2018, TVC Executive Board

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The Vermont ConnectionVolume 39 Dear Student Affairs: Reflections on thePast and Hopes for the Future Article 14-12-2018Executive Board Editors NoteTVC Executive Board 2018Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/tvcThis Editor's Note is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Education and Social Services at ScholarWorks @ UVM. It has beenaccepted for inclusion in The Vermont Connection by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks @ UVM. For more information, please contactdonna.omalley@uvm.edu.Recommended Citation2018, TVC Executive Board (2018) "Executive Board Editors Note," The Vermont Connection: Vol. 39 , Article 1.Available at: https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/tvc/vol39/iss1/1• 5E X E C U T I V E  B O A R D  N O T EArmed with the knowledge of  our past, we can with confidence charter a course for our future. Culture is an indispensable weapon in the freedom struggle. We must take hold of  it and forge the future with the past.- Malcolm X The Executive Board of  The Vermont Connection (TVC) is honored to publish the 39th volume of  our student affairs journal of  The University of  Vermont (UVM). The theme for the 39th volume emerged from an idea after a classroom discussion about the changing voices and perspectives of  student affairs. As professionals, scholars, and practitioners, we each hold a piece of  the changing future that will take student affairs in many directions. However, as many of  us in the Higher Education and Student Affairs Administration (HESA) program learned, we cannot change the future without the knowledge of  all of  our pasts. An understanding of  these pasts is what ignites our spirits and passions to make change and hope for something different in the future.This year’s journal theme, Dear Student Affairs: Reflections on the Past and Hopes for the Future, invited authors to directly write to the field to address cultures, ideologies, structures, and systems from various points in the past and balance these ideas with the hopes desired for the future. Our intentions of  the open letter as the framework was to invite readers to think critically while utilizing new perspectives. What emerged was a collection of  analytical, constructive, and aspirational works that make up the 39th volume of  TVC. Purple captures this spirit and passion. The Executive Board chose purple as the cover color for its symbolic connection to spirit. In the LGBTQA pride flag, the color purple represents spirit and every member of  this year’s TVC board identifies within the LGBTQA communities. When we reflected upon our identities and what each stripe on the pride flag represents, we instantly resonated most with purple. To have “spirit” means to have something that is intangible, but nonetheless inspires action from within a person. Although spirit, much like the past and future, is invisible, it has the ability to influence people’s behavior. More than anything, our driving force behind the work that we do in student affairs is the spirit of  learning. We hope to learn from our past so that we may better educate those in the future. It takes a great deal of  spirit to challenge traditions, self-advocate, and inspire hope. We believe our authors were able to capture the spirit of  student Executive Board Note 6 • The Vermont Connection • 2018 • Volume 39 affairs in their writings. Within this note, we would like to take a moment to reflect on TVC’s past and how it may inspire hope for our future. At the end of  the fall semester, the TVC community said goodbye to our staff  advisor Kim Monteaux De Freitas, who served not only TVC for the past six years, but also the HESA and broader UVM community. In addition to Kim’s departure, we will also bid farewell to Margie Dunki-Jacobs at the end of  the 2017-2018 school year. Margie served as an Administrative Assistant to the College of  Education and Social Services at UVM for the past 10 years. The faculty and students in HESA and TVC all benefited from Margie’s kindness and tireless effort to make everyone feel supported. Kim’s wisdom and Margie’s generosity carried TVC into its 39th volume and we cannot thank them enough for their dedication to our community. We know that in their future work, Margie and Kim will continue the TVC legacy.In early October, our annual Phone-A-Thon event successfully connected current students to past students, faculty, staff, and friends of  TVC. The generous donations made by those individuals will make the 40th volume of  TVC possible. The personal connections forged on the phone continued as more alumnx joined the TVC Mentorship Program, where the members of  the first year cohort were paired with new mentors. For those who wanted to connect with other alumnx outside of  their mentors, we hosted an alumnx networking event where past HESA students shared their personal narratives and wisdom about navigating the field of  student affairs. In the second year TVC’s Professional Development Fund, more UVM HESA students utilized the opportunity to attend and present at professional conferences. These initiatives maintain the strength of  The Vermont Connection beyond the journal and are foundational to cultivating TVC’s vast community and its future.We hope this journal embodies the diverse experiences of  student affairs professionals, all of  whom must attempt to balance the implications from the past and the bright hopes for student affairs’ collective future. With great pride, we invite you reflect on the past and examine the future throughout the 39th volume of  The Vermont Connection.The Vermont Connection Executive Board, 2017-2018Angelique K. AdamsDoretha Michiah Dävé Benn Carly Rose Bidner Maggie Kerr Hussar J./Jae Jaeger Christine Virginia Roundtree Woodrow-Sterling Scypion

Executive Board Editors Note

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Executive Board Editors Note

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