Rushaine McKenzie '08

Rushaine McKenzie decided to investigate an issue in her home culture. Born and raised in Jamaica (she moved to Brooklyn at age 14), the political studies major examined homophobia in that country by reviewing its sodomy laws. How did her topic come about? McKenzie attended the Bard Globalization and International Affairs Program (BGIA) in New York City, where a course on international human rights law started her thinking. “I wondered what it must feel like to not be yourself out of fear,” she says. “What if the government decided, ‘That’s something we need to deal with’?” Through discussions with adviser Roger Berkowitz, assistant professor of political studies and human rights, her premise became wider and more theoretical, focusing on whether laws can alter societal behavior and consciousness in favor of marginalized groups.

A graduate of Bard High School Early College (BHSEC) in New York City, McKenzie says the education she received there “prepared me immensely for a college curriculum.” The experience reminded her of Wolmer’s Girls School, which she had attended in Kingston, Jamaica: “The professors take an interest in you.” At BHSEC, she adds, “The level of discussion was beyond anything I could have imagined. They give you assignments that make you think, and they encourage you to be more critical.”

Once at Bard, which she entered as a junior, McKenzie became a peer counselor, one who assists and supports students in the residence halls and acts as a liaison between students and administration. She sees herself as having been “a good resource.” That experience started McKenzie thinking about her legacy at Bard. “I brought a different perspective to a lot of my classes, not only as a person of color, but as someone from another country,” she says. “At the same time, because there are a lot of international students here, I learned more than if I’d stayed in my little corner of the world.”