Dr. Mildred García

Seeing Through the Eyes of Difference: The Strength of Women’s Multicultural Alliances
By Mildred García, president of the Berkeley College of New York and New Jersey from 2001 until summer 2007; president of the California State University--Dominguez Hills beginning in August 2007
As I review my career with a mind toward women’s multicultural alliances, I realize that when I entered my administrative role, I was indeed very fortunate to have the support of another woman. In the late 1980s, I was a young faculty member teaching at LaGuardia Community College, part of the City University of New York. Following a meeting with the then-chair of my department and the dean of faculty, I witnessed an argument about me. The chair stated, “You can’t ask her to leave now; she is up for tenure,” to which the dean responded, “This is a wonderful opportunity.” At that point I decided that it was time for me to enter the conversation that would decide my fate. . . .

I-LEAD Members Bibi Abdalla, Mary Deputie, Raquel Gudiel, Tiffany De Leon, and Robin Posey

Student Perspectives on Multicultural Alliances: Support Systems for Change
By Raquel Gudiel, Mary Deputie, Tiffany De Leon, Mai Moua, Robin Posey, and Bibi Abdalla, students, the College of Saint Benedict
There is no moment when a person is more vulnerable than when she is placed in a new environment. Even if a person speaks the language, still she has to learn the culture and find a balance between her values and the values of her new surroundings. She has to develop new communication skills in order to build relationships and find her place within the new environment, crossing cultural barriers to form multicultural alliances. . . .