CWU sends delegation to cultural conference to explore community, representation

For the past five decades, the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) has established itself as the largest multicultural STEM diversity organization in the United States.

Following its mission to elevate Chicano, Hispanic, and Native American voices and perspectives in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), SACNAS has served a community of more than 20,000 members since its inception in 1973 through 118 student and professional chapters across the country.

This year, a CWU delegation of two students and four faculty members attended SACNAS’ annual National Diversity in STEM (NDiSTEM) Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, from October 31 to November 2.

The delegation of junior biology major Cameron Mesplie, and sophomore biology major Ivan Miron, faculty members Hannah Shamloo, Lucinda Carnell, and Celine Cortes, and staff member Christy Gilchrist and returned home with fresh perspectives about how they might achieve true equality and representation in STEM and on campus.

Mesplie had many takeaways from the conference, but most of all, he was surprised at just how many Native Americans were in attendance.

“When we got there, the first thing I thought to myself was that I had never seen so many Indians all in one room, which really got me excited,” he said. “I felt represented and included in a whole new way. I ran into someone who had gone to the same high school as me on the reservation. It was really inspiring stuff.”

As a member of the Yakama Nation, Mesplie hopes to use his biology degree to help preserve his tribe’s traditional fishing practices. He said the conference showed him just how diverse his field could be.

“No matter where you come from, it’s possible to reach for your dreams and achieve more than you ever thought you could,” he said. “One of the things they talked a lot about at SACNAS was the importance of bringing your whole self to what you want to do, both in school and in your career, and especially when it comes to the sciences or any other industry where there might not be any representation for your people. Bringing your whole self brings clarity about yourself and the people you hope to serve.”

One of the goals of sending a delegation to this year’s NDiSTEM conference was to assess the feasibility of starting a SACNAS chapter at CWU. Gilchrist, who serves as the director of research and sponsored programs and director of American Indian Studies, explained that the trip brought a renewed focus to that effort.

“I see the students absorbing what’s going on and what it means to them, which is really exciting,” she said. “The sense of belonging and potential, and the opportunity to explore — those were the biggest outcomes of this trip and what we’re looking for as we move forward with this work.”

Miron, the other student who attended the conference, has spent his first two years at CWU getting involved with community outreach and advocacy groups like APOYO, traveling to Olympia on numerous occasions to lend his voice to the needs of his fellow Chicano students. He said his experience at SACNAS has opened doors he didn’t even know existed for his career.

“SACNAS helped me see this whole new world of opportunity available to me, beyond my advocacy work and what I thought was possible before,” Miron said. “I want to seek out opportunities to help with lab work and conduct research, and really dig into the STEM side of my education, through an advocacy lens. Those two things can go hand in hand more than I thought.”

The programming for the conference included a special welcoming ceremony that highlighted both Native American and Hispanic traditions. The three-day event featured oral and poster presentations of research, networking events, community and leadership development workshops, and many more opportunities for attendees to ground themselves within their shared identity and passion for STEM.

Gilchrist explained that, rather than being an accessory to the conference, traditional practices like the burning of sage or sweet grasses and the inclusion of a space dedicated to community elders strike at the very heart of what SACNAS is all about.

“All of these concepts are integrated into SACNAS,” she said. “Finding ways to work better together and provide the kind of close-knit community that’s essential to our way of life — that’s the kind of work that needs to be done to expand access in STEM.”

As CWU explores the possibility of establishing a SACNAS chapter, Miron is optimistic for the future of the program and the impact it could have on him and his classmates.