On April 13, 2007, Kelly A. Chichester, a senior history major at Andrews, participated in the 15th Annual Clement S. Stacy Undergraduate Research Conference at Purdue University in Calumet, IN. She presented an original research paper at the sixth session of the conference on Friday afternoon. The session focused on "Rebellion/Repression/Possible Escape" and Chichester's paper was entitled, "We Got to Leave Now! The Riot of Benton Harbor in 1966 and its Effects on White Flight."
Kelly summarized her paper as follows: "Upon beginning the research for my topic, I realized that many historians who research the US urban race riots of the 1960s focus on black issues and how African-Americans related to local authorities like the police. Little attention is given to how these riots affected whites. My paper focuses on the Riot of 1966 in Benton Harbor, a small city in southwest Michigan. However, instead of focusing on blacks, I chose to pay more attention to how the riot affected whites. I found that, based on census data, whites in Benton Harbor went from being the majority to 1960 to being a minority in 1970. Various local and national news articles on race riots in other major cities helped me conclude that the Riot of 1966 was the catalyst that influenced whites to leave Benton Harbor for the suburbs." Her paper was well received, garnering several follow-up questions during the question/answer part of the session.
Dr. Brian Strayer was Chichester's faculty advisor. "Students from Central Michigan University, University of Michigan, Indiana University, Wheaton College, and many others participated in this conference, and Kelly's paper showed a level of research and depth of analysis equal to any paper presented at the conference," Strayer said. "Kelly is the first student from our department to attend this conference, and she did an exceptional job in preparation and delivery of her paper. We're hoping that many other students will follow her."
"It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be," Kelly commented. "In fact, it was fun! Another student there from Indiana University gave a paper on a topic similar to mine, and we were able to compare notes and discuss our project together.
"I also enjoyed listening to the papers of the two other students from Andrews," Kelly added.
The English department sponsored papers in the Shakespeare session of the conference. Anna Park presented "'Mirror, Mirror,': The Blurring of Identities within 'Hamlet.'"; and Katy Van Arsdale presented "The Lunatic and the Whore: Explorations of Female Identity on Stage."