McNair scholars, mentors honored

Victor Villanueva, Edward R. Meyer Distinguished Professor of Liberal Arts at Washington State University: “I’m trying to persuade you to be conscious about language, about the language that tells you something about your worth, about the language within the language.”

11:19 a.m., Aug. 18, 2005--Victor Villanueva, Edward R. Meyer Distinguished Professor of Liberal Arts at Washington State University, told UD’s newest group of McNair Scholars to be aware of language and the ways it can be used for positive change or to reinforce negative stereotypes about race and culture.

Villanueva was keynote speaker at the sixth annual McNair and University Undergraduate Scholars Achievement and Celebration Dinner, held Thursday, Aug. 11, in Clayton Hall.

The UD program, named for Ronald E. McNair, an African-American astronaut who died in the explosion of the Challenger space shuttle in 1986, helps students from diverse and disadvantaged backgrounds get into graduate programs of their choice and obtain funding. The University Undergraduate Scholars program is modeled on the McNair program.

“I’m here to talk about language, because that is what I do,” Villanueva said. “Throughout my academic career, I have focused almost exclusively on the ways in which bad ideas are subtly conveyed through language, and the ways in which language can be used to change ideas and traditions.”

A Vietnam War veteran and high school dropout, Villanueva earned his GED in the U.S. Army before going on to earn associate, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees.

Villanueva challenged the McNair scholars to think about the ways in which individuals are “bombarded with words intended to persuade” from the various media, as well as within academia.

“I’m trying to persuade you to be conscious about language, about the language that tells you something about your worth, about the language within the language,” Villanueva said. “Language is at the heart, at the soul. Language is the soul of being human.”

While certain overt aspects may have disappeared, Villanueva said racism still exists in the area of language and must be recognized and confronted.

“Racism has gotten so tricky that we don’t even want to name it. We try to deny it altogether with terms like ‘color blind,’” Villanueva said. “Terms like diversity and multiculturalism at least try to acknowledge difference--in how we dress, in how we believe, in any number of things, including how we speak and write, even within one language.”

A former chairperson of the Conference on College Composition and Communication, a professional organization for rhetoric and composition studies, Villanueva has published more than 30 articles or chapters in books. He has written, edited, or co-edited five books, with another five books in the publication process. His books include Bootstraps: From an American Academic of Color, which received the National Council of Teachers of English’s Russell Award for distinguished research and scholarship in English and the Conference on English Education’s Meade Award for scholarship in English Education. Cross-Talk in Comp Theory: A Reader, currently is used in graduate education in composition studies.

McNair success continues at UD

Yolanda Acree, AS ’05, receives the Spirit of McNair Award from Conrado (Bobby) Gempesaw, vice provost for academic programs and planning and international programs.

With another 100 percent success rate for participants who have applied to and been accepted into the graduate programs of their choice during the 2004-05 academic year, the McNair Program at UD continues to be the most successful of the more than 150 McNair Scholars programs nationwide, Maria Palacas, UD program director, said.

“The McNair Program is changing the course of academia,” Palacas said. “Since the program began at UD, 71 students have completed their undergraduate studies and have moved on to graduate studies. More than 85 percent of these students participated in UD’s Study-Abroad program and 95 percent made the Dean’s List.”

2004-05 McNair Scholars Program Faculty/Staff Awards:

Kevin Etienne-Cummings, coordinator in the Office of Undergraduate Studies, Commitment to the McNair Scholars Program;
Stephan Bohacek, assistant professor of electrical and computing engineering, Mentor of the Year;
Deni Galileo, assistant professor of biological sciences, Mentor of the Year; and
Juan Villamarin, professor emeritus of anthropology, Mentor of the Year.

2004-05 Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program Awards:

Yolanda Acree, AS ’05, Spirit of McNair Award;
Jeffrey Bergman, EG ’07 (Visiting Scholar from Ohio State University), Spirit of McNair Award;
Natasha Sutton, AS ’06, Collegiality Award;
Ashley Smith, BE ’07, Leadership Award; and
Matthew Winn, AS ’05, McNair Scholar of Promise Award.

Article by Jerry Rhodes
Photos by Kevin Quinlan

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