Focus Group, OSU Multiracial Beavers Oral History Project 2016-2017
The OSU Multiracial Beavers Oral History Project, 2016-2017, was intended to capture the origin stories of the Oregon State University Multiracial Beavers initiative and share the experiences of Multiracial individuals at OSU. For more information, see the OSU Multiracial Beavers Oral History Project ~ Project Documents and the booklet “Understanding Mixed Perspectives at Oregon State University” by Mackenzie Gipple
The OSU Multiracial Beavers Oral History Interviews
List of Interviews
- Asian Pacific Islander American, Mixed Heritage Focus Group
- African American, Mixed Heritage Focus Group
- Charlene Martinez and Tara DeMaderios
- Vanessa Johnson and Jonathan Stoll
- Focus Group (general)
- Kali Furman and Eric Pitcher
- Sofia Baum and Kim McAloney
Link to All 7 Oral History Interviews
Interviewees: Asian Pacific Islander American, Mixed Heritage Focus Group: Charlene Martinez, Daniel Cespedes, Hevani Fifita, Delfine Defrank, Olivia Calrillo, Reagan Le, Stephanie Shippen, Makayla Bello, Marwah Al-Jilani, Jason Tena-Encarnacion, Aisha McKee, and Mackenzie Gipple
Date: March 17, 2017
Location: Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
Length: 01:18:32
Interview Audio and Interview Transcript
Bios: Charlene Martinez, associate director at Diversity and Cultural Engagement; Daniel Cespedes, an employee within the Office of Finance and Administration; Reagan Le, associated director of the Asian and Pacific Cultural Center; Stephanie Shippen, an employee within Counseling & Psychological Services; Hevani Fifita, Delfine Defrank, Olivia Calvillo, Makayla Bello, Marwah Al-Jilani, Jason Tena-Encarnacion, Aisha McKee, Mackenzie Gipple, all OSU students at the time of the interview.
Summary: The group discusses how they identify as multiracial people and how that has affected them in their lives as well as during their time on campus at OSU. They discuss how they are perceived and treated based on their race. They also discuss how connected or disconnected they feel from their cultures. Language is brought up often as an important factor in feel as if they belong vs not belong. They discuss some of the difficulties of bringing their multiple ethnic identities into interactions with other people who aren’t multiethnic as well as some of the privileges that are assigned to them based on skin tone. They also talk about how similar their experiences are and how grateful they are to have a space in which they can be multiethnic people. They end the discussion by writing down their name and a word they feel that they are on an index card which they share with the group.
Interviewees: African American, Mixed Heritage Focus Group: Charlene Martinez, Kim McAloney, Mackenzie Gipple, Keyshawn Davis, Breonna Keller-Robbins, Marwah Al-Jilani, Justeen Quartey, and Hevani Fifita
Date: May 16, 2017
Location: Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
Length: 01:01:33
Interview Audio and Interview Transcript
Bios: Charlene Martinez, associate director at Diversity and Cultural Engagement; Kim McAloney, a professional faculty member at OSU who works in the Educational Opportunities Program; Mackenzie Gipple, Keyshawn Davis, Breonna Keller-Robbins, Marwah Al-Jilani, Justeen Quartey, and Hevani Fifita, all OSU students at the time of the interview.
Summary: The group interviewees share their names and identities before talking sharing stories about belonging as people with mixed African American heritage. They discuss how they are viewed based on skin tone and how they are constantly perceived as either being not black enough or not white enough because of that. They also discuss the value of having a group to identify with. They move on to discussing the differences between where they grew up and OSU in terms both of ethnic makeup and how they were treated. They talk about micro aggressions they have experienced in their lives here as well. The group discusses how multiracially conscious different spaces at OSU are; the culture centers vs other places on campus. They close the discussion out by writing down messages on index cards and sharing them with each other.
Interviewees/Interviewers: Charlene Martinez and Tara DeMaderios
Date: November 22, 2016
Location: Skype Call
Length: 00:53:15
Interview Video and Interview Transcript
Bio: Charlene Martinez is the associate director at Diversity and Cultural Engagement at OSU who has worked with several multiracial organizations at various universities. She identifies as multiracial Asian and Latina.
Bio: Tara DeMaderios is a recent OSU alumna, now living in the Midwest where she is perusing a Master’s degree. She identifies as multiracial, mixed black and white.
Summary: Charlene Martinez and Tara DeMaderios discuss how they identify as multiracial women, how that identity has changed over time, and how other people interact with them based on their racial and ethnic identities. They discuss their relationship with activism and motherhood. Tara DeMaderios discusses her internship with Charlene Martinez.
Interviewees/Interviewers: Vanessa Johnson and Jonathan Stoll
Date: November 21, 2016
Location: Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
Length: 00:53:18
Interview Audio and Interview Transcript
Bio: Vanessa Johnson is a multiracial woman who worked at Oregon State University from 2014-2016 in the Student Affairs Research Evaluation and Planning office as a coordinator. In 2016, she decided to move back to Utah to be closer to family and to peruse further education.
Bio: Jonathan Stoll self-identifies as a “pigh” (Portuguese, Indian, German, Hungarian), who is multiracial and the father of two multiracial girls. He works at Oregon State University as the Director of Corvallis Community Relations and as the co-interim Assistant Dean of Student Life.
Summary: Vanessa Johnson and Jonathan Stoll discus how they identify as multiracial people and how this identity as affected them throughout their lives. They discuss how other people related to their identities as they grew up through to the present day. Vanessa Johnson discusses growing up as a multiracial woman and how separated she became from her mother’s native language, Spanish. Johnathan Stoll talks about his search for identity growing up and how disconnected he felt from his mother’s heritage. They both discuss coming to Corvallis and finding community there. They talk about how their identities of changed over the years.
Interviewees: Mixed Heritage Focus Group (general): Charlene Martinez, Tara DeMaderios, Vanessa Johnson, Kim McAloney, and Erich Pitcher, Facilitator: Kali Furman
Date: November 30, 2016
Location: Skype Call
Length: 01:15:00
Interview Video and Interview Transcript
Bios: Charlene Martinez is the associate director at Diversity and Cultural Engagement at OSU who has worked with several multiracial organizations at various universities. She identifies as multiracial Asian and Latina; Tara DeMaderios is a recent OSU alumna, now living in the Midwest where she is perusing a Master’s degree. She identifies as multiracial, mixed black and white; Vanessa Johnson is a multiracial woman who worked at Oregon State University from 2014-2016 in the Student Affairs Research Evaluation and Planning office as a coordinator. In 2016, she decided to move back to Utah to be closer to family and to peruse further education; Kim McAloney is a professional faculty member at OSU who works in the Educational Opportunities Program. She is currently a doctoral student in the College of Education. McAloney identifies as multiracial and black; Erich Pitcher works for Diversity and Cultural Engagement as an associate director for research and communication; and Kali Furman is originally from Idaho and is an Oregon transplant who is a PhD in Women Gender and Sexuality Studies student focusing on social justice education with a hope to be an instructor or a full professor in higher education that can center social justice, particularly racial and gender justice.
Summary: The participants of the focus group discusses their involvement in the creation of Multiracial Beavers at OSU as students, staff, and faculty. They talk about how their experiences in Multiracial Beavers changed their lives and what the most exciting part of forming Multiracial Beavers was. The group discusses what their experiences in Oregon as multiracial people were like and how it differed from the places they were from. They conclude by sharing their hopes for the future of Multiracial Beavers and multiracial work on college campuses.
Interviewee: Kali Furman
Interviewer: Eric Pitcher
Date: January 27, 2017
Location: Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
Length: 00:24:39
Interview Audio and Interview Transcript
Bio: Kali Furman is originally from Idaho and is an Oregon transplant who is a PhD in Women Gender and Sexuality Studies student focusing on social justice education with a hope to be an instructor or a full professor in higher education that can center social justice, particularly racial and gender justice.
Bio: Erich Pitcher works for Diversity and Cultural Engagement as an associate director for research and communication.
Summary: Erich Pitcher interviews Kali Furman about her involvement with the Multiracial Beavers Oral History project. She discusses how she met Charlene Martinez, and how their relationship developed. She also discusses growing up in a predominantly white and religious community as an outsider due to her parents’ marital status and atheism.
Interviewees/Interviewers: Sofia Baum and Kim McAloney
Date: December 12, 2016
Location: Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
Length: 00:43:31
Interview Audio and Interview Transcript
Bio: Sofia Baum is an undergraduate at OSU who identifies as multiracial person, specifically a Mexican Jew. She grew up in Junction City, Oregon, 30 miles south of Corvallis.
Bio: Kim McAloney is a professional faculty member at OSU who works in the Educational Opportunities Program. She is currently a doctoral student in the College of Education. McAloney identifies as multiracial and black.
Summary: Sofia Baum and Kim McAloney discuss how they identify as multiracial people and how this identity has affected them throughout their lives. They discuss how other people related to their identities as they grew up through to the present day. Kim McAloney discusses growing up in California and moving to Georgia as a mixed race black woman. Sofia Baum discusses her life as a Jewish Mexican. They talk about how they related to their identities as they have aged and how their identities have changed over the years.
