C ELEBRATING ETHNICITY
H ONORING OUR HISTORIES OF STRUGGLE
A CTING FOR CHANGE
R ISING TO OUR HIGHER HUMANITY
G AINING EMPOWERMENT
E DUCATING SELF AND OTHERS
CHARGE History
January
1987
David Jenkins (Former Associate Director of Residential Life)
received a grant from Affirmative Action to start a BEFRIENDER
PROGRAM created in response to several racial incidents on
Alumni Quad, which received national media attention.
Spring 1987
Invitations were sent out to students to become volunteers.
Twenty-five people applied and eight were chosen for the program.
Loretta Redfurn became the first Residential Life Professional
Staff Advisor to the Program. July
1987
Douglas Samuels became Coordinator for the Minority Assistance
Program (M.A.P.). Twelve new student volunteers were added
and thus became known as Minority Student Assistants (M.S.A.).
Loretta Benjamin-Samuels, Esther Jackson, Caro Mercado and
Loretta Redfurn, all Residential Life Staff, were instrumental
in both support and leadership to help Doug Samuels develop
the program. July
1988
Geneva M. Walker-Johnson joined the Department of Residential
Life as the new Associate Director and became Coordinator
for the Minority Assistance Program. M.A.P. Graduate Assistants
were also added to help promote the Program more directly.
July 1989
Geneva M. Walker-Johnson was promoted to Director of Residential
Life and Scott Mims was appointed as Coordinator of the Minority
Assistance Program. The 1989-90 academic year began with 40
M.S.A.s, which quickly fell to 15 by the end of the Fall 1989
semester. Students involved in the Program felt that the name
of the Program was partially defeating and hindering their
efforts and the goals of the Program. Together with Mary Sydmore
and Shirlene Francis, two M.A.P. G.A.s and the M.S.A.s developed
and proposed the new title of the program - Multicultural
Awareness Program. May
1990
The Department of Residential Life offered a small stipend
for second-year returning M.S.A.s to be paid over the course
of the semester. July
1990
Bryan A. Moody was named Acting Assistant Director of Residential
Life and also Coordinator of the Multicultural Awareness Program.
Additionally, advisement/supervision of M.A.P. and M.S.A.s
responsibilities were assigned to the Programming Directors
on each Quadrangle to create an umbrella effect as it related
to all Quad Programming. The full-time professional staff
members had direct responsibility for overseeing all Quadrangle’s
programming which included M.A.P., Quad Board, and R.A. programs
within the Residence Halls. A Graduate Assistant on each Quad
served to assist the Programming Director with the advisement
and program development of M.A.P. and M.S.A.s on their respective
Quadrangle. January
1993
Stacy Robinson was promoted to the newly created position
of Coordinator of Multicultural Programming and Leadership
Development. The CMPLD had job responsibilities in Residential
Life as well as the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs.
The Residential Life component of this position was designed
to advance M.A.P. by providing more focused attention on the
Program, increased support for the M.A.P. Graduate Assistants
as a group, greater emphasis on the development of the M.S.A.s
knowledge base and programming abilities, and a direct link
to other cultural student organizations and resources on campus.
September 1993
M.A.P. was removed from the programming area. Stacy Robinson
became Coordinator of M.A. P. and two Graduate Assistants,
Nestor Morales Diaz and LaTonia Williams, with the assistance
of Anita Grandy, Graduate Assistant on Alumni Quad, became
directly responsible for the campus-wide M.S.A. staff. The
Multicultural Student Advisory Council was formed. As part
of this organization, which is composed of the leaders of
the major cultural student groups on campus, M.A.P. gained
a more distinct campus-wide voice. Fall
1994
The Multicultural Awareness Program became the CHARGE Cultural
Program. CHARGE, a more narrowly focused concept than M.A.P.,
was designed to give the program greater definition. An emphasis
on ethnicity, particularly the experiences of people of African,
Asian, Latino, and Native American heritage allowed CHARGE
to address the experiences of those groups in depth. The Multicultural
Student Assistants became CHARGE Assistants. The Graduate
Assistant position, held by Carlos Mills, became a single
position, working with the CHARGE Coordinator in the Central
Office. CHARGE Assistants were required, for the first time,
to take a two-credit course to assist them in their position.
June 1995
The CHARGE Cultural Program was expanded to encompass issues
as they relate to the experience of people of Jewish descent.
Stacy Robinson resigned as the Coordinator of Multicultural
Programming and Leadership Development and Maribel Joa replaced
Carlos Mills as the Graduate Assistant for the 1995-1996 academic
year. The CHARGE Resource Room, formerly existing on each
quad, will operate from Indian Quad only and will be staffed
by six CHARGE Assistants. Summer
1996
Five students were hired as CHARGE Assistants to be supervised
by Monica Lee Miranda, Graduate Assistant for the 1996-1997
academic year. Charles Rogers, Assistant Director for Residential
Life/Judicial, and Stephanie Madnick, Quad Coordinator, worked
on revisions for the CHARGE program for further development.
The CHARGE office was located in the Resource Room in Montauk
Hall, Indian Quad. May
1997
Three new CHARGE Assistants are hired as Heather Wardally
and Abraham Park return for the 1997-1998 academic year as
CHARGE Assistants. Monica Lee Miranda remains the Graduate
Assistant for the Program for the 1997-1998 academic year.
Year 2000- 2001
Six new CHARGE Assistants were hired for the 2000- 2001 academic
year. Their names were Hafeez Waheed, Kelly Berkey, Aimee
Richards, Nekia Johnson, Adeline Alfonso, and Jimmy Poma.
Under the leadership of Tiffany Perry, the new Graduate Assistant
and John Baynes, the Quad Coordinator of State Quad, CHARGE
continues educational programming. The CHARGE office was located
to Colonial Quad tower basement. Fall
2001
Aimee Richards, Nekia Johnson, and Adeline Alfonso, returned
for the Fall academic year. Sasha Murray, Natasha Farquharson,
Jennifer Juste, and Jeffry White were hired as new CHARGE
Assistants. The CHARGE office returned to the Resource Room
in Montauk Hall, Indian Quad. Spring
2002
Sasha Murray, Natasha Farquharson, Jennifer Juste, Nana Mensah,
Kealia Hamilton, Nadia Hamilton, and Jennifer Escobosa were
CHARGE Assistants, for the Spring 2002 academic year. Tiffany
Perry remained the Graduate Assistant for the 2001-2002 academic
year. Spring 2004
Under the leadership of Karen Acousta-McNeill, Senior Residence
Hall Director for Indian Quad, the CHARGE program hosted the
first annual Multicultural Night Around the World in the Campus
Center Ballroom. The program was a huge success, which attracted
over 500 students and faculty members. Fall
2004
Leandra Payne, Residence Hall and Programming Director on
Dutch Quad, added Director of the CHARGE Cultural Program
to her responsibilities. An excellent team of CHARGE Assistants
supports her, which include: Dina Mikdadi, Jahaira Rosa, Justin
Smith, Lauren Keyes, Michelle Fuchs, and Natasha Bazile.
Contact ResLife: (518)442-5875 ·  reslife@albany.edu
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