Notes from the President, Fred Gardaphe
I want to thank everyone who has made it possible for me to accept this honor to serve as President of an organization that has been instrumental in developing first a safe place for the nurturance of a sense of Multi-ethnicity of U.S. Literature, an atmosphere of acceptance of the multi-ethnic literatures of the United States, and finally a place from which multi-ethnic literature could be launched into wider venues. MELUS is also a place that has helped the careers of all of its members. I thought this first communication would give you a sense of how I came to MELUS and where I believe MELUS is headed.
I remember finding out about MELUS through an item in some newsletter back in the 1980s, and I wanted to get to the first conference in California, but like most graduate students, didn’t have the funds. The next conference was in Amherst; I was able to scratch up the funds and when I arrived I acted as I did when I used to hitchhike into a new town: I walked around cautiously looking for a way to connect to something.
At that first conference I made two presentations: the first was a rambling paper on Italian American writers that eventually made its way into the first MELUS issue dedicated to Italian American literature—after much work and guidance from editor Joe Skerrett. The second was a fiction reading: As I did my reading two people walked in; I thought they were going to reprimand me for being so loud. Doris Davenport and Jim Miller took seats. Later over drinks late Doris said, “We heard you all the way out in the hall and had to go see if this really was a white guy.” We connected immediately and from there it I knew MELUS was not a place, but people. From that moment on MELUS became as comfortable as home.
At that same conference Katharine Newman met me in an elevator and introduced her self. When I told her great I thought MELUS was, she said, “Don’t forget, MELUS is you.”
Over the years I would bump into her from time to time and conferences after that, and I was always amazed that she remembered my not just my name, but the work I was doing. This was especially important to me because early in my career I was in the middle of dealing with academics and bureaucrats who had heard my name more times than she and they never seemed to remember it. She was special.
Well that’s how I came to be here. So where do we go from here. If MELUS is US, then what are we?
We are the gathering of people with interests that are varied yet connected in some very basic ways. We are a community of students, teachers, scholars, writers, cultural workers and more who believe in the creation and consumption of arts, especially the literary arts. We express our ideas through writing published in our journal, through oral presentations at our annual conference, and through other work that we are able to do when we have the time.
Where we are headed depends on the questions we pose:
Are we reaching the members?
Are we providing what we need?
And who is to do that providing?
Much has depended on the members of the executive committee, and rightly so, but without participation from members this work can get pretty tough and meaningless. I want to take this time to remind you of the MELUS standing committees and to encourage you to join one.
Conference Committee
Purpose: To oversee and assist in the developmental stages of the MELUS annual conference according to the “Guidelines for Hosting a MELUS Conference” document. This committee works as a liaison between the local conference committee (host institution) and the Executive Committee.
Charge: Obtain a copy of “Guidelines for Hosting a MELUS Conference”(from MELUS President). Review the document and design a plan for working with each year’s local committee.
Development & Publicity Committee
Purpose: To develop and implement activities that will support and enhance MELUS. This includes locating and applying for appropriate grants to support projects that fulfill the organization’s mission. This committee is also charged with publicizing the Society (assisting the Membership Chair in recruitment efforts, etc.).
Charge: Devise a plan of action (with short- and long-term goals) that supports the Society’s mission of cross-cultural, pan-national outreach (e.g., applying for grants, publicizing upcoming events, establishing a MELUS job fair, promoting projects such as the MELUS Cookbook, developing other MELUS-related publications).Governance Committee
Purpose: To revise and update the MELUS Constitution and By-laws, and to present these revised documents to the MELUS membership for deliberation and ratification.
Charge: Obtain a copy of the current Constitution and By-Laws (from MELUS President). With input from the Executive Committee, review these documents and insert changes that are appropriate to the present and future needs of the Society. Draft a new set of documents and submit these to the Executive Committee for review. Present the final draft to the MELUS membership for ratification.
Other ongoing MELUS work includes the NewsNotes, edited by Katharine Rodier with technical support from Monica Brooks; the Electronic List, moderated by Stephen Souris, as well as the NewsNotes and MELUS-listservs, also coordinated by Monica Brooks; and the Web Site, run by web mistrix Marcy Newman.My goal is to stabilize the good work done by the previous administration and to focus the leadership’s efforts on streamlining the work ahead.
We are fighting some difficulties:
Energy deficit—there’s pressure on education to do more for less, especially at State institutions. Time crunch--who has time these days to volunteer to do work for organizations? Apathy—Our last election posted 55 votes, less than 1/6th of the membership; that’s not much of a mandate for the new leaders. We must find ways to overcome these difficulties and connect to new generations of scholars.
To that end I would like to see greater support of graduate students, especially in terms of enabling them to come to our conference. I would like to see some mentoring going on between the seasoned pros and the newcomers. Nothing formal, but some good interaction at conferences and perhaps through the website and Electronic lists.
We need to shape the organization to meet contemporary realities and to that end we have revised the constitution and bylaws to enable greater stability and development. The proposed changes have been posted on this website and will soon be voted on. Please read through them and get any suggestions back to the Governance Committee. We need to sell the MELUS cookbook, so that we can support other projects from its proceeds.
We need to develop a plan for the future. I would like to see future conference sites settled on 2-3 years in advance. I would like to see us develop a strategic plan so that we are not simply reacting, but actively moving forward.
I look forward to working with the new leaders:
Program Chair, Wenying Wu
Secretary, Jesse Aleman
Treasurer, Kim Long
Membership Chair Derek Royal
And of course Katharine Rodier, editor of NewsNotes and Stephen Souris, editor of the MELUS L
Finally I want to thank past administrations for keeping MELUS alive and thriving, and I pledge my all to do the same.
Fred Gardaphe, President