Skyline Editor Brooke Manuel Sparks A Movement
By Dawson Beard, Skyline Desk Chief
ALPINE – It was Oct. 31, 2023, and McNair Scholar Brooke Manuel was getting ready to speak on a panel over the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Woman crisis in front of an eager Atlanta audience. Among the sea of faces in the crowd was Kathe Lehman-Meyer, a communications professor at St. Mary’s University, who, like everyone else in attendance, is deeply passionate about the subject. However, it was as Manuel presented her three-part series written as a McNair Scholar and published in the Sul Ross Skyline, “America’s Shame: The Silent Tragedy of Indigenous Women,” that passion turned into action.
In response to Brooke Manuel’s series, Compassionate USA and Phenomenon210 relaunched a movement in partnership with St. Mary’s University called the Native American Identity Empowerment Movement (NAIEM). This movement existed in the past with its first iteration being part of DreamWeek in San Antonio, but this new iteration of the movement in partnership with St. Mary’s includes a six-week course on compassion and provides career development opportunities to the movement's participants who are known as “Phenomenal Compassionistas.” This movement provides opportunities for St. Mary’s students as they develop a compassion-based skill set that positions them to advocate for themselves and others.
Manuel was invited to speak on a panel at St. Mary’s University in celebration of Women’s History Month. The event was organized by Lehman-Meyer and Richard Dancer, founder and executive director of Phenomenon210, where the relaunch of NAIEM was announced, but Manuel was not aware that her research was the catalyst for the university’s NAIEM launch until she arrived at the event.
“I was flattered, and it was amazing to see that my series over Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women had made such an impact. I look forward to seeing where NAIEM goes from here and plan on helping Phenomenon210 and Compassionate USA however I can,” said Manuel.
Lehman-Meyer told the Skyline that Manuel’s presentation in Atlanta inspired her to organize the event announcing NAIEM.
“Hearing [Manuel] talk about how this impacted her career focus and has been the catalyst to help a broad audience understand an issue that is typically under the radar was really what got me thinking,” Lehman-Meyer said. “Plus being a McNair Scholar ties together research and opportunities to work in mainstream media. Without her presentation, this event would have been alumni and people from the community trying to help students understand why this association is important but wouldn’t have the same call to action.”
The Skyline also spoke with Dancer and asked him about the impact Manuel’s series had on the implementation of NAIEM at St. Mary’s University, as well as what the goals were for the movement in the future.
“We were looking for a way to galvanize support for the reestablishment of St. Mary's Native American Student Association. When we found out Kathe was working to bring in Brooke and learned about the series, we felt it was a perfect opportunity. Brooke's series was the inspiration behind the St. Mary's University Women's History Month event that we were able to tie into and launch the latest iteration of NAIEM,” Dancer said.
Manuel spoke about her journalistic philosophy and the power that even the smallest publications have to bring about social change.
“Journalists shed light in the dark, and in doing so, they often spark change. That’s what I’ve strived for in my work, and I hope to continue to affect change through my reporting. We don’t do what we do for the pat on the back or in hopes of being recognized, but as someone who’s been told that the things I’m doing ‘aren’t a big deal,’ it’s nice to know that some believe otherwise,” said Manuel.