[c.a.r.e.] harmonize our voices, transform our world

Hi! My name is Nicolas K. (Nick) Daily and I’m a first-year graduate student in the College Student Services Administration program here at OSU. I am the GTA for Men’s Support Programs working out of Student Affairs. Some people are wowed by the idea that we are finally showing a commitment to trying to help support men on this campus; others are shocked by the idea that men need “support” and will have none of the idea; others still are interested in hearing more about the topic before they make a decision about the program. I’d like to try to help people understand the place where I come from when I say that men need support on college campuses.

It may first be helpful to let my audience know that I have a degree in Women’s and Gender Studies from University of Redlands. As such, I believe that we can do men’s work alongside women’s work and still be working toward the same goals. Next, I want to acknowledge that men have privilege and that some would argue that the world, the nation or the university itself all have and continue to be designed as men’s support programs. This may be true in one sense but I’d like to challenge it in another. Institutionally and systematically men are privileged; this is a fact that virtually all people agree with. Alternately, few or no men feel privileged on an individual level. Some may have lost their jobs due to downsizing, had huge losses in this recession, some may even have jobs that pay less than their partner. These all are quite relevant to why I’m doing this work.

Imagine you are at a college party in an apartment or fraternity house on a Saturday night. The alcohol is flowing from a seemingly never emptying refrigerator, and everyone is having a good time. Read the rest of this entry »