Daniel
Tillapaugh, Ph.D. @dtillapaugh
University
of Maine
Chair,
Standing Committee on Men & Masculinities
In
2004, Harry Cannon, one of the founders of the then-Standing Committee for Men,
wrote a lovely retrospective article of the SCM’s first 20 years. The article – a brilliant history lesson on
the founding of the SCM within ACPA’s organizational structure and other key
aspects of the tensions between the feminist men’s movement with those within
the men’s rights movement – provides a helpful reminder about the power of
place. Cannon (2004) writes:
The
Standing Committee for Men has been ‘built into’ the institution that is
ACPA. The
committee members not only find strength in each other, but have – over two decades –
continued to make a difference in the lives of men on their home campuses. (p. 2)
committee members not only find strength in each other, but have – over two decades –
continued to make a difference in the lives of men on their home campuses. (p. 2)
A decade later, these sentiments still
ring true.
Over the past ten years, five chairs have led
this organization and its work along with many dedicated and engaged
directorate and leadership team members.
Matt Helm (2004-2006), Mike Strong (2006-2008), Paul Brown (2008-2010),
Z Nicolazzo (2010-2012), and myself (2012-2016) have had the privilege of
serving as chair of this organization, and even in a decade, the organization
has continued to evolve. The founders of
the SCM were clearly supporting a pro-feminist perspective (Cannon, 2004), and
that continues today. Several years ago,
the SCM’s leadership team reaffirmed the organization’s vision statement “to be
a preeminent clearinghouse of information, knowledge, and professional
development on issues related to men’s identity and development for all student
affairs educators” (SCMM, n.d.). We
continue to aspire to this vision, and we are working proactively to reach this
every day.
These
past ten years have brought along new mile markers in our work to attain our
vision statement. In 2007, the inaugural
Conference on College Men (CCM) was launched in collaboration with NASPA; the
CCM has continued to be a biannual event with work already beginning for the
next CCM in 2015. In 2010, we saw the
establishment of our Scholar-in-Residence program, which has provided
opportunities for the dissemination of research and scholarship on college men
and masculinities work by emerging scholars.
Throughout that time, we have been honored to have Chase Catalano
(2010-2011), Dr. Brian D. Reed (2011-2013), and Dr. Brian McGowan (2013-2014)
serve in this role, each with their research that provides an intersectional
perspective of gender and other social identities. Over the past few years, we have maintained a
wonderful partnership with our colleagues in the NASPA Men and Masculinities
Knowledge Community through three joint publications. In 2012, we saw our name change officially
from the Standing Committee for Men to the Standing Committee on Men and
Masculinities with wide support of our members and the ACPA Governing Board,
and the publication of an excellent publication on men and masculinities issues
from a group of graduate students and new professionals. 2013 brought about increased opportunities
for leadership involvement within the SCMM through Coordinator positions, one
year appointed leadership roles.
Additionally, we launched our SCMM blog, which has continued to serve a
vital role in the dissemination of knowledge for our members. Personally, I was proud as both Chair and my
role as a professor in the Higher Education program at the University of Maine
to have the graduate students enrolled in my College Men & Masculinities
course this Fall publish thoughtful and insightful blog posts here on the SCMM
blog.
This
year brings a great deal of celebrating our past, present, and future. We hope that you’ll continue to check out
this space over the coming months to read the terrific insights of scholars and
practitioners as well as some recognition of our 30 years of history. Our social and awards ceremony at ACPA on
Monday, March 31 from 6 – 7 p.m. in the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown – Boston
will serve as a formal time to have our members come together and honor this
momentous occasion. However, our
celebrations will happen outside of convention as well. We have plans for a new webinar series that
will be free to our members which will be launched this Spring, and we have
established a partnership with ACPA’s quarterly online publication, Developments, which will publish a
series of articles relating to issues of intersectionality and college men and
masculinities. We look forward to all of
these opportunities to connect with you around these important issues within
our community.
What
comes next? We have so much potential
for our collective work in this next decade ahead. The Standing Committee on Men and
Masculinities is lucky to have a membership that is passionate about the work
that we do and who supports our collective work. Whether it’s connecting with us via Facebook
or Twitter, in open meetings at convention, or other avenues, we welcome your
involvement, input, and insights. As we
look forward to our 40th anniversary in 2024, I hope that our
collective work continues to be informed by excellent research and scholarship,
outstanding practices that aim to help support our college men, and
partnerships that can move our field forward.
Thank you for your engagement, involvement, and support. I look forward to connecting with many of you
who will be in attendance at Indy ’14.
References
Cannon, H. (2004). Back when…
Men on campus: Standing Committee
on Men Newsletter.
Washington, D.C.: ACPA.
Washington, D.C.: ACPA.
Standing Committee on Men &
Masculinities (n.d.). Vision
Statement. Retrieved from
http://www.myacpa.org/scmm
http://www.myacpa.org/scmm
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