Greetings from the Executive Director

I think we can all agree that the challenges of just our existence as Graduate Students of Color or GSOCs at Cal (and just generally in the world right now) are many. I founded Night Out/Night Off at Cal under the spectre of the US Presidential election in the Fall of 2016 with our place at Cal and in the world in mind. My hope in founding this twice yearly event was that for at least one night each semester we graduate students could all just kick back watch beautiful dance or hear soul stirring music, by people who look like us, with people that look like us, and eat good food, smile a little, laugh a lot, and let our guards down. My goal was to give us a place to just be that did not involve anything but celebration and joy.

— Naniette H. Coleman

History

Founded in the fall of 2016, Night Out / Night Off (NO/NO) was envisioned as a series of arts focused events held in both the fall and spring semesters annually that built community amongst graduate students of color at Cal. NO/NO creates a space where there are no expectations of graduate students of color being any more or any less than ourselves; no expectations of leadership, representation, lobbying, or mentoring. Students are invited to engage a treasured familiar art form or experience a brand new genre while sharing in community.

This initiative builds on the Berkeley Graduate Assembly’s 2014 Graduate Student Happiness & Well-Being Report, specifically the recommendation that Berkeley “can amplify the efforts students already make to maintain and improve their well-being, including making popular activities more widely available, removing barriers, eliminating fees, establishing casual drop-in courses and creating social activities around them.” The GA report also suggests that programs like these are even more important for students of “other race or ethnicity” as they have “lower life satisfaction as well as higher depression.”

The community of students of color at Cal at the time was dedicated and small. Making up only 11% of the graduate student population (1,130 students), graduate students of color often live in isolation and stress like other graduate students while also shouldering responsibilities (e.g. mentoring, sitting on committees, etc) not presented to their counterparts as frequently. In an effort to expose graduate students of color to fine arts in which they can see themselves represented, NO/NO brought in close to 200 students for two events: Afropop Spectacular in Fall 2016 and Balé Folclórico da Bahia in Spring 2017. These two events represent the first and second largest audiences for any Cal Performances student focused educational event from that year.

A collaboration since its founding, NO/NO is the result of the work of many dedicated hands including the NO/NO planning committee, Cal Performances, the Student Ambassadors for the Arts, the Office of Graduate Diversity, the Graduate Assembly, and recently the Institute for the Study of Societal Issues. Since 2018, events have also been generously funded by the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Student Services and Fees.

The goal of the Night Out / Night Off initiative is to increase the happiness and wellbeing, social and cultural engagement, and build community amongst graduate students of color. We know, given the interest we have received that we can and should be doing quite a bit more.