Interview with the President and Vice President of STARS

Sarah Williams, Vice President of STARS and Ebony Porter, President of STARS

When was STARS founded and what does the organization stand for?

• Ebony- STARS was founded in the late 1980's and the organization stands for "trying to educate people about stereotypes and all forms of discrimination, as well as helping people see and respect the point's of views of others even if they don't agree with these views.
  
• Sarah- "STAR's role is too teach other people about different cultures and act as a constructive forum to expose people to new ideas."


• When and where does STARS meet?


• Sarah- STARS meets every Monday at 6 p.m. on the second floor of Baker Center at O.U.
  
• What kind of discrimination does STARS addresses, is there a focus on blatant discrimination or all types?


• Ebony- "STARS addresses the blatant racism but is also interested in educating the people who sit back silently and allow racist and discriminatory things to persist around them."


• What events does STARS have planed for the rest of this quarter and next quarter?


• Sarah- STARS is having community service on Saturday, November 8th at the Athens Community Center from 12 p.m. to 9 p.m.


• Ebony- STARS will be hosting more dialogs with other organizations on Ohio University's campus during Winter quarter; Organizations such as the Latino Student Union, Asian Student Union, etc. in an effort to promote discussion on issues that affect these demographics on campus.


• Has STARS ever won an award for the work that it has done?
• Sarah- last year STARS won The Ohio University NAACP Image Award for a job well done with our voter registration drive.

• 
  Tell me about the retreats held by STARS?
  
• 
  
  Ebony- Every year, generally Spring quarter STARS holds a retreat open to anyone on OU's campus. The retreat aims to get different people together in a different setting , so generally the retreats are held off campus. There is food, dialog and activities.


• 
  
  What type of activities are done at the STARS retreat?


• 
  
  Ebony- For example one activity that has been done in the past is a "stream-of-conscience" exercise where one person says the name of a race or ethnic group and the other person says anything they can think of about that group, both good and bad, without editing themselves.


• 
  
  Ebony- Another Activity is a simulated college admission exercise, where everyone acts as college admissions officials and are given about ten college applications and are told they can only accept five people. The people who act as college admissions officials can chose the people based on any criteria they wish: grades while in high school, ACT/SAT scores, activities while in high school, family background or race and gender. This activity shows how college admissions officials can let their personal life experiences and priorities influence the college admissions process for all.