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Photo courtesy of Makayla Franks ’19
Photo courtesy of Makayla Franks ’19

Behind the Scenes: Inviting Janet Mock

By Makayla Franks ’19

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It started in October. Rylee Carrillo-Waggoner ’19 had either just finished reading Janet Mock’s autobiography, Redefining Realness, for class, or was a longtime fan. I wanted to bring a big name speaker on behalf of Rainbow Alliance partially as my last stand as treasurer. Together, we had an idea: bring Janet Mock here as the cornerstone of a new series of talks, working title “Intersectionality Talks,” that we bring in the spring semester, funded and promoted by the Student Diversity Council as a way to engage more of the student body.

If only it was as simple as that: to say that we thought it up and then immediately everything fell into place. First, there was the initial contact with her representative to see if she was even available as far out in advance as we would have liked her to come. Once they saw that we were serious about getting her here, they gave us the price tag and that was a bit of an obstacle.

Rainbow would, of course, be able to pay a section of it, and I segmented some of the budget off while I was still treasurer to ensure that Rainbow would be able to afford part of it. And from there were long and arduous processes of applications to different endowment programs here on campus to try and pitch the idea of starting a tradition in this way.

Our original date was set for the third week in February. Having a black transwoman speak during Black History Month at a predominately white institution would be, we thought, the perfect opportunity. With the changing of club e-boards, on-campus drama and delays in paperwork, however we wound up having to move the date to April 11.

This was my first time doing any of this. While I had planned events in the past and was familiar with the Hamilton side of things (contacting AV, using 25Live, publicity, etc.), I had never done something to this scale before. I wanted to do it right, as both my last act as treasurer and for the campus as a whole. This was the representation and opportunity that we so badly needed, especially in the aftermath of November 8.

There were many moments where I thought that the event would not actually happen. That we would fall short and have to accept being perpetually below the money we needed. But Jessica Shields ’20, my successor to the title of Treasurer for Rainbow and simultaneously the treasurer of the Asian Student Association, pulled all of the strings and connections she knew of. Somehow, in the whirlwind first two months of her term, we came up with the money that we needed to confidently say yes to the address. (See what I did there?) From there, it was all contract negotiations. Noelle Niznik, Director of Student Activities, took over this part of the process, which was a relief to me for both legal and mental reasons. 

In the meantime, Carrillo-Waggoner worked incredibly hard to create the questions (that needed to be approved ahead of time), write the introduction for Professor of Africana Studies & Classics Shelley Haley and Janet Mock while offering me overall support. Without the support of Associate Director of Diversity and Inclusion Aimee Germain, the Rainbow Alliance e-board, and Rylee, I don’t know that I would have had the mental tenacity to see this through to the end. But I did it, we did it, and I guess I can say that it all worked out.

The event went smoothly, Haley was amazing as a moderator and we managed to pull it off despite our setbacks. As Mock left that night out the side door of the Chapel, we asked if it was raining, and if she wanted an umbrella. She paused, before leaning back into the light of the doorway, and smiled. “No, it’s perfect.”

It truly was.

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