and refreshments!

Octave of Light Performers:
Beth Sterling: Soprano
Sarah Ibbett: Violin
David Ibbett: Piano and Electronics

For more information and for tickets, visit: https://cm-center.org/event/holiday2022

By Publications Intern Leighah Beausoleil

Despite Indigenous women being murdered at 10 times the rate of all other ethnicities and over 5,700 missing Indigenous women and girls were reported in 2016, the U.S. Justice Department has only logged 116 of those cases, according to Jon Ribeiro, a history major and co-facilitator of the “History in the Making” series.

With the youngest to go missing under a year old and the oldest 83 years old, Ribeiro said the majority of these cases go unrecognized due to the Justice Department’s “very strict guidelines” for missing person reports as well as “gaps” found in the records.

Due to the injustices Native American populations continue to face since colonization, Ribeiro and fellow history majors and facilitators, Abby Versackas and Danni Marquez, worked with the Director of the Center for Inclusive Excellence Eric Nguyen to focus the third installment in their history discussion series on the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Movement.

Versackas said, “We did want to focus this discussion on women because it disproportionately affects women in particular, but I just want to emphasize that this isn't just a women's issue. It's a queer issue. It's an Indigenous issue.”

Ribeiro said there are a number of reasons why Indigenous women face violence at such a higher rate than all other ethnicities, including due to police brutality, distrust of law enforcement, racist and sexist stereotypes, and infrastructure of the reservations.

Given the high rates of poverty on the reservations and lack of public transportation, Indigenous women are often forced to hitch hike for rides to jobs or engage in sex work, Ribeiro added.

In response to this growing number of missing and murdered women, a movement began to raise awareness and provide support to the Indigenous communities.

Marquez noted how when Vlogger Gabby Petito, a white woman, went missing in August 2021, there was “hugely disproportionate media coverage on her versus women of color and Indigenous women.”

During the search for Petito, bodies of other individuals were discovered. Versackas said, “That just goes to show that they probably would not have discovered those bodies of Indigenous women had it not been for a white woman's body being present.”

Ribeiro said Petito’s case is an example of a “perfect victim” in which her life was viewed as something worth saving while Indigenous women are often blamed for the violence they face.

The discussion ended with participants sharing ways they can contribute to stopping and preventing violence for Indigenous women.

Alex Szarka, a history major, said though he hates performative activism, he encourages people to share any social media posts they see on the topic to raise awareness.

History Professor Lissa Bolletino said investing in Indigenous communities and getting the resources necessary to expand public transportation would allow for women to have a safer commute.

She said people can also engage in political activism, work toward empowering these communities, and address the poverty they face, adding legalizing and regulating sex work could also help in keeping these women safe.

History Professor Jon Huibregtse said during the Civil Rights Movement “participatory democracy” proved to be an important part and now that people have easier ways of communicating such as through social media, this action can play an even more powerful role.

“It's not that easy, but it's much easier than it was to activate that kind of participation and pressure people to make the decisions that we would like them to make,” he said.

Celebrate the holiday season with colleagues at the annual Faculty & Staff Winter Festival:

McCarthy Center Dining Common
Thursday, Dec. 22
Noon to 1:30 p.m

Good friends, food and raffle prizes.