Carla D. Gary is director and University advocate for the Office of Multicultural Affairs. A Duck alumna with a degree in law, Gary has worked at the University for six years and, as an undergraduate, was the first black cheerleader at the University. She sat down with the Emerald for Quick Quacks — a short question-and-answer session aimed at giving readers an expedient look at campus and community members’ thoughts.
Emerald: What CD dominates your CD player right now?
Carla Gary: Will Downing. He is an amazing, old-school ballad singer. He’s like Luther Vandross. He sings the classics from the ’40s and ’50s, and he sings new stuff that he writes. He’s brilliant.
Emerald: What was the last Oregon athletic event you attended?
Gary: Track and field last year.
Emerald: Is the University diverse enough?
Gary: No.
Emerald: What steps can the University take to increase diversity among the students and the staff?
Gary: Well, I think recognizing that diversity is not just a critical mass, but that’s a part of it. We’re part of the community, and we need to reflect the community, not just in staff and students and faculty, but how we engage the community … in activities and events and determining what’s important for us to share.
We also need to offer access and opportunity for those who are traditionally underrepresented, particularly by race, by ethnicity, by socioeconomic class
Emerald: What’s your favorite restaurant around Eugene?
Gary: Oh, my gosh. Probably Beppe & Gianni’s. But I just went to Papa’s. Papa Joe’s, across from the (Hult Center). Serious soul food! I had some chicken that was quite serious. And some collard greens. They were real!
Emerald: Who is one person you would like to meet and why?
Gary: The first person who comes to mind is Nelson Mandela. I would like to know how you find that kind of courage and strength in the face of outrageousness to maintain not only your dignity and your self respect but your humanity. I’d like to know how do you do that, where do you find that? That’s incredible.
Emerald: What book are you reading right now?
Gary: “The Fisher King” by Paule Marshall. She was just here … this weekend. We had her because I’m teaching a class with Joe Fracchia in the Honors College, and we’re reading her book “Praisesong for the Widow.” She’s wonderful; she’s elegant and eloquent. She talks about the nexus of race and class and gender.
Emerald: What do you see as the biggest issue facing the Office of Multicultural Affairs in the next five to ten years?
Gary: I think a continued understanding of the fact that the challenges of a world in which skin privilege is so prevalent and invisible for lots of folks has dynamics for lots of people who don’t share that skin privilege. And that there is a need to be able to engage people who have an understanding of what those challenges are, so that students are able to navigate them.
Emerald: If you had one hour of free time per day, how would you spend it?
Gary: Finishing my book! (I’m writing) two of them, actually. One is fiction, and it’s kind of like navigating the waters of corporate American, being black and female in the world. The other is about the nexus of race in sport, and the dynamics of how sports serve and don’t serve the preponderance of players. Something as simple as, this is 2004 and there are less than ten black head coaches in Division I, where surely half of the players are black.
Emerald: What’s the last movie you saw?
Gary: The last movie I saw on TV was “Along Came a Spider,” with Morgan Freeman. Very good. I love Morgan Freeman.
Emerald: Where can we find you on a Friday night?
Gary: Probably at home, watching “While You Were Out” or “Trading Spaces,” or on the computer trying to do some work.