Whenever an event reaches the end of its run, you want it to go out with a final hurrah.

That’s exactly what organizers have in mind for the final Community Engagement (CE) Day of the 2020-21 academic year.

The fifth CE Day will be celebrated Friday, March 19, with three signature events featuring a play, an Indigenous cooking discussion and demonstration and a presentation on “White Fragility.”

Here’s a look at the three signature events, followed by the day’s other events:

9 a.m., “Breaking Ice,” presented by the Pillsbury House Theatre and sponsored by the CSB/SJU Fine Arts Series.

Space is limited for this Zoom event. Register for this event here. 

“Breaking Ice” is an entertaining, thought-provoking, virtual theatre experience designed to foster better understanding and communication with one another.

Each “Breaking Ice” performance is unique to the organization hosting the performance. Pillsbury House Theatre met with students, faculty and staff for listening sessions, and these sessions will inform some of the dramatized interactions portrayed during this streamed theater experience.

“Breaking Ice” uses the drama, humor, poetry and monologue to explore how systemic inequities, unconscious bias and misperceptions show up in relationships and highlights how we can mindfully improve our everyday interactions to spur positive change in our communities.

There will be post-performance facilitated discussion.

11 a.m., The (R)evolution of Indigenous Food Systems of North America, with Chef Sean Sherman and sponsored by the Nutrition Department, Indigenous Student Association and CSB Culinary Services, with funding support from Becoming Community. 

Join this streamed discussion at this link.  

Oglala Lakota Chef Sean Sherman is internationally renowned in the culinary movement of Indigenous foods. During this presentation, he shares his journey of discovering, reviving and reimagining Native cuisine through conversation and demonstration.

Sherman’s focus is the revitalization and evolution of Indigenous foods systems throughout North America. In 2014, he opened The Sioux Chef as a caterer and food educator in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. The Sioux Chef team continues with their mission to educate and make Indigenous foods more accessible to as many communities as possible through the recently founded nonprofit North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems.

In partnership with this event, CSB Culinary Services will feature a selection of Sherman’s Native foods recipes throughout the day at the Gorecki Center, and copies of his cookbooks will be available in the bookstores on both campuses.

2:30 p.m., Dr. Robin DiAngelo presents “White Fragility,” sponsored by the CSB and SJU Senates.

Reserve your ticket here. 

In this talk, race and social justice educator Robin DiAngelo will help audiences understand the dynamics of white fragility, how we come to engage in them and how we can move beyond them.

Based on her No. 1  New York Times bestselling book  “White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism,” DiAngelo helps audiences and organizations develop an antiracist framework based on education, self-awareness and engaged practice.

There will be a question and answer session following DiAngelo's conversation. If you'd like to submit a question, please visit this link. 

11 a.m.-4 p.m., CSB/SJU 2021 Art Faculty Exhibition, Gorecki Gallery, Benedicta Arts Center, CSB.

Ten art professors are participating in a mixed media exhibition through May 20. Held every two years at rotating campuses, this show is anticipated by both students and staff.

Participating faculty members include Samuel Johnson (ceramics and painting), Mary Johnson (large sculpture), Sr. Dennis Frandrup, OSB (ceramics), Joseph Singewald (ceramics), Rachel Melis (book arts), Scott Murphy (photography and Art-O-Matic small scale photography/sculpture), Andrea Shaker (photography), Elaine Rutherford (painting), Br. Simon-Hoa Phan, OSB (video) and Carol Brash (art history presentation and co-host of Artist Talks).

FAE credit will be offered during the open gallery hours. Gallery capacity is 12 visitors (masked and socially distanced) for 15-minute intervals.

1 p.m., Authentic Leadership: Speak Up and Stand Out, presented by Anne Doepner ’01 and organized by XPD, CSB Alumnae Relations and SJU Alumni Relations.

Join the presentation at this link.

Anne Doepner, CSB/SJU Class of 2001, will discuss her career journey as a female NFL executive and share the lessons learned along the way about the importance of understanding your worth and taking ownership of your career - particularly as those lessons pertain to any under-represented populations.

She will discuss topics of self-advocacy, bringing participants along on the journey and the importance of women advocating for each other. Participants will walk away from the presentation equipped with tangible ways to embrace what makes them unique and leverage it into career growth. They will also learn methods for speaking up and how to be an active participant in the journey to equity.

Doepner is the director of inclusion and employee investment for the Minnesota Vikings. She is the first full-time person dedicated to diversity and inclusion working for an NFL team.

In her previous role as the director of football administration for the Vikings, Doepner negotiated NFL player contracts and was responsible for matters of salary cap compliance. At the time of her transition into diversity and inclusion, she was one of only two women across the NFL working as a contract negotiator.

5 p.m., Tournées Film Festival showing of “Portrait of a Lady on Fire”

Register to watch the film here. Once you register, you will receive a followup email from Cultural Events with instructions.

The visually stunning 2019 French drama, directed by Céline Sciamma (“Girlhood”), follows Marianne, a free-spirited painter, who must paint a portrait of Heloise in secret, since she refuses to sit for a painting that will be offered to her future husband.

The film has been described as a “poignant feminist revision of the historical romance” and poses provoking questions about perspective, self-representation and personal choices.

This is the final film showing of the festival.

7:30 p.m., “Talking With …” written by Jane Martin and directed by Kaarin Johnston, at Gorecki Family Theater and presented by the CSB/SJU Theater Department.

A limited number of on-campus students, faculty and staff audience members will be allowed in the theater.

Reserve in-person tickets here. 

Off-campus audiences can watch a stream of the performance here. 

“Talking With …” is a series of 10 short stories in the form of monologues by women with each monologue running about 10 minutes. Each is unique, looking at life from different perspectives.

The characters range from a fundamental Christian who handles snakes to an angry woman in labor, to a housewife who dresses up as a character from Oz while she cleans house. 

This play is also being performed March 18-21 and March 25-27.