Augustana College, Illinois: Augustana Digital Commons

Augustana College, Rock Island Illinois,

April 15, 2020

Mar. 19: Communication 1 - Housing, Move-Out, and Checkout Update

May 5, 2020

https://digitalcommons.augustana.edu/swensonexhibits_sewing/1005/thumbnail.jp

Exhibit text

With Anna’s sewing design sketches. From MSS P:329 Anna Persson Cave family papers.https://digitalcommons.augustana.edu/swensonexhibits_sewing/1021/thumbnail.jp

Composition notebooks

A discussion on Beyoncé\u27s Lemonade and how its imagery and undertones relate to the ever-present colonial system found in relationships and religion. Highlighting connections and ideas found in Albert Memmi\u27s The Colonizer and the Colonized

Wheeler, Caitlin

Beyoncé making Lemonade out of the Colonial System

Gillon, Dezi

Intersections 
Volume 2020 Number 52 Article 7 
2020 
Activism, Justice, and the Danger of Silence 
Dezi Gillon 
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.augustana.edu/intersections 
 Part of the Higher Education Commons, and the Religion Commons 
Augustana Digital Commons Citation 
Gillon, Dezi (2020) "Activism, Justice, and the Danger of Silence," Intersections: Vol. 2020 : No. 52 , Article 
7. 
Available at: https://digitalcommons.augustana.edu/intersections/vol2020/iss52/7 
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Augustana Digital Commons. It has been accepted for 
inclusion in Intersections by an authorized editor of Augustana Digital Commons. For more information, please 
contact digitalcommons@augustana.edu. 
17
Jason: I remember vividly the die-in that you and others 
at Augustana organized as part of the emerging Black 
Lives Matter movement five years ago. Would you please 
describe some of your other activism in college and how 
you started to think about protest and activism in relation 
to who you are, and who and what you feel called to be? 
Dezi: My urge to participate in activism at Augustana came 
from my desire to be heard and to find community. This 
was after the acquittal of George Zimmerman, Trayvon 
Martin’s murderer, and my anger and desperation couldn’t 
be ignored. The moment swept me and others into a 
whirlwind of organizing and disrupting systems of oppres-
sion that affected us and those we loved. 
The beginning of the BLM movement was a moment 
that encapsulated feelings of anger and resentment I had 
towards white people growing up in Chicago and Evanston. 
I also grew up with two parents who were very active in 
their local Black communities. 
My father was a community 
organizer and social worker and 
my mother did outreach work 
through the church we attended. At the beginning of my 
junior year, I could feel the support of my family back home 
and my community at Augustana. I felt as though I needed 
to do something. 
I was fortunate to be surrounded by friends who also felt 
a call to action. The idea to organize protests at Augustana 
came after a number of seminars addressing the current 
events involving the Black Lives Matter movement. I 
remember walking away from those discussions feeling 
underwhelmed and frustrated at the lack of attention this 
matter was getting at our school. 
What I loved so much about our community was that 
it was student led, trauma informed, and centered Black 
students. Although we reached out to Augustana faculty 
Dezi Gillon (they/them) is a teaching artist and healer living on occupied Potawatomi territory—what is known today as 
Rogers Park, Chicago. In 2016, they graduated from Augustana College (Rock Island, Illinois) with Religion and Sociology 
majors, having participated in Interfaith Understanding, Black Student Union, AugiEquality, and Micah House, a residential 
intentional community. They went on to graduate from Union Theological Seminary (New York) with an MDiv in 2019. The 
conversation here was first published as “Hearing the Call to Action” at vocationmatters.org, the blogsite of the Network for 
Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE).
DEZI GILLON
Activism, Justice, and the  
Danger of Silence
In this interview, Intersections editor Jason Mahn talks with Augustana College alumnux, 
Dezi Gillon, to learn more about the callings to justice-work among students of color, and 
how he and other white professors can better support them as they live out those callings. 
18     Intersections | Fall 2020
and staff for advising, we also had the guidance of writers 
and activists such as Angela Davis, Alicia Garza, bell 
hooks, James Baldwin, and so many more. We led various 
demonstrations on campus as well as a die-in. We also 
worked with the local Black Lives Matter chapter in the 
Quad Cities where we participated in a few local protests. 
Jason: You talk about the “call to action” of you and your 
friends as emerging from places of disappointment, anger, 
and resentment. But you also speak of positive influencers 
and mentors, including your parents’ engagement with Black 
communities and famous Black writers who inspired you to 
act. Thinking back on those college years now, did your call to 
activism feel more like filling a void and emerging out of pain 
or following those who gave you hope and courage? 
Dezi: While there was and is deep pain, for the most 
part my call to action came from a passionate desire to 
feel more connected to my community of fellow Black 
and Brown students. I love us, and I wanted to fight for 
us—for our love and existence, as well as for our repre-
sentation at Augustana. I was also very grateful for fellow 
white students who joined our organizing and care work. 
I felt inspired by folks in my community and people I was 
meeting in Chicago and following on social media. There 
was no time to be silent or to cater to requests to be more 
gentle with white professors and students. Even though 
there was pain, we were determined to fight for one 
another in community. 
Jason: Did the calling you felt to fight for and support a 
community of Black and other students of color carry over 
into your life and work since graduating from college? 
Dezi: Yes! That time in undergrad has had such a signif-
icant impact on my life. After finishing my bachelor’s 
degree I decided to go to Union Theological Seminary in 
New York City. There I participated in organizing for undoc-
umented folks who were seeking asylum in church and in 
school as well as accompaniment in court proceedings. 
During my time in NYC, I also deepened my explo-
ration into spirituality and Blackness. There was such 
a diversity of Black experiences in that city. I started 
becoming closer to my West African roots in my spiritual 
practices. I started grappling with very complex questions 
regarding my Christian identity. 
While doing social justice education and programming 
with the Sadie Nash Leadership Project, I also discovered 
that work with youth and environmental justice were large 
parts of my vocation. This work and so much more brought 
me to do the restorative justice work I do now. As I am now 
settling back into Chicago, I want to continue to learn more 
about transformative justice and youth work. Using art and 
transformative practices and following the leadership of 
youth, I want to invest myself in justice for the communi-
ties that I am a part of. 
Jason: You mention how art, spirituality, and activism all 
compose parts of your identity and calling. Can you give us 
a sense of how those three go together—especially for the 
younger communities in which you are a part? 
Dezi: I actually found these fit together quite easily for me. 
I have always been an artist. Sometimes I am a very active 
artist and other times my creativity seems blocked. Creating 
art and being fascinated by the art around me has informed 
my calling for justice and my connection to the spirit. 
When I moved to NYC and started school at Union 
Theological Seminar, I had access to so much art and 
spiritual faith practices. These were woven together so 
tightly that at times I couldn’t tell them apart. Being around 
other artists, especially artists whose work tied directly to 
their spiritual life, helped me unravel the cultural aesthetics 
of Black Christianity and Black American lived experiences. 
I became fascinated with the arts and spiritual life. 
I began to prioritize art and garden-based learning 
in my facilitation style as well as in my academic and 
personal life. Art became a portal into understanding and 
storytelling and I wanted to incorporate that into the way 
I taught. I also want folks to think more critically about 
the land and their relationship to it and to the people in 
their local community. Tying together art, spirituality, and 
“Tying together art, spirituality, and  
activism was second nature to me.”
19
activism was second nature to me. Any limitations did 
not come from me, but from the boxes that other people 
put me in. I wanted to break out of those boxes and into 
something that documented the lives of my community. 
Jason: What advice would you give to Black students 
studying at predominantly white institutions? How about to 
white teachers like me who are trying to learn how to better 
support students as they fight for change in an unjust world? 
Dezi: Whew, these are big questions! The advice I would 
give to current Black students at PWIs is to try to find 
your people. Find people who support all of you—not just 
some of you. I am so grateful for the leadership of Black 
students and the space they take up on college campuses. 
Don’t let white people and non-black POC put you into 
boxes that stifle your strengths. And if you feel like you are 
doing work you should be getting paid for, chances are you 
are. Know your worth and demand your seat at the table. 
When I think about the advice I’d give to teachers, I 
think of the Maya Angelou quote, “I’ve learned that people 
will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, 
but people will never forget how you made them feel.” 
You have the power to shape the way Black folks feel on 
your campus. I experienced not only the silence of my 
fellow students, but also of my professors. I remember 
the silence being frustrating and cruel. At times, the 
silence was almost louder than words of solidarity. There 
is no neutral ground. By staying silent you actually speak 
volumes. You are a resource to students, and should use 
the power that you have to open doors for students and 
support students when they need you. Do not become 
another barrier to voices who are learning to speak out.
“By staying silent you actually speak volumes.”


English

Activism, Justice, and the Danger of Silence

Rhodes, Sophie

Augustana College 
Augustana Digital Commons 
Women's and Gender Studies: Student 
Scholarship & Creative Works Women's and Gender Studies 
Fall 2020 
The Inequalities Women Face In STEM: From Their Education To 
The Workplace 
Sophie Rhodes 
Augustana College, Rock Island Illinois 
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 Part of the Gender Equity in Education Commons, History of Gender Commons, and the Women's 
Studies Commons 
Augustana Digital Commons Citation 
Rhodes, Sophie. "The Inequalities Women Face In STEM: From Their Education To The Workplace" (2020). 
Women's and Gender Studies: Student Scholarship & Creative Works. 
https://digitalcommons.augustana.edu/wgststudent/5 
This Student Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the Women's and Gender Studies at Augustana 
Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Women's and Gender Studies: Student Scholarship & 
Creative Works by an authorized administrator of Augustana Digital Commons. For more information, please 
contact digitalcommons@augustana.edu. 
Sophie Rhodes
The Inequalities Women Face In STEM: From Their Education To The Workplace
WGSS-130-01 Intro to Gender Studies
Dr. Emily Cranford
Fall Semester 2020
Women in STEM have a long history of not being a part of it. Since the 1920s, women
have had to deal with sexism in the male-dominated fields of science, technology, engineering,
and mathematics--also known as STEM. When comparing the progress women have made in
these fields, it is noticeable just how inefficient the education system was with the inclusion of
young girls in math and science. This sexism carries into the workplace by exemplifying the
shrinking yet sustained wage gap. This wage gap becomes even larger when women of color are
incorporated into this community. Despite increasing numbers of women in the STEM
community, the sexism and prejudice women have faced within their education and workplace is
still a part of this ever-changing society that favors men within this field.
Women have had a long battle with inclusion in STEM starting with their education as
well as being discouraged from equal opportunities from the 1920s to today. The interest and
exposure to these fields usually intensifies in college when majors and minors become more
specific. Although men and women are roughly exposed to the same amount of math and science
in primary and secondary school, it is apparent that there is an unbalance in the men and women
who go to college to pursue a STEM degree. When entering these fields of study, it was, and still
is today, common to find prejudices toward women considering the oppression of women in
mathematics and science in the classroom from professors and peers. Noticing this pattern, in the
1960s, “Some colleges even set higher standards for women or instituted quotas to maintain male
dominance in medicine, dentistry, law, and many graduate schools” (Koch, 2014 p. 74).
In elementary, middle, and high school, boys and girls are roughly equally exposed to the
same amount of math and science. However, as children’s minds grow and each child finds their
academic strengths and weaknesses, the likelihood of girls actively participating in these subjects
goes down significantly as their male peers take ambitious strides in these subjects,
overshadowing the opportunities for young girls to put in their two cents in during these classes.
According to a 2010 report by the American Association of University Women (AAUW),
leaving high school, about the same amount of boys and girls are prepared to enter college
intending to pursue majors in science and engineering. During the first year of college, men are
much more likely than women to stay in these majors. By the time of graduation, men outnumber
women in every field of engineering and science such as physics and computer science. This
results in only 20 percent of women making up bachelor’s degrees in these fields. This
percentage proceeds to drop even further as women enter graduate school and eventually the
workforce. (Thompson, 2010 pg. 2). Women have had the odds of being in a STEM field stacked
up against them for the past 80 years. Through being discouraged by society and higher
education institutions, by the end of the 1960s, women only represented 1% of engineers, 2% of
dentists, and 7% of physicians (Koch, 2014 p. 74).
Including all genders equally in the classroom is essential in order to make the small
percentage of women in these male-dominated fields increase. A research study shows that kids
can start learning foundational engineering and coding skills at ages 4-7. Children start forming
gender groups at around ages 2-3 (Sullivan et al., 2017). By starting children on the same playing
field of teaching them math and science, what would be the societal norm of boys veering
towards while girls drifting away, would be much less likely to happen. Another way to start
children on a similar base of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics would be to
avoid teaching methods that require competition. Many programs and service tools focus on
competition to see who is best at what. Making it impossible for everyone to feel like they gained
valuable information if they lost something whether that be in the classroom or a robotics
competition.
Society discourages young girls from thriving in math and science fields. One finding
shows that parents and teachers who tell young girls that their intelligence can grow with
learning and experience, they are more likely to do better on tests and negate the negative
stereotypes that mathematics is only for men (Thompson, 2010 pg. 2). This shows that In the
1960s, women’s salaries declined while their male counterparts remained at their current pay
(Koch 2014, p. 35).
The wage gap in STEM in America has been a problem since the mid-1900s when
women entering their respective STEM fields were becoming more common. This point in
history was extremely difficult for women in STEM as the wage gap has never been larger as
“pay differed as much as 60% in the 1950s and 1960s” (Collins, 209). Women currently
outnumber men in the general workforce with women making up 52% while men only make up
48% (Koch et al., 2011). However, women only make up a quarter of the STEM workforce
(Tulshyan, 2016). According to data given by the Economics and Statistics Association, women
in STEM make 14% less than their male counterparts (Writers et al 2020). In light of this
statistic, this is the smallest the gender wage gap has ever been in STEM, “Women in the STEM
workforce earn 33% more than women in non-STEM careers” (Koch 72). Though the wage gap
is shrinking, it has still not closed. Society enforces the inequality of men and women by not
paying each gender the same salary even though both are doing the same job.
There are many actions to be taken to close, or at least shrink, the gender wage gap in
STEM. Some of which are more difficult to achieve than others. A large contributing factor of
why the wage gap is not closed or shrinking at any noticeable rate is simply because it is simply
expensive to employers. The Harvard Business Review says, “By paying more money to their
employees, it can put companies in the red. Managers need to establish a list of defined priorities
around closing the gender pay gap. This list could include capping raises to individual employees
and maintaining pay differences based on job performance and responsibilities” (Anderson et al.,
2019). Another factor of the gap is overworking. Many employers expect their employees to be
available for work 24/7. Employers relate this to loyalty to the company. According to an article
published by the American Sociological Association, “The effect of the diffusion of overwork on
trends in the gender gap in wages depends, logically, on two factors: changes in the relative
proportions of men and women who overwork, and changed in the wage returns to overwork
relative to full- or part-time employment” (Cha 459).
Women of color are facing brutal fights to be recognized within their STEM careers. In
addition to being a woman in a male-dominated field, women of different ethnicities face more
inequalities and oppression than white women in STEM. The idea of Black Feminism fits well
into exemplifying this particular type of oppression. In “The Combahee River Statement '',
author Keeanga-Yamahatta Taylor explains in the 1977 article that women who do not define
themselves as Black feminists, all experienced sexual oppression as a constant factor in
day-to-day existence (Taylor et al 17). Though women only make up around a quarter of the 5
million technology-related jobs, women of color remain in the single digits. Furthermore, a study
shows that young black girls show more interest in STEM subjects and careers more than their
white counterparts (Parker et al). Starting in elementary school, girls that are encouraged in math
and science build the confidence to pursue it after high school but tend to change their majors
early in the process of earning their degree. A 2006 statistic shows, “Only 1.6%, 0.4%, 1.1%, and
2.3% of African American females initially choose physical science, mathematics/statistics,
computer sciences, or engineering, respectively, as a major” (Hill et al., 2010).
Many changes need to be made to fix this inequality yet very few have been taken into
practice. It is essential that the barriers put up to exclude women in these fields have to be
knocked down, but are reluctant to do so by many companies. Employers need to look further
than the surface of what traditionally makes a “good candidate” for a certain job. They also need
to provide sustainable training for their employees of color. Oftentimes, women of color leave
their positions in STEM after around six months because of the exclusionary work environment
and inadequate training (Parker et al). Additionally, there need to be changes made in workplace
culture. Marietta Davis wrote for The Huffington Post, “Acceptance into organizational networks
is important to long-term advancement. Being part of a network increases information and
knowledge, increasing the chances of advancement in the STEM disciplines. African American
women are often excluded from the networks and isolated in the work environment” (Parker et
al). It is not just African American women that are being excluded from this workforce, but all
other races and ethnicities as well are being excluded from STEM.
Even though women of color are not given near the credit they deserve for their careers in
men-dominated fields, it is important to recognize what these women have accomplished so far.
According to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), “In 2006,
women made up about 58 percent of bachelor degrees associated in the STEM fields… Asian
Americans/Pacific Islanders make up 9.7 percent versus 6.7 percent” (Thompson 2010, p.2).
This statistic proves to recognize that women are making great strides toward equality yet much
more changes need to be made starting with inclusion.
To restate the main ideas, it is important to teach young people, especially girls, that the
stereotypes put forth by history and society are wrong. Math and science do not just belong to
boys and the arts and humanities do not just belong to girls; as they belong to all who are willing
to learn about these subjects. By doing so, we affect aspects of each new generation how to
effectively participate in fields that their gender is not normally a part of. These academic
subjects collectively belong to the human race, not aspects of the human race. Despite the rise of
women in the STEM community, the sexism and prejudice women have faced within their
education and workplace is still a part of this ever-changing society that favors the men within
this field.
Work Cited
Cha, Y., & Weeden, K. (2014). Overwork and the Slow Convergence in the Gender Gap
in Wages. American Sociological Review, 79(3), 457-484. doi:10.2307/43187549
David Anderson,  . (2019, January 22). Why Companies' Attempts to Close the Gender
Pay Gap Often Fail. Retrieved December 04, 2020, from
https://hbr.org/2019/01/why-companies-attempts-to-close-the-gender-pay-gap-often-fail
Earning Gap. (2019, September 09). Retrieved December 04, 2020, from
https://research.swe.org/2016/08/earning-gap/
Janice Koch. Girls and Women in STEM: A Never Ending Story. Information Age
Publishing, 2014. EBSCOhost,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=688061&site=ehost-live.
Lynch, M. (2019, March 21). Breaking Gender Stereotypes Through Early Exposure to
Robotics. Retrieved December 04, 2020, from
https://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/education_futures/2017/10/the_new_girl_code_breaking.html
Parker, P. (n.d.). Why are there so few women of color in STEM careers? Retrieved
December 01, 2020, from
https://stateofopportunity.michiganradio.org/post/why-are-there-so-few-women-color-stem-caree
rs
Taylor, K. (1977). The Combahee River Collective Statement. Retrieved December 04,
2020, from
https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/combahee-river-collective-statement-1977/
Thompson, G. (2010). WOMEN in STEM A LEGACY OF ACHIEVEMENT CRACKS
THE GLASS CEILING. Women of Color Magazine, 9(1), 46-51. Retrieved November 4, 2020,
from http://www.jstor.org/stable/43769400
Writers, S. (2020, October 27). Women in STEM. Retrieved November 29, 2020, from
https://www.bestcolleges.com/resources/women-in-stem/


The Inequalities Women Face In STEM: From Their Education To The Workplace

With an increase in antibiotic resistance within the medical field the need for novel antibiotics is evident. Through collaboration with the Tiny Earth Project Initiative, we hope to find novel antibiotics through bacteria found in soil. We were able to successfully isolate two microbes that showed broad spectrum antibiotics against both Staphylococcus epidermis and Bacillus subtilis. Through further exploration and collaboration with the Tiny Earth Project Initiative, we might be able to discover novel antibiotics

Jayne, Cory

Scott, Dr. Lori

Augustana College 
Augustana Digital Commons 
Identifying and Characterizing Novel Antibiotic 
Producing Microbes From the Soil Biology 
Winter 1-28-2020 
Pseudomonas and Bacillus as Potential Sources of Novel 
Antibiotics 
Cory Jayne 
Augustana College, Rock Island Illinois 
Dr. Lori Scott 
Augustana College, Rock Island Illinois 
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.augustana.edu/biolmicro 
 Part of the Biology Commons, and the Natural Products Chemistry and Pharmacognosy Commons 
Augustana Digital Commons Citation 
Jayne, Cory and Scott, Dr. Lori. "Pseudomonas and Bacillus as Potential Sources of Novel Antibiotics" 
(2020). Identifying and Characterizing Novel Antibiotic Producing Microbes From the Soil. 
https://digitalcommons.augustana.edu/biolmicro/5 
This Poster is brought to you for free and open access by the Biology at Augustana Digital Commons. It has been 
accepted for inclusion in Identifying and Characterizing Novel Antibiotic Producing Microbes From the Soil by an 
authorized administrator of Augustana Digital Commons. For more information, please contact 
digitalcommons@augustana.edu. 
Bacillus and Pseudomonas Genera as a Potential Source for 
Novel Antibiotics
Cory Jayne and Dr. Lori Scott, Augustana College
INTRODUCTION
The need for new antibiotics is an ever-growing issue in the 
medical field due to a multitude of issues, most notably the 
over-prescription of antibiotics and the non-cooperation of 
patients in following the advised prescription time period.1 This 
has led to multiple drugs becoming resistant to the various 
drugs used to treat them. The ESKAPE bacteria are a group of 
six bacteria that are considered in critical or high need of 
finding new antibiotics (Figure 1). The six bacteria are 
Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella
pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas 
aeruginosa, and Enterobacter spp. Through collaboration with 
the Tiny Earth Project Initiative, a worldwide database focused 
on finding novel antibiotics for the treatment of the ESKAPE 
strains, we hope to discover antibiotics through bacteria found 
in soil.2
Fig 1. The ESKAPE strains are becoming more resistant to 
the antibiotics used to treat them.5 The graph shows common 
antibiotics and what percentage of just one strain, Enterococcus 
faecium, is resistant to them. 
With the rise of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
(MRSA), among various other bacteria, hospital-acquired 
infections (HAI) are becoming a more significant issue.1
Staphylococcus aureus and different other strains of the 
Staphylococcus genus are commonly found in surgical site 
infections (SSI).3 A study done by Pal et al. showed that 20.8% 
of patients in a rural hospital in India obtained either a primary 
or secondary SSI after their procedure. A primary SSI is an 
infection typically occurring within seven days of the 
operation, generally while still in the hospital. A secondary SSI 
is an infection acquired after leaving the hospital. Of the 
patients who acquired an SSI post-surgery, 64.8% had the 
bacteria Staphylococcus in the infection 69.9% of which was 
MRSA, or methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus
(MSSA). The discovery of new antibiotics to treat 
Staphylococcus aureus is in dire need. Similarly, the genus 
Bacillus can cause a wide range of issues, including infections, 
anthrax, and endocarditis.4 
Through the use of the safe test strains Staphylococcus 
epidermidis and Bacillus subtilis, we can use a variety of 
molecular and biochemical procedures to find and isolate new 
antibiotic-producing bacteria. These strains, which are 
evolutionarily similar to the ESKAPE strains, allow for the safe 
testing and potential discovery of novel antibiotics against 
Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus anthracis. Identification 
and isolation of antibiotic-producing bacteria will be reported 
back into the global network of the Tiny Earth Project 
Initiative.
METHODS
In collaboration with the Tiny Earth Project Initiative we were 
able to use many of their procedures described.2 Unless otherwise 
noted, all of the procedures were followed exactly.
• Collect soil sample 
• Serial Dilution of soil samples and isolation of microbes
• Media and selective media for isolation (10% TSA, LB, PDA)
• Formation of master plates
• Testing microbial isolates for the production of secondary 
metabolites with antibiotics (Staphylococcus epidermidis, 
Bacillus subtilis, and Erwinia carotovora)
• Formation of streak plates to allow for further testing
• Differential media for potential identification of isolates 
(MacConkey, Simmons’ citrate, MSA, TSI slants, and blood 
agar)
• PCR of any antibiotic producing microbes (16S rRNA gene 
primers are 27F and 1492R)
• Gel electrophoresis of PCR products (1% agarose gel)
• Sequencing of the DNA of 16S rRNA gene (Iowa Institute of 
Human Genetics, University of Iowa)
DISCUSSION
We were able to successful identify the genus of isolates CJ-1-
TSA and CJ-4-PDA as Pseudomonas and Bacillus. For these two 
isolates we were able to conclude that they have the potential to 
be broad spectrum antibiotics against both Staphylococcus 
epidermidis and Bacillus subtilis.
Future directions of this project would include the isolation of the 
actual secondary metabolite. This would involve organic and 
biochemical separation techniques. Further directions would 
include full genome sequencing through the Tiny Earth Project 
Initiative and the potential identification of the structure of the 
secondary metabolite. 
LITERATURE CITED
1. Mulani, M. S.; Kamble, E. E.; Kumkar, S. N.; Tawre, M. S.; Pardesi, K. R. Emerging Strategies
to Combat ESKAPE Pathogens in the Era of Antimicrobial Resistance: A Review. Frontiers in 
microbiology 2019, 10, 539.
2. Hernandez, S., T. Tsang, C. Bascom-Slack, N. Broderick and J. Handelsman. 2018. Tiny 
Earth: A research guide to student sourcing antibiotic discovery. XanEdu Publishers, Ann
Arbor, MI.
3. Wright, W. F. Central Venous Access Device-Related Bacillus Cereus Endocarditis: A Case 
Report and Review of the Literature. Clinical medicine & research 2016, 14, 109-115.
4. Pal, S.; Sayana, A.; Joshi, A.; Juyal, D. Staphylococcus aureus: A predominant cause of 
surgical site infections in a rural healthcare setup of Uttarakhand. Journal of Family Medicine 
and Primary Care 2019, 8, 3600-3606.
5. Silva, D. M.; Menezes, E. M. N.; Silva, E. V.; Lamounier, T. A. C. Prevalence and antimicrobial 
susceptibility profile of ESKAPE pathogens from the Federal District, Brazil. 2017.
6. Altshcul, S.F., Gish, W., Miller, W., Myers, E.W. & Lipman, D.J. (1990) “Basic local alignment 
search tool.” J. Mol. Biol. 215:403-410. PubMed
RESULTS
Figure 2. Evidence of antibiotic producing isolates present 
against both of my Gram-positive strains, Staphylococcus 
epidermidis and Bacillus subtilis. Halos were present in the first 
and third columns, Staphylococcus epidermidis and Bacillus 
subtilis respectively. The middle column was a Gram-negative 
bacteria, Erwinia carotovora. The plates were grown on LB at 
28oC for 24 hours.
Figure 3. Successful amplification of the 16S rRNA gene from 
PCR. We were able to amplify the DNA from the bacteria in 
lanes 3,5,7, and 9. In these lanes were isolates CJ-1-TSA, CJ-2-
TSA, CJ-4-PDA, and CJ-5-PDA, respectively. With the primers 
we chose, the DNA bands we expected, and produced, were 
around 1.4Kb. The PCR product was run for 25 minutes on a 1% 
agarose gel. 
RESULTS (CONTINUED)
Figure 4. 16S rRNA gene sequence data, showing that isolate 
CJ-1-TSA, and CJ-4-PDA are from the genus Pseudomonas
and Bacillus respectively.6 The description section lists the 
possible strains that our unknown isolates were. Query cover is 
the percentage of the actual gene that our sequenced data matches 
up with, in this case we did not amplify the entire gene, but 
instead about 98%. The E value is the likelihood that we just 
randomly obtained these strains. Finally, the percent identity is 
the percent of nucleotides from our isolates that line up exactly 
with the known strains in the description.  


Pseudomonas and Bacillus as Potential Sources of Novel Antibiotics

Anderson, Chloe

Augustana College 
Augustana Digital Commons 
Race, Ethnicity, & Religion Religion 
2020 
The Appropriation of Lacrosse: Competitive Lacrosse and The 
Creator’s Game 
Chloe Anderson 
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 Part of the Religion Commons 
Augustana Digital Commons Citation 
Anderson, Chloe. "The Appropriation of Lacrosse: Competitive Lacrosse and The Creator’s Game" (2020). 
Race, Ethnicity, & Religion. 
https://digitalcommons.augustana.edu/relgrace/7 
This Student Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the Religion at Augustana Digital Commons. It 
has been accepted for inclusion in Race, Ethnicity, & Religion by an authorized administrator of Augustana Digital 
Commons. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@augustana.edu. 
 
 
 
 
The Appropriation of Lacrosse: 
Competitive Lacrosse and The Creator’s Game 
 
 
 
 
 
Chloe Anderson 
Dr. Wolff 
Race, Ethnicity, and Religion 
1 May 2020 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Anderson 2 
 
According to historian Ryan Hall, many people of European descent wrongly associate 
the sport of lacrosse with, “elite prep school culture.”12 Within several Native nations, lacrosse is 
considered to be “the Creator’s game”.3 According to the spiritual traditions of these nations, 
God gave lacrosse to humanity to peacefully settle disputes and prevent the shedding of blood 
between tribes. As a member of Augustana College’s Women’s Lacrosse team and a religious 
person, it was unsettling to learn that I am unwittingly participating in the appropriation, 
whitewashing, and masculinization of North American setters through my sport and its 
associations as a recreational and violent game.  In this paper, I will first illuminate the 
appropriation of the sport of lacrosse by North American settlers. Then, with the aid of Tomoko 
Masuzawa’s argument that the concepts of race and religion are productions of modernity in 
conversation with David Chidester’s notion of the frontier, I will analyze the transformation of 
the religious peace-making game into the violent recreational sport of lacrosse. Next, I will 
discuss its whitewashing and masculinization and demonstrate the past and present 
disenfranchisement of Indigenous peoples from their religious game. Finally, I will explore the 
possibility of reconciliation between Indigenous peoples and settlers through the Creator’s game 
and the generosity of Native tribes.  
Prior to being systematically appropriated by European settlers across North America, 
lacrosse was ceremonial, competitive, and steeped in a rich oral history relating to mythology.4 
Although the mythology surrounding the Creator’s game can vary greatly from tribe to tribe, 
some commonalities are shared between tribes. The concept of the Creator’s game is grounded in 
 
1 Native American lacrosse player and historian Ryan Downey concurs with this statement. 
2 Hall, Ryan. “The Creator's Game: Lacrosse, Identity, and Indigenous Nationhood by Allan Downey 
(Review).” Canadian Journal of History 54, no. 1-2 (2019): 206 
3 Downey, Allan. The Creators Game: Lacrosse, Identity, and Indigenous Nationhood. Vancouver ; Toronto: 
University of British Columbia Press, 2018. p. 22 
4 Ibid 22 
Anderson 3 
 
it being the way conflicts are resolved in the Skyland through games as to keep peace and 
prevent bloodshed.5 It was gifted to humans by the Creator to settle disputes between clans, bring 
medicinal healing, and to entertain the Creator and spectators.6 As non-Indigenous people 
colonized this game,7 they lost the meaning behind it, and, according Downey, inflated the 
negative aspects of humanness in the sport which include selfishness, vanity, and greed.8 Instead 
of understanding these nuanced spiritualities of the game, non-Indigenous people purloined the 
game, stripping it of its spiritual roots and recasting it into the hyper-masculinized bellicose form 
it is associated with today. Once the game had been changed to fit European ideals of 
masculinity, Canada adopted the game as their national sport. Not only was the sport of lacrosse 
decontextualized from its spiritual purpose within Native tribes, it was then used as a tool to 
systematically oppress indigenous person by disenfranchising them from participating in 
competitive leagues for lacrosse.9 
The appropriation of lacrosse can be understood as one piece of Native American culture 
that was misunderstood and misrepresented because of the bias of settlers caused by their Euro-
centric worldviews. In The Invention of World Religions, Tomoko Mazuzawa illuminates the 
hierarchical nature of so-called major world religions in light of the classifications of the word 
religion coming from a European context.10 These definitions of religion persist today and cause 
many religions including those of Indigenous people to be perceived as savage and insignificant 
 
5 Downey, Allan. The Creators Game: Lacrosse, Identity, and Indigenous Nationhood. Vancouver ; Toronto: 
University of British Columbia Press, 2018. p. 7 
6 Ibid 11 
7 This was done by using the spiritual practice as entertainment, leading to it being transformed into a sport with 
no religious ties 
8 Ibid 254 
9 Poulter, Gillian. “The Creator's Game: Lacrosse, Identity, and Indigenous Nationhood by Allan Downey 
(Review).” The Canadian Historical Review 100, no. 3 (September 2019): 473–74. 
10 Masuzawa, Tomoko. The Invention of World Religions: or, How European Universalism Was Preserved in the 
Language of Pluralism. Chicago, IL: Univ. of Chicago Press, 2007. Pg? 
 
Anderson 4 
 
because they do not mold to the Euro-centric ideals and definitions. Because lacrosse was a 
religious ritual and practice by Native people, these preexisting religious biases changed the way 
settlers perceived the game. St. Augustine’s views shaped many concepts of religion within 
European traditions, thus impacting the concepts of world religions Mazuzawa discusses. In a 
section of Confessions, Augustine refers to sports as a violent distraction from truly important 
spiritual matters.11 The limit of the Euro-centric perspectives on world religions provides some 
exposition regarding the appropriation of the Creator’s Game. European’s prioritized Christianity 
and secularization, so even if they saw lacrosse as spiritual rather than merely a game, they likely 
did not see the appropriation as the travesty and injustice it is because of their skewed views of 
what fit the category of important and religious.  
As settlers’ changed lacrosse from a spiritual ritual to a competitive and violent game, 
they also destroyed the openness associated with the game by adding boundaries so that the 
game was contained and better for spectators. These boarders are both literal and symbolic for 
the game of lacrosse. Perhaps using the typically negative ideas of border and frontier along with 
Indigenous generosity, there is hope for reconciliation of the game of lacrosse and Indigenous 
people. The Creator’s game is meant to be played for entertainment of the creator with no 
confining out of bounds lines, and many Indigenous people welcome anyone including non-
Indigenous people to play.12 There were no boundaries in the sport and it would often be played 
across multiple open fields. Problems arose because non-Indigenous people drew boundary lines. 
The game of lacrosse was confined to boundaries though it had previously been played in open 
field with no borders, and boundaries were drawn around indigenous people separating their 
 
11 Augustine. Confessions; a New Translation by Henry Chadwick. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992. p. 99 
12 Downey, Allan. The Creators Game: Lacrosse, Identity, and Indigenous Nationhood. Vancouver ; Toronto: 
University of British Columbia Press, 2018.  
Anderson 5 
 
space from the space taken by settlers.13 Religious studies scholar David Chidester defines a 
frontier zone as a point of contact rather than a boundary.14 If the biggest issue with the 
appropriation of lacrosse surrounds the concept of boundaries, perhaps a frontier zone can offer 
some relief. Because frontiers are a point of contact, lacrosse can become a frontier between 
Indigenous and non-indigenous people. Frontiers are often negatively understood as always 
having one group asserting dominance, and historically violence, in a way that forces its ideals 
and traditions on another, but what if the settlers could embrace that lacrosse is a part of 
Indigenous culture and use it as a way to help reconcile the years of appropriation. Downey saw 
a partnership between settlers and Indigenous communities through lacrosse as a way to perceive 
knowledge that, “has the potential to re-empower Indigenous history on its own terms.”15 With 
lacrosse as the frontier, perhaps Indigenous history can regain a little of its power in a way that 
does not force it to become part of non-Indigenous history but recognizes the positive impact 
Indigenous people have had on settlers.  
As non-Indigenous people colonized the Creator’s Game, they lost the peacemaking and 
spiritual purpose, which, according Downey, inflated the negative aspects of humanness in the 
sport which is categorized by desire for self-gain through image, wealth, and status.16 The 
increase in the selfishness, vanity, and greed of the game can be displayed by its shift to being 
associated with masculinity and violence. When people find out I play lacrosse, they often 
remark how violent the game is. The idea that in many people’s heads the topic of lacrosse 
immediately brings with it a connection to violence runs contrary to the original intent of the 
 
13 Chidester, David. Savage Systems: Colonialism and Comparative Religion in Southern Africa. Charlottesville: 
University Press of Virginia, 2011. p. 22 
14 Ibid 20 
15 Downey, Allan. The Creators Game: Lacrosse, Identity, and Indigenous Nationhood. Vancouver; Toronto: 
University of British Columbia Press, 2018. p. 256 
16 Ibid 254 
Anderson 6 
 
game as a way for tribes to maintain peace without the violence associated with wars and battles. 
Assuming lacrosse to be violent is the opposite of what the Creator’s Game was and is for many 
indigenous people. Additionally, as previously demonstrated through Mazuzawa’s analysis of 
religion, settlers wrongly interpreted the purpose of lacrosse to be recreation or combat. Based on 
these false assumptions and biases, in colonializing the game they imbued, “it with masculine 
Vistorian-era values of discipline and gentlemanly conduct that they believed would improve” 
the game.17 A game that was originally meant to be a spiritual practice, a gift from the creator, 
and peace now represents masculinity and violence because of the whitewashing of colonizers 
due to their bias in assuming Native culture to be savage.   
During the depression, the popular game of box lacrosse was formed by indigenous 
people as a way of keeping their ability to play the game alive while they were being 
systematically discriminated against.18 At that time in Canadian history, indigenous teams were 
not allowed to participate in tournaments and leagues for lacrosse.19 Although now there are not 
rules and regulations preventing native tribes from forming teams in these leagues, capitalism 
and the inflation of prices on lacrosse gear still stand as barriers between the Indigenous people 
and the game taken from them. In accordance with Hall’s suggestion that lacrosse is wrongly 
associated with prep school culture today, the reason for this often lies in the economics.20 Prep 
schools are associated with wealth as is the sport of lacrosse. Although it was originally played 
with objects that could be found and made on Native people’s land, now sticks, balls, and 
 
17 Hall, Ryan. “The Creator's Game: Lacrosse, Identity, and Indigenous Nationhood by Allan Downey 
(Review).” Canadian Journal of History 54, no. 1-2 (2019): 206  
18 Poulter, Gillian. “The Creator's Game: Lacrosse, Identity, and Indigenous Nationhood by Allan Downey 
(Review).” The Canadian Historical Review 100, no. 3 (September 2019): 473–74. 
19 Ibid 173 
20 Hall, Ryan. “The Creator's Game: Lacrosse, Identity, and Indigenous Nationhood by Allan Downey 
(Review).” Canadian Journal of History 54, no. 1-2 (2019): 206 
 
Anderson 7 
 
protective gear are created in factories and sold by sporting good companies for hundreds of 
dollars. When I first began playing lacrosse, my parents were surprised to learn that most sticks 
cost over a hundred dollars and some of the nice ones can cost much more than that. These costs 
make it more difficult for Indigenous people to be involved in lacrosse leagues as they may not 
have the money to afford the luxurious equipment required by the leagues. There is no option to 
use homemade equipment as many mandates require approve gear made my specific companies. 
Although there are no longer specific rules preventing Indigenous people from playing lacrosse, 
many are still being kept from the game through the regulations imposed by a capitalistic society.  
The disenfranchisement of Indigenous people and appropriation of their spiritual 
practices associated with the sport of lacrosse one may cause one to wonder if indigenous 
peoples and settlers may be able to seek reconciliation through playing the Creator’s Game. 
Certainly one game cannot erase decades of wrong doings, but perhaps if settlers can come to 
terms with the areas in which they have disenfranchised and stolen the game in the past and the 
ways in which whitewashing and discrimination still exist they can begin to help give back the 
sacredness of the religious activity. In many native cultures the Creator’s Game is viewed as a 
healing ritual and perhaps it is the same divine healing needed between settlers and indigenous 
people.21 Some concepts for further consideration in the potential of the game as a frontier are 
the boundary lines and meanings behind it. There are boundaries imposed in modern lacrosse to 
create it to be a scored and viewed game, but that was not the case in the Creator’s Game. Could 
there be an opportunity for modern lacrosse players to engage in this history with the help of the 
indigenous people in a ceremonial game of boundaryless lacrosse? Or would settlers even be 
willing to inhabit a humble posture rather than trying to dictate the narrative of the game and 
 
21 Hall, Ryan. “The Creator's Game: Lacrosse, Identity, and Indigenous Nationhood by Allan Downey 
(Review).” Canadian Journal of History 54, no. 1-2 (2019): 206 
Anderson 8 
 
religious underpinnings? These questions and many like them remain unanswered. It is unclear 
whether the Creator’s Game can heal the decades of cultural wrongdoings against indigenous 
people, but this proposal stokes the remnants of hope for a reorientation of the settler-Indigenous 
relationship. Even if no game is played for reconciliation, non-indigenous lacrosse players 
coming to terms with their culpability and ongoing privilege today must wrestle with their 
colonial identity by better understanding the history of the game, Mazuzawa’s ideas of religion, 
Chidester’s analysis of frontier making, and the continued disenfranchisement of indigenous 
peoples.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Anderson 9 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Bibliography 
Augustine. Confessions; a New Translation by Henry Chadwick. New York: Oxford University 
Press, 1992. 
Chidester, David. Savage Systems: Colonialism and Comparative Religion in Southern Africa. 
Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2011. 
Downey, Allan. The Creators Game: Lacrosse, Identity, and Indigenous Nationhood. Vancouver 
; Toronto: University of British Columbia Press, 2018. 
Hall, Ryan. “The Creator's Game: Lacrosse, Identity, and Indigenous Nationhood by Allan 
Downey (Review).” Canadian Journal of History 54, no. 1-2 (2019): 206–8. 
Masuzawa, Tomoko. The Invention of World Religions: or, How European Universalism Was 
Preserved in the Language of Pluralism. Chicago, IL: Univ. of Chicago Press, 2007. 
Poulter, Gillian. “The Creator's Game: Lacrosse, Identity, and Indigenous Nationhood by Allan 
Downey (Review).” The Canadian Historical Review 100, no. 3 (September 2019): 473–
74. 
 
 
 
 


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