The Future of the American Dream

Mansfield Lecture: Take the Mic

This year’s Mansfield Lecture featured best-selling author Bethany C. Morrow and a discussion about activism in art. The essay collection Take the Mic, edited by Morrow, was the One Book, One University Read for new Roosevelt students this fall.

The lecture began with Morrow reading an excerpt from the book and discussing how her work relates to activism. She was sure to make the distinction that her work is political because all art is inherently political.

“My art is not my activism because I decide ahead of time to infuse it with insider allegory,” Morrow said. “In a society that lionizes and, in fact, mythologizes whiteness while insisting the rest of us don’t exist — or that we exist only in relation to it — all work that says otherwise is a revolution.”

Morrow discussed not being boxed in by genre and how she grappled with whiteness in her novel Mem. She explained that any art that “confronts, dissents or dissects” is activism, and the way audiences interact with that work reflects their interaction with the real world. The author also highlighted ongoing issues of inclusion that she explored in her remixed version of Little Women, So Many Beginnings. Morrow explained that critics often call activist work too political, while the politics of exclusionary authors and projects often go overlooked.

She ended by expressing her hope that while there is still work to be done, everyone “should be” political.

The American Dream During a Time of Division

David Faris, associate professor of political science, moderated the first in-person event of the conference since 2019. It featured William Kristol, political commentator and former chief of staff to Vice President Quayle, and David Axelrod, political strategist, commentator and former adviser to President Barack Obama.

The two have been in lectures and panels together before, as was evident by their comfortable, joking demeanor before the lecture began. Faris started by asking what the American Dream means today in a country with two separate realities. Both commented on how they believed that the dichotomy of American political parties held back the American Dream. Axelrod discussed the concern of “virtual reality silos” that inhibited Americans from having a dialogue as a community, which maintains the divide in America today.

As the conversation continued, the two leaders talked about the breakdown of democracy through its rejection by government officials and political parties that back minority outliers.

Axelrod and Kristol shared anecdotes about getting things done in a partisan environment, including working with Obama before the announcement of the Affordable Care Act. Both agreed that the breakdown of democracy through divisiveness forms a precarious threat to our government today.

On a lighter note, the two speakers urged us to be excited about recent change, even if policies don’t go as far as some may want. Both Kristol and Axelrod looked toward the younger generation and the work they will be doing in 10 years. They also urged us to find “the humanity in each other” as we move forward through divisive times.

The Prospects, Hopes and Failures of Educational Achievement at K-12

Ameshia Cross, political commentator and Roosevelt University alum, moderated the first event on Day 2 of the conference. The panel included Illinois state senator Kimberly A. Lightford, former U.S. representative Mike Honda and Illinois senator Cristina Pacione-Zayas.

The panel opened by acknowledging that every state in America that invested in K-12 education has seen economic advancements in median wage and per capita wage growth. They discussed how K-12 education fails students, including how students need extensive remedial courses in college, how parents are excluded from their children’s education, and the lack of language support for English as a Second Language students.

The larger framework to these comments was the disconnect between legislators who run for education and those who actually support education. The representatives seemed incredibly passionate about making actual change when it comes to education legislation and being incredibly frustrated with those who were not.

Lightford commented on the frustration of being a passionate Black woman in government and how she dealt with the casual racism of being called an angry Black woman for wanting legitimate change. She recounted the moment during the Black Lives Matter protests where she felt like people finally realized the change that needed to happen in education.

Pacione-Zayas agreed with this sentiment. Cross specifically commented on the racism Lightford had to deal with, saying, “If this is the composition of an angry Black woman, we need more.”

The panel agreed that race and education were distinctly intertwined, and until school systems address racism, children would continue to suffer.

Personal Choice and the American Dream

Marjorie Jolles, director of the Honors Program and professor of women’s and gender studies, moderated the panel. It included Agnes Callard, associate professor of philosophy at the University of Chicago, and Élis Miller Larsen, a doctoral student of philosophy at Harvard University.

Jolles began by commenting on the infinite possibilities of choice and the dilemma of personal choice. The panelists discussed their personal experience with the American Dream and growing up in worlds to which neither felt like they truly belonged. Larsen defined personal choice as having the choices over reason, while Callard said that there are two aspects: choosing what to do and choosing who to be.

The conversation shifted to how ignorance influences choice. Callard emphasized that ignorance is “not good, but the human condition.” Larsen discussed the normal definition of ignorance, where one does not know, and also how lack of consideration is a more dangerous form of ignorance.

The conversation touched on moments of choice and how distinct decisions that may seem small are no less important in terms of personal choice. The conversation then shifted to motherhood, as both have experienced its influence on individual choice. The two panelists also explored how ignorance is not an option, as parents and children directly influence each other through their personal choices.

The panelist closed by answering questions from the audience that solidified personal choice as an elusive, complex idea that infects our everyday life.

Call Jane! Roosevelt Student Panel

The student panel included moderator Lynn Weiner and panelists Sunyata Courie, Mohammed Hadi, Angelina Hernandez, Farzeen Quadri and Onteya Zachary.

The discussion centered on the Honors Exchange, a course that brought together honors students from Roosevelt and the University of Illinois at Chicago. The course focused on a group of famous Chicago Janes — such as Addams and Byrne.

The first section of the exchange course focused on Jane Addams. The students explained what they had learned from the experience, how it made them think differently about the American Dream, and how it related to their specific majors.

Students said they learned more about Chicago history, what Jane Addams did, and how the experience helped them understand the world around them.

The panelists also answered specific questions about social change, class relationships and the impact of learning about history by visiting Hull House. The students explored how Jane Addams exemplified the theme of a given versus a chosen life, and reflected on their own life choices.

Students Dealing with COVID-19

Moderator Lilly Pribish was joined by Roosevelt students Charles Hill, Jaida Porcha and Guillermo Ulloa. The panel began by discussing where the students spent the majority of quarantine, which all were in some part of Chicago or the suburbs. Hill mentioned how Gold Coast “felt like a ghost town.”

Pribish agreed with the difficulty of being at home and then asked the panelists why they believed that the summer of 2020 invoked calls for social change. Porcha believed it was our political era, while Hill and Ulloa mentioned that slowing down allowed us to look at ourselves and what was affecting us.

The students commented on how the pandemic made them more aware of themselves and the space they take up, as well as the importance of mental health and taking care of themselves. All agreed that we need to remember the lessons of the pandemic, including health awareness, patience with others and their hardships, and close attention to how we view others and social justice issues.

The panelists agreed that the American Dream shifted during the pandemic because America was not perfect and that moving into a more “normal” campus life will have to be taken “one day at a time.”

Public Health and Healthcare in a “Post” Pandemic World

Professor Kelly Wentz-Hunter moderated the panel featuring Dr. Carlos del Rio, professor of medicine at Emory University School of Medicine, and Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Wentz-Hunter opened the event by asking the panelists about their day-to-day roles in the pandemic. Ezike explained how she met with over 201 programs dedicated to keeping Illinois healthy, and Del Rio discussed his work to ensure the safety of healthcare workers. The two discussed when they realized COVID-19 would be a serious issue, and how preventive public health plans made mistakes that led to the pervasiveness of COVID-19.

The two discussed the lack of preparation for misinformation campaigns. Ezike shifted this attention to the need for a solid public healthcare infrastructure plan to improve trust in healthcare. “When public health is working, nothing happens,” she said.

The conversation then shifted to how the divisive actions by politicians led to the struggle with misinformation and getting the public on the same page, which they called the most difficult task.

“Change is hard” in terms of human behavior, del Rio said, so it is difficult to get people to change their ways. The panel concluded by both panelists urging us to not vilify the unvaccinated and try to understand one another better. The doctors also reminded viewers that we are in “the 7th inning” and that the fight against COVID-19 is not yet over.

Women’s Leadership and Gender Equity in Law and Medicine

Professor Cami McBride, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, moderated the panel that featured Andie Kramer, partner at McDermott Will & Emery LLP, and Dr. Neelum Aggarwal, associate professor of neurological science at Rush Medical Center.

The panel began by addressing how the women got into gender activism. Kramer relayed her experience of going to a big firm “far enough along in her career” to feel like she could speak up against the injustices she saw. Dr. Aggarwal explained that she could see patients directing their attention towards her male colleagues, which spurred her attention to sexism in the workplace.

The women spoke about their respective experiences, including how self-evaluations, language and the socialization of women over time influenced workplace stereotypes and gender discrimination.

“The problem is that the studies are endless. Women’s self-evaluations are shorter than the men’s,” Kramer explained. “By the end of reading it you think he’s the rock star… and she would be great in the library committee.” Dr. Aggarwal discussed how they attempted to “minimize the bias” in applications to stop this discrimination.

Both women discussed how mentoring and sponsorship can help mitigate these issues. Dr. Aggarwal mentioned how these various stereotypes hold women back financially and cause more women to end up in poverty than men. The women also discussed how gender bias affected their respective careers: law and healthcare.

The panel concluded with advice for women in the workplace.

“The studies all show that women are just as ambitious, they care about their careers as much, and so don’t let anyone tell you that somehow there’s something wrong with you if you’re ambitious, because you’re supposed to be,” said Kramer.

Send These, The Homeless, Tempest-Tost to Me”: Emma Lazarus, The Statue of Liberty, and the Problems of Immigration

Anne-Marie Cusac, associate dean and journalism professor, moderated the final panel of the week. The conversation welcomed Esther Schor, professor of American Jewish Studies and English at Princeton University, as well as author of Emma Lazarus, the biography of Lazarus’ life.

The panel centered on Emma Lazarus, author of the sonnet “The New Colossus,” the poem inscribed on the Statue of Liberty. The panel began by reading the poem Lazarus wrote and its implications on current immigration tensions in America.

Schor discussed the public charge law, an immigration restriction used to deport disabled and pregnant women and other marginalized communities. The law is entrenched in xenophobia, and Schor connected it to the immigration laws created under the Trump administration as they tried to reconcile Lazarus’ words with the law.

Schor talks about how the piece “began as a very subversive poem.” Lazarus was incredibly proud of the poem, but for a long time, it went unnoticed in the public eye. It then became a “nest of American pieties” and became popularized. The “pendulum then swung back” during the Trump administration.

The conversation then went to Lazarus’ identity, her interest in Jewish history, her activism with refugees, and how her poetry reflected her interest in social issues.

Lazarus was a columnist, essayist and translator, and Schor demonstrated the importance of her work in Jewish history. As the panel closed with questions, Schor described how her identity as a “bold” woman affected her work as well as her friends.

“She was unafraid,” Schor said.

At the end, Schor lamented that Lazarus did not live longer given her magnetic career, life and person.

Living History: Documenting 2020-2021

The final panel in the 2021 conference covered documenting and living through history. The 28th Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Distinguished Lecture was moderated by James Grossman, executive director of the American Historical Association, and featured:

• Lonnie Bunch III, Secretary of the Smithsonian
• Carla Hayden, Librarian of Congress and Roosevelt alum
• Patricia Hswe, Program Officer of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
• Trudy Huskamp Peterson, Professional Archivist and former Archivist of the United States.

After introductions, Grossman started by asking how historians think about the challenges and imperatives of collecting and preserving history.

“One of the most important things museums can do is to collect today for tomorrow,” Bunch responded.

The panelists emphasized the importance of recognizing “contemporary residence” and engaging with the history happening today. Howe described the Documenting the Now project, which archives social media, and its creation in reaction to the Ferguson protests. Each discussed the issue of moving and finding the right material to protect these stories.

Bunch said that the importance of recognizing the tension between history and memory. “Simply focusing on history or memory or heritage gives a simple answer,” he said.

They also discussed balancing dissident opinions on histories with how events enter memory, which includes reaching out to communities to acknowledge issues as well as having conversations with those that may not want certain history remembered.

The panelists also discussed how they address social justice in their collections and how that empowers communities. The panel ended by discussing who shapes the historical canon and how we can broaden and diversify that canon.

Immigrant Mass

For most people, Immigrant Mass marked a much-anticipated milestone — their return to the concert hall after nearly a 20-month hiatus caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. But for Carlos Jaquez Gonzalez (MM ’22), this performance was much more.

Gonzalez stood outside the doors of Roosevelt University’s historic Ganz Hall, welcoming familiar (or not so familiar) masked faces. And from a distance, the excitement radiated from his demeanor and poise. He was about to witness the live world premiere of his own composition — Immigrant Mass: a mixed-media performance reflecting the lives and struggles of those who have sought better lives in America. A composition inspired by the works of American photojournalist Greg Constantine.

The lights dimmed, and more than 150 guests eagerly awaited the start of the performance, featuring 70 members of the Chicago College of Performing Arts’ conservatory chorus, alumni chorus and orchestra. And with the raise of Dr. Cheryl Frazes Hill’s baton, the wait was over.

America Will Be! by Joel Thompson — an a cappella work featuring texts adapted from Langston Hughes’ “Let America Be America Again” and Emma Lazarus’ “The New Colossus” — opened the concert. Was it a coincidence that Lazarus’ work was featured just hours before, on the same stage, when Esther Schor, a Princeton University professor and the author of Emma Lazarus (Schocken Press) spoke?

Immigrant Mass directly followed. The six-movement work is a fusion of the mass ordinary with transcriptions of immigrant interviews and photography collected by Constantine. The intersectionality of religion and government — represented through the Greek and Latin texts sung by the chorus — could not be ignored. Soloists Corinne Costell, Tori Darnell, Jesse Bettis and Austin Sanders embodied first-hand accounts of immigrant detainees. All while Constantine’s award-winning and chilling photography displayed overhead. Images of humans turning to America for refuge — to escape war, poverty and human rights abuses.

The ultimate goal of this work and performance was to highlight the realities and resilience of humanity, particularly of struggling families, and our role and duty to help them. And that, it did. The work is proof that music has long been a change agent of social justice. What better place to premiere such work than Roosevelt University’s American Dream Reconsidered Conference?

Watch the full performance on demand.