Dear Colleagues,

In recent weeks I've met some new graduate students at M.U. and reconnected
with folks I have not seen in awhile.  Many of the folks I've come in
contact with are doing well, yet there is a group of folks that are
stressin'  I've tried to lend my two cents of advice, but I feel to craft a
community solution maybe we should dialogue on this list about gettin'
through...Survivin' and eventually thriving in graduate school.

What advise would you give a new graduate student that is stressed about
teaching a predominately white and upper middle class student body.
Moreover, a student body that often has a grand sense of entitlement, bias
and privilige, that interrupts the teaching and learning process?

What advise would you give a fellow student that is experiencing a sense of
isolation or alienation in their program or in this community(M.U. and/or
Oxford)?

What role do you think a graduate student centered organization can play in
the following areas:

1.      Community building amongst graduate students from different disciplines?

2.      Professional and scholarly development of graduate students?

3.      Social life of graduate students?

4.      Advocacy and empowerment of graduate students?

YRB

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