In order to officially kick off Black History month, PAASA, or Parents of African American Students Association, invited MultiCare senior vice president and Bellarmine mother, Dr. Claire Spain-Remy, to speak with parents and students about STEM curriculum at an informal gathering on Monday, Feb. 3.
“[PAASA] is an organization for parents of African American and biracial students,” says Bellarmine’s diversity director Barbara Henderson. “It’s probably one of the most active parent groups on campus. They meet pretty formally. A typical meeting might consist of a school counselor talking about college admissions, or maybe Mr. Gavin coming and talking about the new iPad system.”
The evening began with a few words about PAASA’s origins from its president and Bellarmine board member Barron Willis. According to Willis, African American parents met with a few school administrators and the president in 1992 to voice some concerns they had about their students. That meeting resulted in a positive open dialogue that benefitted the students. As a result of the success, the parents decided to formalize the meeting and started PAASA – Parents of African American Student Association.
“The point of PAASA is to create a bridge of support between African American parents and to look for opportunities to have face-to-face dialogue to answer any questions or concerns those parents might have,” said Willis.
After an informal self-serve dinner, parents, students, and guests were all invited to stand and join Kiarra Clark as she led the Black National Anthem.
Next, guests were entertained by the talented Pacific Lutheran University’s step-team, Lute Nation. The group travels to local high schools to spread awareness about the importance of going to college, sharing the message that “everybody has the chance to be successful.”
Finally the guest speaker, Dr. Claire Spain-Remy, was invited to speak.
Spain-Remy is a Duke University graduate who became an OBGYN and later the medical vice president of MultiCare. She served as a member of the medical staff in Afghanistan and later became the Chief of Staff for Tacoma General Hospital. All three of her daughters have been through Bellarmine, the youngest of whom, Nicole Remy, will be graduating with the class of 2014.
However, rather than discuss her time as vice president of a major provider, or any of her other major accomplishments on her long list of accolades, Spain-Remy spoke about her experience as one of the first ambassador’s of Operation Friendship, an organization dedicated to building bridges between racial communities. She spoke about her summers in Dubuque, Iowa, an all-white neighborhood, and the courage it took for her exchange family to open up their home, despite death threats and angry letters. While spending the day at the pool, something she often did with her exchange family, four junior high boys pulled the raft out from underneath her.
“I couldn’t swim. I was afraid of even putting my face in the water,” says Spain-Remy, “I knew that if I didn’t start to swim in that moment, I would die.”
Desperate, she prayed to God “Please teach me how to swim.”
“In that moment I experienced two miraculous things. One: the enduring love and support of God. Without him I know I may have died that day. The second: buoyancy,” says Spain-Remy, “On that day, God, physics, math and engineering saved my life.”
She then went on to discuss the importance of STEM curriculum, or science, technology, engineering, and math, in schools. According to Spain-Remy, African Americans make up 11 percent of the work force, but only 6 percent of STEM jobs.
In 2008, Katherine Riegel Crum studied the psychological forces in race differences in science fields and found that the discrepancy grows from kindergarten through 12th grade STEM programs that create early educational disadvantages with minorities.
Broadened STEM programs, particularly in these crucial years, graduates African American students inspired and willing to go into STEM fields with the mentality that “your success is my success, and vice-versa.”
Spain-Remy closed her speech with some words of advice: “Invest yourself, take hard classes, pursue STEM fields, look for mentors in college, and study together. Lift each other up. You are buoyant. Use that upward force to push you up out of the waters of life so you can feel the sun of your success on your face. It’s time for you to take a deep breath, close your eyes, start stroking your arms, and swim.”