William Jewell College’s Gender Issues and Feminism Club (GIF) kicked off the first semester by introducing condoms and menstrual products to a number of on-campus buildings as part of their first project. While the menstrual products provided by GIF operate on a take one, leave one basis, GIF was able to work with Nurse Brown and Health Services to receive funding for condoms, which will be continually refilled throughout the school year.

GIF’s efforts to bring condoms to residence halls on campus ended a long struggle to bring contraceptives directly to Jewell students in their living spaces. Before GIF’s distribution, condoms were only available to students through the Health Center or Dr. Tricia Hager. Jewell students have made many attempts to bring contraceptives to campus, especially within the last seven years. Student Senate attempted to bring condoms to Jewell’s campus twice, but both efforts fell through. Shelly King, dean of students, was able to provide more insight.

“The first time, the feedback received from the student body regarding condom distribution on campus was very low. The second time, Senate voted as a group to provide condoms on campus in the [residence] halls. Unfortunately, they made it the responsibility of the RAs in each building to keep them stocked. The next senate cabinet did not move forward with pursuing this,” King said.

Though past efforts by Jewell’s Student Senate cabinets did not hold up, GIF is determined to keep up with the distribution of condoms as part of their work towards being an active club on campus. This was one of GIF’s first on-campus projects to create a more sex-positive environment and to encourage students to join a club that was able to take action towards their goals.

This year’s GIF Cabinet Chairs include: Engagement Chair Catherine Dema, senior Oxbridge: History of Ideas and physics major; Project Management Chair Christina Kirk, senior Oxbridge: Institutions and Policy and international relations major; Events Chair Madison Carroll, senior Oxbridge: Institutions and Policy and international relations major; Communications Chair Lydia Enge, junior political science and communications major; and Financial Chair Langston Riddle, first-year Oxbridge: Institutions and Policy major. 

GIF undertook the project of bringing contraceptives to Jewell’s campus as a way to make their presence known to students and to show that they are a club that believes in taking action. Their aim on campus is to become involved with other clubs and to complete more projects that will engage Jewell students on issues relating to gender and sex. They also plan to host events that will comply with Jewell’s current COVID-19 guidelines, while also helping students with a variety of issues.

The move to bring contraceptives like condoms into Jewell’s residence halls has already seen some success and positive feedback from students. GIF was able to finish a project that has long been neglected on Jewell’s campus due to a number of different problems. Condoms and menstrual products were put in baskets around campus by GIF Chairs and will be maintained by the group throughout the year.

GIF used club funds to pay for menstrual products, which will hopefully stay self-sustained with their take one, leave one initiative. GIF is hopeful that the introduction of contraceptives to campus will foster a new environment of sex-positivity. Events Chair Madison Carroll spoke with the Monitor about her thoughts on the impact these actions would have on students.

“I hope that students will use the products and feel free to contact us regarding getting financial assistance for other amenities, like pregnancy tests and Plan B. I hope this gives students a more accessible way to get these products if they have a financial need. Studies have also shown that providing contraceptives in dormitories can create a more sex-positive atmosphere on campus which I think is something Jewell needs and hope that comes as a result of this initiative,” Carroll said.

Soon after the announcement of their 56th season, the Harriman-Jewell Series announced their decision to cancel many of the remaining performances of the 55^th season due to the widespread outbreak of COVID-19. 

Despite the last-minute challenges of reevaluating the status of remaining performances in the 55^th season, Harriman Jewell employees acted quickly to resolve confusion around upcoming performances given these unexpected circumstances. Since Mayor Quinton Lucas issued a state of emergency for the Kansas City area, Harriman Jewell has issued an updated schedule for the remaining performances of the season: Performances by Daniil Trifonov, SooBeen Lee and the Boston Pops have been postponed; Angela Gheorghiu and Mitsuko Uchida have made the decision to cancel their tours; and Joyce DiDonato is anticipated to perform as originally scheduled. 

Though the global pandemic has altered the outcome of Harriman Jewell’s 55^th season, the upcoming 56^th season presents even more opportunities to view world-class artists from September 2020 to May 2021. Not only does the 56^th season bring new artists to Kansas City, the season has also expanded to accommodate more performances, which will still be free to all full-time William Jewell College students.

“We have been working on a self-study of the Harriman-Jewell Series in development of our strategic plan,” Executive and Artistic Director Clark Morris said. “One of the outcomes of that study is that we needed to expand our artistic offerings so that we could engage a wider audience.” 

The 56^th season also features a new package for subscribers of the series,  the Inspire Series, allowing for a greater variety of new performances.

“The new package includes: Anthony Roth Constanzo, countertenor; the Brandon Goldberg Trio; the Dhamaal Dancers and Musicians of India; The Stuttgart Bach Akadamie performing Bach’s St. Matthew Passion; the King’s Singers; and Orquestra Sinfonica Nacional de Mexico with pianist Gabriela Montero,” said Morris. “ We think this is the most interesting, culturally rich and exciting arts series anyone in our region will be able to buy.”

The improvement and expansion of the series did not come without difficulty for employees at Harriman-Jewell. Morris detailed that the main struggles with expansion came in the form of trying to find the necessary resources and the ability to push themselves beyond typical practices. However, there have been many supporters that were able to help Harriman-Jewell in their efforts to expand.

“One of the blessings in this process was receiving a capacity building grant from the Muriel McBrien Kauffman Foundation which encouraged us that we could build a greater series that would have a more engaging impact on our community,” Morris said.

While the 56^th season has a lot in store for both subscribers and students, the expansion of the series does not change its traditional set up – it only brings more quality performances to the Kansas City arts scene.

“This season is very similar in quality to what we typically present and still has our well-loved packages of Music and Dance at the Kauffman Center and Masters, which is mostly at the Folly Theater,” Morris said.  “It expands on that base with a new Inspire package which [will] add a variety of events that reach more broadly into the community and, we think, engage new audiences to attend H-JS performances. Our current audience members will likely enjoy a number of these performances as well, but we hope to attract new individuals who aren’t our current subscribers to be loyal audience members.”

Planning a season of this size and trying to appease both more traditional series goers and younger ones is a challenge.  Morris states that expanding the season also brought complications in regard to scheduling.

“This has been an invigorating challenge artistically, but the biggest hurdle is scheduling, which is always a big puzzle,” Morris said.  “Adding six additional performances to next season’s mix added a couple of degrees of difficulty in trying to solve that puzzle.”

With the promise of new selections for Jewell students, Morris encourages every student to take advantage of free tickets to performances brought to Kansas City by the 56^th season of the Harriman Jewell Series.

“Every concert you can go to, so try and go to as many as possible,” Morris said.  “I don’t pick favorites as a practice, and I would suggest that while you may not like every moment of every one of these offerings, you will be very happy that you got to experience it all, or as much as you can, for free.”

More information on performance updates for the 55th and 56th Harriman Jewell Seasons can be found at their website and at their Facebook page.

The efforts surrounding a historic Kansas City street’s name change has stirred up a considerable amount of controversy, especially among Kansas City’s black community. 

After a rejection of the City Council’s January decision to rename a street in honor of the late Civil Rights Movement leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard’s 10-mile stretch will return to its former name, The Paseo.

Efforts to rename a Kansas City street after Dr. King began several years prior to the proposal to replace The Paseo with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Councilman Jermaine Reed attempted to rename Prospect Avenue in 2011 in order to reconcile Kansas City’s status as the largest city in the US without a street commemorating King. These initial attempts failed, and eventually the proposal to rename The Paseo came about in 2016. After much deliberation on which Kansas City street should undergo the name change, the city council failed to survey local residents and instead voted for The Paseo to become Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. 

The Paseo’s name was officially changed to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in February, as a sign on the corner of 34th Street replaced its former marker. There was a ceremony to celebrate the change that honored Dr. King, and all Paseo Boulevard signs were anticipated to be replaced in the next three to six months. 

In response, opponents of the name change formed a grassroots movement called Save the Paseo. Many residents of the boulevard felt that the street had far too great a history to be renamed. While they were not opposed to a street named after Dr. King, they felt that there were better options than replacing the historic Paseo Boulevard. 

“Kansas City law requires two thirds of a street’s residents approve a street name change,” Save the Paseo’s website describes. “The City Council waived that rule, and proceeded to change the address of 1800 residents without asking how they felt about it. Eighteen miles of east side neighborhoods were disenfranchised.  Much like the recent property tax debacle, the voices of those who were affected were not considered. This ballot question is the opportunity for all to weigh in and be heard.”

Many residents of The Paseo opposed the name change because they felt that their voices in the decision making process had been undercut and the name change would erase the black community’s historic ties to the Kansas City boulevard. 

“There’s just so much history, black history, along Paseo,” Brian Booth told KCUR. “The families that were black, that maintained those homes — my grandparents, my parents, my people — they worked years, with all kinds of issues in society, maintaining their houses for their kids and future generations.” 

Reversal of the name change garnered much support, and petitions backing the return of The Paseo’s original name were certified in May. On Nov. 5, Kansas City voters decided overwhelmingly to overturn the city council’s decision and restore the original name of The Paseo.