HomeMy WebLinkAboutHRCMinutes_2023_08_10
Brookings Human Rights Commission Minutes
Thursday, August 10, 2023
Brookings City/County Government Center and Zoom Meeting App
Attendance: Dianne Nagy (chair – in person); Behnoosh Amandi (vice chair & county representative –
in person); Lawrence Novotny (recorder and CLEAR Partners liaison – in person); Amanda Fickes (in
person); Mark Johnson (online); Erica Moore (online); Emma Qurashi (student representative &
behavioral health liaison – in person); Joseph Ulloa (student representative – in person): Nieema
Thasing (online); Marjoanne Collins (SDSU liaison - online); Mikaela Neubauer (library liaison – in
person); Casey Bell (city human resources & staff liaison – in person);
Absent: Carla Gatzke; Asledi Castillo (SA diversity liaison); Caleb Johnson (police liaison – in person);
Michele Vande Weerd (school liaison)
Chair Nagy called the meeting to order at 5:31 pm.
Ulloa moved, Fickes seconded, to approve the agenda with the addition of the ice cream social and safe
zone training to new business. Motion approved.
Ulloa moved, Thasing seconded, to approve the minutes of the July 13 meeting with correction that
Julian Beaudion was not scheduled for a DEI presentation on 7/24. Motion approved.
Public Comment
Neubauer announced that the Brookings Multi-Cultural Center is seeking an immigration lawyer to do
consultations with local migrants. Would BHRC be interested in helping with this? While getting
involved in immigration issues is out of our mission, various members suggested some agencies that
may provide legal assistance.
Review of progress towards BHRC goals
• Citywide DEI & welcoming initiative – see below
• Non-Christian religious minorities listening session was held in March. Another listening
session will be planned for this fall.
• Publicize accessible and transparent complaint process – The WG needs to finalize this. Need to
learn what Gatzke discovered with her visit with Sioux Falls Human Rights Commission.
• Anti-bullying campaign – see below
• Host film screenings & discussion – will plan something for Black History month
• Library intergroup dialogue series – in progress
Task & event calendar
Amandi is creating an online Google planning & event calendar that will help BHRC keep our planning
events on track in a timely fashion by issuing automatic reminders. All members will have access.
DEI training evaluation of presentation given by Marlene Schultz on July 24. Schultz is a former
SDSU sociology faculty member; is currently employed with Sanford Health in Sioux Falls as a social
worker; and a former executive director of the National Association of Social Workers – South Dakota.
She has taught classes and given presentations on working across cultures.
Evaluation comments from BHRC:
She did a general overall presentation. (She can design presentations for specific audiences.)
Some of the concepts could have been better defined.
The presentation was a little bit rushed. She had 1.5 hours to give what could have been a half
day presentation.
Some appreciated the inclusion of accessibility issues in the presentation.
One person was taken aback by Schultz’s reference to her Black spouse and showcasing her
mixed-race child.
A person who did not attend asked “what was the purpose of the presentation and training?”
Some suggested we should not be using a trainer who has not unpacked their own bias.
We will learn more about unpacking bias in the Nice Racism book discussion.
We want to hear from another training presenter. Qurashi will conduct a doodle poll to arrange a date
with the poll being completed by the end of August.
Working groups & task forces
An updated list was sent out with the agenda.
International Outreach WG has not been active for the past year. Should it be dissolved? Fickes will try
to find people who have an interest in it. It was recommended meeting with the Brookings Multi-
Cultural Center’s international health group.
Amandi will check on establishing an official liaison with the BMC.
PEAK campaign TF – Qurashi will replace Fickes. Other members are Moore, Amandi, and Thasing.
Members of the DEI TF are Bell, Collins, and either Gatzke or Nagy.
Butler award
Only one nomination was received. Ulloa moved, Thasing seconded, that the 2024 Butler award be
given to Penny Hauffe for her work with helping create and volunteering at the domestic abuse center,
work with Habitat for Humanity, and also serving on the BHRC. Motion passed.
No nominations were received for the Youth and Youth Ally awards.
Attendance policy
Gatzke and Novotny reviewed the BHRC members expectations and attendance policy. Additions made
to the policy were:
Members are expected to participate in Commission sponsored events (such as potluck,
Juneteenth, etc.)
Before a member’s absences reach either of these thresholds, the Chair or Vice-chair or City
Liaison will contact them, to learn why they are missing and enable them to attend if possible,
and to determine a recommendation to the Commission about whether or not to consider the
member’s seat vacant.
The Chair, Vice-Chair, and City Liaison will also address any issues or concerns regarding a
member’s participation in sponsored events and subcommittees on a case by case basis.
Novotny moved, Moore seconded, to adopt the revised attendance and expectations policy. Motion
passed.
Ice cream social
The Brookings Multi-Cultural Center is holding an ice cream social for SDSU new international
students at Good Roots Farm on August 16. Various local orgs will have information tables at the
social. Last year, Marilyn Hildreth, BMC chair, told Novotny that BHRC should be represented at the
social but we did not receive an invite this year. It is too late to apply. We will plan on participating
next year.
Safe Zone Training
BHRC received a request from the SDSU Wellness Center seeking people to conduct a Safe Zone
Training. Collins has a list of training resources and will contact the Wellness Center.
e-mails
Right now when an e-mail inquiry to sent to the BHRC e-mail, every member automatically receives the
e-mail which is creating some confusion. Thasing moved, Ulloa seconded, that the e-mail settings be
changed so that only the chair, vice-chair, and staff liaison will receive the inquiry. Those individuals
will reply or forward the e-mail as appropriate. Motion passed.
PEAK campaign
An idea being floated is to do a needs assessment with the school system. A meeting is planned with the
new superintendent. The middle school counselors are interested in becoming involved. We should be
able to collect data without having to go thru a formal review board that would be required when
involving human subjects to conduct research.
Budget
Ulloa moved, Moore seconded, that we pay Serge Van Nick, a volunteer from Sioux Falls, $250 for
providing DJ and photography services for the Juneteenth event. Motion passed.
The current uncommitted funds are around $5966.
Liaison Reports
SDSU (Collins): January 25 has been set as the date for the SDSU MLK event.
LIBRARY (Neubauer). Facilitator training for the community dialogues will be Saturday, August 26,
from 10 – 3. Neubauer is looking for an independent evaluator for the kickoff and wrapup events.
Working group reports
AFRICANS IN THE DISPORA: We need to look for a function to identify if a MLK essay has been
drafted by ChatGPT (an artificial intelligence writing app). Someone stated such functions are
available and in use by school systems.
Adjourn:
Meeting adjourned at 7:08 pm.
Submitted by Lawrence Novotny, recorder