{"id":89384,"date":"2019-05-08T12:06:33","date_gmt":"2019-05-08T16:06:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/?p=89384"},"modified":"2019-12-05T12:53:46","modified_gmt":"2019-12-05T17:53:46","slug":"student-leader-builds-culture-of-diversity-on-campus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2019\/05\/08\/student-leader-builds-culture-of-diversity-on-campus\/","title":{"rendered":"Student Leader Builds Culture of Diversity on UMW Campus"},"content":{"rendered":"<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><p>It was a hot August day when Milen Mehari wound her way through a maze of tables and tents. The Asian Student Association and the Belly Dance Team had set up on Ball Circle. So had the Campus Christian Community and Students Helping Honduras. But nowhere at Club Carnival, a showcase of UMW&rsquo;s more than 100 student organizations, could Mehari find the one at the top of the list she held in her hand &ndash; the African Student Union.<\/p><figure id=\"attachment_89387\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-89387\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"89387\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2019\/05\/08\/student-leader-builds-culture-of-diversity-on-campus\/2019umwseniors090\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/2019UMWseniors090.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"6000,4000\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta='{\"aperture\":\"3.2\",\"credit\":\"\",\"camera\":\"ILCE-7M3\",\"caption\":\"\",\"created_timestamp\":\"1556652182\",\"copyright\":\"\",\"focal_length\":\"86\",\"iso\":\"1250\",\"shutter_speed\":\"0.005\",\"title\":\"\",\"orientation\":\"1\"}' data-image-title=\"2019UMWseniors090\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Mili Mehari revived UMW&amp;#8217;s African Student Union, serving as the group&amp;#8217;s president for each of her four years at Mary Washington. She&amp;#8217;ll volunteer with AmeriCorps for a year before pursuing a Ph.D. in Africana studies. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/2019UMWseniors090-300x200.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/2019UMWseniors090-1024x683.jpg\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-89387\" src=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/2019UMWseniors090-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Mili Mehari revived UMW's African Student Union, serving as the group's president for each of her four years at Mary Washington. She'll volunteer with AmeriCorps for a year before pursuing a Ph.D. in Africana studies. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/2019UMWseniors090-300x200.jpg 300w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/2019UMWseniors090-768x512.jpg 768w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/2019UMWseniors090-1024x683.jpg 1024w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/2019UMWseniors090-680x453.jpg 680w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/2019UMWseniors090-1140x760.jpg 1140w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/2019UMWseniors090-600x400.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-89387\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mili Mehari revived UMW&rsquo;s African Student Union, serving as the group&rsquo;s president for each of her four years at Mary Washington. She&rsquo;ll volunteer with AmeriCorps for a year before pursuing a Ph.D. in Africana studies. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.<\/figcaption><\/figure><p>That&rsquo;s because, she finally learned, the once-active group had dissolved. And that wasn&rsquo;t OK with Mehari. She made a college career-changing move right then and there. A freshman who&rsquo;d lived in her Virginia Hall room for less than a week, she agreed to become president and revive the group.<\/p><p>Back on Ball Circle Saturday, at the opposite end of her Mary Washington journey, Mehari will receive the bachelor&rsquo;s degree in English, and women&rsquo;s and gender studies, she spent four years earning. But she&rsquo;s perhaps just as proud of what she&rsquo;s leaving behind. With her passion &ndash; and poetry &ndash; she&rsquo;s breathed life into the African Student Union she&rsquo;s about to turn over to someone else. Working closely with the <a href=\"https:\/\/students.umw.edu\/multicultural\/\">James Farmer Multicultural Center<\/a>, she&rsquo;s made it her mission &ndash; as has UMW President Troy Paino &ndash; to build up the culture of diversity on campus, for UMW students who look like she does &hellip; and for those who don&rsquo;t.<\/p><p>&ldquo;When we say multiculturalism, it does not simply mean black and brown and marginalized,&rdquo; said Mehari, who plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Africana studies after a year with AmeriCorps. &ldquo;I believe there&rsquo;s a space for all of us to exist.&rdquo;<\/p><figure id=\"attachment_89386\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-89386\" style=\"width: 200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"89386\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2019\/05\/08\/student-leader-builds-culture-of-diversity-on-campus\/2019umwseniors099\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/2019UMWseniors099.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"4000,6000\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta='{\"aperture\":\"3.2\",\"credit\":\"\",\"camera\":\"ILCE-7M3\",\"caption\":\"\",\"created_timestamp\":\"1556652676\",\"copyright\":\"\",\"focal_length\":\"71\",\"iso\":\"640\",\"shutter_speed\":\"0.0004\",\"title\":\"\",\"orientation\":\"1\"}' data-image-title=\"2019UMWseniors099\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;UMW English and women&amp;#8217;s and gender studies major Milen Mehari graduate Saturday knowing she did her part to enhance the culture of diversity on campus. As president of the African Student Union, she worked closely with the James Farmer Multicultural Center. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi. &lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/2019UMWseniors099-200x300.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/2019UMWseniors099-683x1024.jpg\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-89386\" src=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/2019UMWseniors099-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"UMW English and women's and gender studies major Milen Mehari graduate Saturday knowing she did her part to enhance the culture of diversity on campus. As president of the African Student Union, she worked closely with the James Farmer Multicultural Center. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/2019UMWseniors099-200x300.jpg 200w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/2019UMWseniors099-768x1152.jpg 768w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/2019UMWseniors099-683x1024.jpg 683w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/2019UMWseniors099-760x1140.jpg 760w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/2019UMWseniors099-400x600.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-89386\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">UMW English and women&rsquo;s and gender studies major Milen Mehari will graduate Saturday knowing she did her part to enhance the culture of diversity on campus. As president of the African Student Union, she worked closely with the James Farmer Multicultural Center. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.<\/figcaption><\/figure><p>Mehari, who goes by &ldquo;Mili,&rdquo; was in third grade when her family moved to Arlington, Virginia, from Eritrea, where both&nbsp;parents were active members of the east African country&rsquo;s liberation efforts. They spoke Tigrinya, worked two jobs each and expected their daughter to go to college. Her cousin had studied at Mary Washington, so Mehari came with her mother to visit.<\/p><p>&ldquo;It was very beautiful,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;It moved me.&rdquo; She didn&rsquo;t tour anywhere else.<\/p><p>She hit the ground running, landing a freshman-year internship with the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, D.C. There, she researched the criminalization of race and poverty &ndash; unfair targeting of marginalized populations by law enforcement &ndash; and how it led to disproportionate discipline in local schools. She dug into the concept of restorative justice &ndash; making things right through conversation and accountability, rather than punitive measures &ndash; and caught the attention of the local newspaper.<\/p><p>Because of her upbringing, she told <em>The Free Lance-Star&nbsp;<\/em>in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fredericksburg.com\/news\/education\/restorative-justice-seen-as-a-route-to-change-for-students\/article_b76756cb-f967-5699-9796-6571fe519d0e.html\">2016 article<\/a> that cited her studies, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t have an option not to be great. I think that helped me to ignore the reality of what was going on. Now I can see this data &hellip; it&rsquo;s significant.&rdquo;<\/p><p>She continued that research during an internship with Fredericksburg&rsquo;s Optimal Health Enterprise, bringing a workshop on restorative justice to UMW in 2018.<\/p><p>&ldquo;More than any other student I&rsquo;ve encountered, she understands what her purpose was on this campus,&rdquo; James Farmer Multicultural Assistant Director Chris Williams said of Mehari. They&rsquo;ve worked together to bring Mary Washington powerful events, including an eye-opening <a href=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2018\/11\/14\/civil-rights-trip-sparks-a-mary-washington-movement\/\">fall break trip to Selma<\/a>, Alabama, and the <a href=\"https:\/\/students.umw.edu\/multicultural\/social-justice-and-leadership-summit\/\">Social Justice and Leadership Summit<\/a>, about which they presented at an Atlanta conference.<\/p><p>&ldquo;Her ability to bridge gaps between faculty, staff and students is outstanding,&rdquo; said James Farmer Postdoctoral Fellow in Civil Rights and Social Justice LaWanda Simpkins, who also presented. &ldquo;She pushed me to operate in my truth by simply operating in hers.&rdquo;<\/p><div class=\"tiled-gallery type-rectangular tiled-gallery-unresized\" data-original-width=\"1100\" data-carousel-extra='{\"blog_id\":7,\"permalink\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/news\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/08\\\/student-leader-builds-culture-of-diversity-on-campus\\\/\",\"likes_blog_id\":230672515}' itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageGallery\"> <div class=\"gallery-row\" style=\"width: 1100px; height: 491px;\" data-original-width=\"1100\" data-original-height=\"491\"> <div class=\"gallery-group images-1\" style=\"width: 734px; height: 491px;\" data-original-width=\"734\" data-original-height=\"491\"> <div class=\"tiled-gallery-item tiled-gallery-item-large\" itemprop=\"associatedMedia\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2019\/05\/08\/student-leader-builds-culture-of-diversity-on-campus\/img_3500-2\/\" border=\"0\" itemprop=\"url\"> <meta itemprop=\"width\" content=\"730\"> <meta itemprop=\"height\" content=\"487\"> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" data-attachment-id=\"89392\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3500.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2976,1984\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta='{\"aperture\":\"6.3\",\"credit\":\"\",\"camera\":\"Canon EOS Rebel T6i\",\"caption\":\"\",\"created_timestamp\":\"1497031223\",\"copyright\":\"\",\"focal_length\":\"18\",\"iso\":\"100\",\"shutter_speed\":\"0.005\",\"title\":\"\",\"orientation\":\"1\"}' data-image-title=\"IMG_3500\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3500-300x200.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3500-1024x683.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3500.jpg?w=730&amp;h=487&amp;ssl=1\" srcset=\"\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3500.jpg 2976w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3500-300x200.jpg 300w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3500-768x512.jpg 768w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3500-1024x683.jpg 1024w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3500-680x453.jpg 680w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3500-1140x760.jpg 1140w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3500-600x400.jpg 600w\" width=\"730\" height=\"487\" loading=\"lazy\" data-original-width=\"730\" data-original-height=\"487\" itemprop=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/image\" title=\"IMG_3500\" alt=\"Mili Mehari (front row, far right) poses with UMW students who joined the first-ever Fall Break Social Justice trip to Alabama stand in front of the Legacy Museum in Montgomery. Mehari played an important role in making the trip possible, including securing funds.\" style=\"width: 730px; height: 487px;\"> <\/a> <div class=\"tiled-gallery-caption\" itemprop=\"caption description\"> Mili Mehari (front row, far right) poses with UMW students who joined the first-ever Fall Break Social Justice trip to Alabama stand in front of the Legacy Museum in Montgomery. Mehari played an important role in making the trip possible, including securing funds. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <!-- close group --> <div class=\"gallery-group images-2\" style=\"width: 366px; height: 491px;\" data-original-width=\"366\" data-original-height=\"491\"> <div class=\"tiled-gallery-item tiled-gallery-item-large\" itemprop=\"associatedMedia\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2019\/05\/08\/student-leader-builds-culture-of-diversity-on-campus\/img_3611\/\" border=\"0\" itemprop=\"url\"> <meta itemprop=\"width\" content=\"362\"> <meta itemprop=\"height\" content=\"242\"> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" data-attachment-id=\"89391\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3611.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2976,1984\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta='{\"aperture\":\"8\",\"credit\":\"\",\"camera\":\"Canon EOS Rebel T6i\",\"caption\":\"\",\"created_timestamp\":\"1497123671\",\"copyright\":\"\",\"focal_length\":\"22\",\"iso\":\"100\",\"shutter_speed\":\"0.005\",\"title\":\"\",\"orientation\":\"1\"}' data-image-title=\"IMG_3611\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;Mehari (near front, leopard-print bandana) poses with UMW students on the Fall Break Social Justice trip to Selma, Alabama, as they begin the emotional trek arcoss the Edmund Pettus Bridge, site of the brutal 1965 Bloody Sunday police attack against civil rights protestors.&lt;\/p&gt; \" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3611-300x200.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3611-1024x683.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3611.jpg?w=362&amp;h=242&amp;ssl=1\" srcset=\"\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3611.jpg 2976w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3611-300x200.jpg 300w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3611-768x512.jpg 768w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3611-1024x683.jpg 1024w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3611-680x453.jpg 680w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3611-1140x760.jpg 1140w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3611-600x400.jpg 600w\" width=\"362\" height=\"242\" loading=\"lazy\" data-original-width=\"362\" data-original-height=\"242\" itemprop=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/image\" title=\"IMG_3611\" alt=\"JFMC's staff said that impactful experiences like the Social Justice Fall Break Trip help students connect the dots between past and present-day civil rights struggles. The inaugural trip in 2017 took the UMW group to Selma, Alabama, where they crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge, site of the brutal 1965 Bloody Sunday police attack against civil rights protestors. Photo provided by JFMC.\" style=\"width: 362px; height: 242px;\"> <\/a> <div class=\"tiled-gallery-caption\" itemprop=\"caption description\"> JFMC&rsquo;s staff said that impactful experiences like the Social Justice Fall Break Trip help students connect the dots between past and present-day civil rights struggles. The inaugural trip in 2017 took the UMW group to Selma, Alabama, where they crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge, site of the brutal 1965 Bloody Sunday police attack against civil rights protestors. Photo provided by JFMC. <\/div> <\/div> <div class=\"tiled-gallery-item tiled-gallery-item-large\" itemprop=\"associatedMedia\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2019\/05\/08\/student-leader-builds-culture-of-diversity-on-campus\/img_3583\/\" border=\"0\" itemprop=\"url\"> <meta itemprop=\"width\" content=\"362\"> <meta itemprop=\"height\" content=\"241\"> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" data-attachment-id=\"89390\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3583.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2976,1984\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta='{\"aperture\":\"8\",\"credit\":\"\",\"camera\":\"Canon EOS Rebel T6i\",\"caption\":\"\",\"created_timestamp\":\"1497122842\",\"copyright\":\"\",\"focal_length\":\"50\",\"iso\":\"100\",\"shutter_speed\":\"0.005\",\"title\":\"\",\"orientation\":\"1\"}' data-image-title=\"IMG_3583\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3583-300x200.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3583-1024x683.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3583.jpg?w=362&amp;h=241&amp;ssl=1\" srcset=\"\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3583.jpg 2976w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3583-300x200.jpg 300w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3583-768x512.jpg 768w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3583-1024x683.jpg 1024w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3583-680x453.jpg 680w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3583-1140x760.jpg 1140w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3583-600x400.jpg 600w\" width=\"362\" height=\"241\" loading=\"lazy\" data-original-width=\"362\" data-original-height=\"241\" itemprop=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/image\" title=\"IMG_3583\" alt=\"IMG_3583\" style=\"width: 362px; height: 241px;\"> <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <!-- close group --> <\/div> <!-- close row --> <div class=\"gallery-row\" style=\"width: 1100px; height: 368px;\" data-original-width=\"1100\" data-original-height=\"368\"> <div class=\"gallery-group images-1\" style=\"width: 550px; height: 368px;\" data-original-width=\"550\" data-original-height=\"368\"> <div class=\"tiled-gallery-item tiled-gallery-item-large\" itemprop=\"associatedMedia\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2019\/05\/08\/student-leader-builds-culture-of-diversity-on-campus\/img_3527-2\/\" border=\"0\" itemprop=\"url\"> <meta itemprop=\"width\" content=\"546\"> <meta itemprop=\"height\" content=\"364\"> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" data-attachment-id=\"89389\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3527.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2976,1984\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta='{\"aperture\":\"14\",\"credit\":\"\",\"camera\":\"Canon EOS Rebel T6i\",\"caption\":\"\",\"created_timestamp\":\"1497046254\",\"copyright\":\"\",\"focal_length\":\"18\",\"iso\":\"3200\",\"shutter_speed\":\"0.002\",\"title\":\"\",\"orientation\":\"1\"}' data-image-title=\"IMG_3527\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3527-300x200.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3527-1024x683.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3527.jpg?w=546&amp;h=364&amp;ssl=1\" srcset=\"\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3527.jpg 2976w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3527-300x200.jpg 300w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3527-768x512.jpg 768w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3527-1024x683.jpg 1024w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3527-680x453.jpg 680w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3527-1140x760.jpg 1140w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3527-600x400.jpg 600w\" width=\"546\" height=\"364\" loading=\"lazy\" data-original-width=\"546\" data-original-height=\"364\" itemprop=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/image\" title=\"IMG_3527\" alt=\"Mehari (front row, second from right) poses with UMW students in front of the Legacy Museum in Montgomery.\" style=\"width: 546px; height: 364px;\"> <\/a> <div class=\"tiled-gallery-caption\" itemprop=\"caption description\"> Mehari (front row, second from right) poses with UMW students in front of the Legacy Museum in Montgomery. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <!-- close group --> <div class=\"gallery-group images-1\" style=\"width: 550px; height: 368px;\" data-original-width=\"550\" data-original-height=\"368\"> <div class=\"tiled-gallery-item tiled-gallery-item-large\" itemprop=\"associatedMedia\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2019\/05\/08\/student-leader-builds-culture-of-diversity-on-campus\/img_3495\/\" border=\"0\" itemprop=\"url\"> <meta itemprop=\"width\" content=\"546\"> <meta itemprop=\"height\" content=\"364\"> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" data-attachment-id=\"89388\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3495.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2976,1984\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta='{\"aperture\":\"3.5\",\"credit\":\"\",\"camera\":\"Canon EOS Rebel T6i\",\"caption\":\"\",\"created_timestamp\":\"1497029029\",\"copyright\":\"\",\"focal_length\":\"20\",\"iso\":\"400\",\"shutter_speed\":\"0.0333333333333\",\"title\":\"\",\"orientation\":\"1\"}' data-image-title=\"IMG_3495\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3495-300x200.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3495-1024x683.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3495.jpg?w=546&amp;h=364&amp;ssl=1\" srcset=\"\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3495.jpg 2976w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3495-300x200.jpg 300w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3495-768x512.jpg 768w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3495-1024x683.jpg 1024w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3495-680x453.jpg 680w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3495-1140x760.jpg 1140w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/IMG_3495-600x400.jpg 600w\" width=\"546\" height=\"364\" loading=\"lazy\" data-original-width=\"546\" data-original-height=\"364\" itemprop=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/image\" title=\"IMG_3495\" alt=\"In her role as a student leader, Mehari worked closely with the James Farmer Multicultural Center to make the fall break trip to Selma, Alabama, possible. Mehari is seen here on the bus with James Farmer Multicultural Center director Marion Sanford to her right and assistant director Chris Williams to her left.\" style=\"width: 546px; height: 364px;\"> <\/a> <div class=\"tiled-gallery-caption\" itemprop=\"caption description\"> In her role as a student leader, Mehari worked closely with the James Farmer Multicultural Center to make the fall break trip to Selma, Alabama, possible. Mehari is seen here on the bus with James Farmer Multicultural Center director Marion Sanford to her right and assistant director Chris Williams to her left. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <!-- close group --> <\/div> <!-- close row --> <\/div><p>Nothing brings out Mehari&rsquo;s truth like her poetry. Vice president of UMW&rsquo;s Political Poets Collective, her work was published last winter in the <em>Oakland Arts Review<\/em>. In <a href=\"https:\/\/oaklandartsreview.files.wordpress.com\/2018\/11\/oar3issuu.pdf?fbclid=IwAR284QvTG9ihDzVGIwneqUSmcqjdfyz9WFS3uNtnY8HwbuDO08zBftbnsqI\"><em>Unruly<\/em><\/a>, she uses her interaction with her own African hair &ndash; from feeling compelled to iron it flat to letting it fly &ndash; as a metaphor for the journey from oppression to empowerment.<\/p><p>She&rsquo;s written poignant pieces for <em>The <\/em><em>Blue &amp; Gray Press<\/em>, been a RISE peer mentor, organized large-scale events like Colors of Africa and Resistance Through Poetry for Black History Month, and managed to minor in digital studies. Plus, she&rsquo;sa tele-ambassador for the admissions office, inviting prospective students to visit a UMW she feels she helped shape.<\/p><p>She&rsquo;s &ldquo;a force of nature,&rdquo; Digital Knowledge Center Director Martha Burtis said of Mehari, who, as a Domain Fellow, supported Mary Washington&rsquo;s Domain of One&rsquo;s Own, which provides personal online space for all students. Burtis collaborated with Mehari, too, as advisor for one of her<em>five<\/em>independent studies. &ldquo;<a href=\"http:\/\/milenmehari.com\/black\/because-you-are-great-a-thank-you-letter-to-myself\/\">Resisting Black Erasure<\/a>&rdquo; aims to capture narratives of black students through photos and video.<\/p><p>&ldquo;Portraits of them to be celebrated, to be awed at,&rdquo; Mehari said. &ldquo;How beautiful would it be to read about a black girl who went to UMW and did what I did?&rdquo;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It was a hot August day when Milen Mehari wound her way through a maze of tables and tents. The Asian Student Association and the Belly Dance Team had set up on Ball Circle. So had the Campus Christian Community and Students Helping Honduras. But nowhere at Club Carnival, a showcase of UMW&rsquo;s more than [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":89385,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"umw_cb_additional_links":[[]],"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_advisory_expires_time":"","_advisory_meta_include":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10422,704],"tags":[11886,8953,733,12524,10659],"topics":[5146],"class_list":{"0":"post-89384","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-commencement","8":"category-top-stories","9":"tag-cwilli27","10":"tag-department-of-english-linguistics-and-communication","11":"tag-james-farmer","12":"tag-outcomes","13":"tag-womens-and-gender-studies","14":"topic-diversity-inclusion","15":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.3 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Student Leader Builds Culture of Diversity on UMW Campus - News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2019\/05\/08\/student-leader-builds-culture-of-diversity-on-campus\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Student Leader Builds Culture of Diversity on UMW Campus\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It was a hot August day when Milen Mehari wound her way through a maze of tables and tents. The Asian Student Association and the Belly Dance Team had set up on Ball Circle. So had the Campus Christian Community and Students Helping Honduras. But nowhere at Club Carnival, a showcase of UMW&rsquo;s more than [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2019\/05\/08\/student-leader-builds-culture-of-diversity-on-campus\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UniversityofMaryWashington\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-05-08T16:06:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-12-05T17:53:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/05\/NewRelease_Milen20Mehari.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1140\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"460\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lisa Chinn Marvashti\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@UMaryWash\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@UMaryWash\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lisa Chinn Marvashti\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/news\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/08\\\/student-leader-builds-culture-of-diversity-on-campus\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/news\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/08\\\/student-leader-builds-culture-of-diversity-on-campus\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lisa Chinn Marvashti\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/eab3b9dd084c2488474792f0c391b8e7\"},\"headline\":\"Student Leader Builds Culture of Diversity on UMW Campus\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-05-08T16:06:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-12-05T17:53:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/news\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/08\\\/student-leader-builds-culture-of-diversity-on-campus\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":941,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/news\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/news\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/08\\\/student-leader-builds-culture-of-diversity-on-campus\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/7\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/NewRelease_Milen20Mehari.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"cwilli27\",\"Department of English Linguistics and Communication\",\"James Farmer Multicultural Center\",\"Outcomes\",\"Women's and Gender Studies\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Commencement\",\"Top Stories\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/news\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/08\\\/student-leader-builds-culture-of-diversity-on-campus\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/news\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/08\\\/student-leader-builds-culture-of-diversity-on-campus\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/news\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/08\\\/student-leader-builds-culture-of-diversity-on-campus\\\/\",\"name\":\"Student Leader Builds Culture of Diversity on UMW Campus - 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