Month: October 2017

By Maria Modica

In Native American culture, women stand up first.

That’s what Judea Runs Through, who is a part of the Nakona tribe and a production assistant in the digital film department, shared when talking about the importance of the Miss Native Dixie Pageant.

“Look at the water protectors at the Dakota pipeline; there are always these women at the front leading the way, which is amazing to me because women are the life bringers,” Runs Through said. “They bring beauty wherever they go, and I hope that these young women who participate in this year’s Miss Native Dixie Pageant know their power.”

The Multicultural Inclusion Center founded the Miss Native Dixie Pageant, which will be celebrating its 22nd anniversary. The crowned winner will receive a $1000 scholarship and become a spokesperson for Native Americans locally through different platforms, fundraisers and DSU events.

Five contestants who are affiliated with the Navajo tribe will be competing in this year’s pageant. The talent will reflect the Navajo language, culture and background, focus on beauty, gowns, modern talent, traditional talent and personal interviews.

When Runs Through was younger, her family would perform in past pageants. She didn’t understand how important it was then, but now wishes she would have participated before she graduated from DSU.

Her sister, Tashiyapoba Runs Through, participated and was awarded first attendant in last year’s Miss Native Dixie pageant. Runs Through said her sister was upset because she felt like there was a difference between what Native Americans see as beauty, and what white culture sees as beauty.

“We were always told, ‘You live in two separate worlds,’ but I don’t think there are those two worlds,” Runs Through said. “It’s one world. We all have to live in it together. We all have differences.”  

During a pre-pageant interview, a judge asked Tashiyapoba, why it is important for people to learn about native culture, to which she responded, “We have to learn about yours.”

Runs Through said she sees the pageant as a way for Natives Americans to find their voice, especially after being silenced throughout history.

“[The pageant] gives a platform to say our peace and to educate others about our culture,” Runs Through said. “Education is really important, especially for native people coming from the reservations.”

Last year, Miss Native Dixie Ashley Holiday made a platform to help the North Dakota reservations because the Dakota Access LLC decided to build an oil pipeline underneath a river where native people got their water source from.

The Native American Student Association and the MIC teamed together to fundraise for the people in the pipeline reservations. Holiday then travelEd to North Dakota and gave people supplies and clothing.

There are currently 200 self identified Native American students at DSU. Utah has eight different tribes, and there are 556 federally recognized tribes in the U.S. today. 

NASA Vice President, Phyllis Kitseallyboy came from the outskirts of the Navajo nation. She is a first time contestant for this year’s pageant and said she is excited to learn about her contestant’s tribe traditional talents.

“I didn’t think I would participate in the pageant because I thought I wasn’t as traditional,” she said. “But my grandparents always reassured me to wake up every morning [and] pray with corn pollen, the tadidiin, and pray to the people. This pageant reassures me that, I am Native American, and I’m showing myself and my culture. I want to make my grandparents proud.”

Mike Nelson, the assistant director of the MIC, adviser for NASA, and the Miss Native pageant Director explained the Miss Native Dixie Pageant is focused on making sure students feel unified.

“At the end of the day, we want to be able to have our participants and our contestants to share their culture and talents,” Nelson said. “It opens the door for inclusivity, especially in this divisive time of our country.”

The Miss Native Dixie will be on Nov. 1 at 7:30 p.m. in the Dolores Dore Eccles Fine Arts Center. Tickets can be purchased online for $5.

“You can do this,” “It’s OK to not be OK,” and “Just because you’re struggling doesn’t mean you’re failing” are some of the quotes that can change a negative thought into a positive one.

Cassidy Tippets, a senior business administration major from Mapleton, has had friends confide in her about their suicidal thoughts and told her she was their “saving grace.”

“When I was a senior in high school, I had a friend attempt, and I had texted her and her mom heard her phone ring,” Tippets said. “It was me sending the message, and that was what saved her because [her mom] was able to get her to the hospital in time.”

Tippets was approached about the Mirror Project the beginning of October after a Dixie State University alumna contacted Dean of Students Del Beatty about the project. See Your Strength, owned by DSU alumna Amber Murray, is a mirror decal company that creates stickers with empowering quotes. As part of the project, a selection of 10 quotes will be placed on mirrors in bathrooms across campus. Below the sticker will read, “If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide text the word HELP to 741-741.”

She automatically took the project on because of her passion for suicide awareness and prevention, which she used as her platform when she competed in the Miss Dixie Pageant on Tuesday. Tippets received the first batch of stickers on Monday and has already put a few of them up on the mirrors of the bathrooms in the Gardner Student Center.

Beatty hopes students will utilize the text service if they need to.

“Sometimes just talking to a therapist maintains balance again,” he said. “The therapist is trained to know whether or not [someone] needs additional intervention.”

Beatty had to go through facilities management to approve the project and talk to everyone who cleans the restrooms to make sure the stickers aren’t taken down. Beatty said the agreement with facilities management was to test out the stickers for a couple of months to see how long they last and how well they hold up when cleaned over. After those things are tested, he said he hopes to leave the stickers up for as long as possible.

As Student Body President, Ezra Hainsworth, a senior communication major from St. George, he recognizes that all students experience tough times.

“College is tough,” Hainsworth said. “Not everyone has thoughts of suicide, but everyone has bad days, so our hope is to change any negative thoughts into positive ones, even if it’s for a quick second.”

Tippets said the rest of the stickers will be placed this week.

“I hope that by putting these quotes up, it will help [people] realize these small quotes can help them get through the day,” she said.

Brooks the Bison will be the face of a new dining service opening in the spring 2018 semester.

Brooks’ Stop, a convenience store, grill and coffee shop, will replace the old housing office near on-campus housing. The building was scheduled to open in early August, but due to setbacks, the finish date was pushed back to October, then November, and now January.

Sherry Ruesch, the executive director of facility management, said the project has been pushed back due to necessary removal of hazardous materials, and challenges with contractors. The building was found to have asbestos, which the cleaning and removal of lasted all summer.

The store will cater to student housing needs and provide a convenient option for students who live on-campus and off-campus at surrounding housing complexes. Brooks’ Stop combines the offerings of Trailblazer Café, Infusion and the Market at Dixie. It will stay open until 11 p.m., an hour later than the Trailblazer Café, and Brooks’ Stop will sell hamburgers, pizza, snacks, Starbucks and more.

Construction in St. George is a busy market, which made it difficult to find contractors who were willing to work on such a small project, Ruesch said. The construction process also required specific contractors because it was a specialty project needing kitchen and fire safety equipment, said Jon Gibb, director of facility planning and construction.

“It wasn’t just ‘tear out some walls and build some new walls,’” Gibb said. “It was specialty plumbing, electrical and cooking equipment that required a unique set of skills, and we had to hire specialty contractors to do that work.”

Once construction is complete, dining services will be given a few weeks between fall and spring semester to set up kitchen equipment and prepare to open.

What to expect from Brooks’ Stop

The old housing office has been completely renovated. Everything inside was torn out and rebuilt, Gibb said. The mail desk will be replaced by hot food service, a Starbucks counter will take the place of the resident manager’s office, and shelves and freezers will line the wall where the computers used to sit. A new, modern design patterned after Campus View Suites will welcome students, Ruesch said.

“Our biggest focus is to [make dining services] more accessible to students who are living [in that corner of campus],” said Martin Peterson, director of dining services. “[Those who] have kitchens and those who don’t have kitchens can come, and they can get a full meal later on in the day.”

The idea is to meet and fulfill the household needs of students as well, said Zach Gates, assistant director of dining services.

“It won’t be like the Market; it will be better than the Market,” Gibb said. “Our intent was when we became a university, we had to start transitioning from a commuter campus to a residential campus.”

Brooks’ Stop will feature indoor as well as outdoor patio seating, which lends to the active, outdoor lifestyle of DSU.

“This will just help promote the outdoor activity that Dixie State is wonderful at providing,” Gibb said.

With its location adjacent to the volleyball courts, Ruesch’s hope is that Brooks’ Stop will become a hangout spot for students.

“It’ll be a lot different from the other food venues on campus,” Ruesch said. “We’re trying to create more of a place over there by student housing that the students can even hang out at, not just go there and grab something to eat.”

The future of campus housing

The addition of Brooks’ Stop is pointing to an increase in on-campus housing, Ruesch said.

She said the next phase of housing is to build another Campus View Suites building where Shiloh Hall currently sits. However, no new housing projects are being started until the off-campus housing complexes surrounding DSU are completed, which should be about three to four years out.

Ruesch said the master plan includes adding three new Campus View Suites buildings, a total of four altogether.