Senator Joel Anderson has issued certificates of recognition to each of the students who modeled for the Beyond the Stereotype poster campaign last year.

The campaign, which was on display on the third floor of Kellogg Library from Feb. 3 to May 22, showcases various CSUSM students facing the camera and tearing up stereotypical images of their cultures. The purpose of the campaign is to take a stand against cultural appropriation, which is when the members of one culture take elements of another culture, notably when a minority’s culture is exploited in the process.  

Each poster features the campaign’s slogan, “There is more to me than what you see. Beyond the stereotype there is history” above an image of a famous leader from each model’s culture. At the bottom of each image, the poster lists the model’s name, cultural identity and major. It also includes the historical figure’s biography.

Marilyn McWilliams, Administrative Assistant for the Office of Diversity, Educational Equity and Inclusion, said that Senator Anderson contacted her office to deliver certificates of recognition for each of the students who modeled for the poster campaign.

“Senator Joel Anderson was elected in 2010 to represent the citizens of San Diego and Riverside Counties in the 36th Senate district and in 2014 was re-elected to office representing the thirty-eighth Senate district,” she said. “What an honor to receive recognition from his office.”

The students who modeled for the campaign are Kevin Adson, Akilah Green, Michael Murphy, Amiyonette Hesaynehe Goodblanket, Roland Nguyen, Nancy Nguyen, Carlos Morales and Yohita Mendez Reyes. All images were shot by Meghan Doughty, Creative Director at the California Indian Culture and Sovereignty Center (CICSC) and alumni of CSUSM. The CICSC hired professional models to pose for the stereotypical images that were torn apart by the student models.

The Beyond the Stereotype campaign was co-created by the CICSC and Dr. Joely Proudfit, CICSC Director and Coordinator of Native Studies. The project flourished due to active collaboration between many campus groups and departments including the Office of Diversity, American Indian Student Alliance, Public Relations Club, Black Student Union and Kamalayan Alliance.

In addition to Dr. Proudfit, the project was heavily contributed to by faculty and staff including Fredi Avalos, Faculty Fellow in Cultural Intelligence, James Miller and Deborah Small from the School of Arts, Carmen Mitchell, Institutional Repository Librarian and Tishmall Turner from the Office of Tribal Liaison.

Dr. Arturo Ocampo, Associate Vice President of the Office of Diversity, Educational Equity and Inclusion, said that the campaign has a powerful message that can hopefully be expanded into more posters.

“We would love to do a next round and begin collaborating with more departments to focus on other issues,” Ocampo said. “Having students involved has been a great thing because this is where the learning happens.”

Dr. Proudfit said that Beyond the Stereotype is a project that she and the CICSC funded in an effort to educate the entire campus community on what cultural appropriation means and how it looks.

“The personal truly influenced the professional for this campaign,” she said. “We took on this effort so that we are not always just reacting when problems happen. We want to see this project framed and become a permanent part of campus.”

Proudfit said that issues of cultural appropriation are not minor offenses that should be taken lightly.

“Beyond the Stereotype is about going beyond these stereotypes, and by extension of that, beyond oneself,” she said. “We cannot leave our students to stand alone and tell them that we only care when the problems happen against our own groups. When people say that issues of cultural appropriation are small, that makes me question why these problems are not being fixed. If you are indifferent about these ‘small’ issues, where do you stand on the ‘bigger’ ones?”

Students who are interested in joining current and future efforts to fight social injustice on campus should contact Dr. Joely Proudfit at [email protected] or Dr. Arturo Ocampo at [email protected].

To view all eight posters and read more about Beyond the Stereotype, visit the CICSC’s website at http://www.csusm.edu/cicsc/projects/beyond-the-stereotype.html and the Office of Diversity’s website at http://www.csusm.edu/equity/stereotypes/index.html.