WCC Graduate Assistant Coordinator presents at the CAHSS SGA Interdepartmental Symposium

Sabrina Louissaint, College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS) graduate student in Composition, Rhetoric, and Digital Media Master’s program, and graduate assistant coordinator at the NSU Writing & Communication Center (WCC), presented at the Graduate CAHSS Student Government Association (SGA) Interdepartmental Symposium on September 21, 2019. This year’s theme was Mental Wellbeing and Diverse Populations. Louissaint was on a panel with CAHSS faculty Ph.D., Molly Scanlon and graduate CAHSS SGA representatives, Arielle Saunders and Xin Quan.

Louissaint’s presentation, “Dehumanizing Minorities in America: The Exonerated 5,” examined the 1989 Central Park Jogger case that lead to the conviction of 5 innocent young men, who later became known as the Central Park Five. Thirteen years later, the men were exonerated of the crimes. Louissaint’s presentation used the case as an example of both a high-profile crime case with racism underlined through media coverage and continued injustice in America. According to Louissaint, inmates’ mental health and the trauma caused by the criminal justice system is not discussed enough, and this case demonstrates that, with the lasting trauma these men faced after spending years in prison. Along with these issues, Louissaint’s presentation also shed light on Jim Crow that continues to divide our nation, illustrating how racism is manufactured into the prison industrial complex.

See past Graduate CAHSS SGA interdepartmental symposium programs here and learn more about the CRDM Master’s program by visiting https://cahss.nova.edu/departments/wc/grad-programs.html