Images: Vassar College
A Publication of the ALANA Center
Notes from the Director and Editor
By Yolanda Ramos '96
For several reasons, spring is one of my favorite seasons. It carries with it the promise of new possibilities, growth and rejuvenation. Days are getting longer and of course, a little warmer. Sunset lake will soon be filled again and students will begin studying, playing and lounging around campus. The ALANA Center is bubbling with increased student activities.
IMAGES, released in the spring, is another reason. This year’s issue has something for everyone, including short stories, great photography and artwork, poems and faculty interviews. Student reflections and pictures from home and/or aboard are included. Interesting selections that speak to various aspects of identity—racial, cultural, gender, sexual, geographic—remind us that we hold connections to various communities and are multi-faceted. The faculty spotlights with Jay Carreon in Chemistry, Candance Lowe in Anthropology, Quincy Mills in History, Seungsook Moon and Light Carruyo both from
Sociology introduce students to professors’ research and personal interest. Perhaps, reading their spotlight will lead you to register for their classes or stop by their office to chat. Visit the new Community Connections section to learn about two initiatives—Sistah Power and Protect the Dream—involving ALANA students in the Poughkeepsie community. If you are wondering about the purpose of the ALANA affiliate organizations, which hold their weekly general body meetings in the center, each of them shares their mission with you. The A Beautiful Community poem, created after one student wrote the first few lines and then another contributed where the other left off, reminds us of the strength that exist in community.
I want to send a special thanks to this year’s IMAGES coordinator—Angelic Sosa. You have provided exceptional leadership in putting together another strong edition. Once you had a vision for IMAGES, I watched you work diligently to assemble an amazing team of volunteers to assist with editing, conducting interviews, collecting submissions and you worked with Juliana Ma who created the stunning artwork for the front cover. Finishing with the layout in record time was another one of her accomplishments. It has been a pleasure working with you this year.
Notes from the Editor
By Angelic X. Sosa ‘08
I have to admit that taking on the responsibility of collecting and formatting this magazine on my own scared me - mainly because I am a quasi-perfectionist and the thought of not being able to finish by my deadline with the vision I had was frightening. However, I was able to obtain assistance from other people who wanted to be involved with the production of this magazine and were helpful in making important decisions. The help of these people is special to me because it shows me that collectively we can all come together to make something great. I have had experience in planning other events and publicity for student of color organizations, but putting a magazine together that will be available to so many more people was yet another adventure for me to pursue. I want to give a special thanks to everyone who has helped me with editing, as well as submissions this past year - without them this could have been another simple newsletter.
Enjoy IMAGES!