Dean of Multicultural Life Joi Lewis left on Monday for a two-month long administrative sabbatical in South Africa, where she will study issues affecting Macalester students studying abroad at the University of Cape Town.

Staff members are eligible to apply for semester-long paid sabbaticals after six years of employment.

According to Lewis, Macalester’s program at Cape Town is strong academically, but does not facilitate student involvement with the community. “There really isn’t a structural way for students to get involved,” she said.

Lewis will work in conjunction with Volunteer South Africa, an organization that arranges volunteer opportunities, in order to establish connections for Macalester students during their study abroad in Cape Town.

Macalester students can study at Cape Town through a partnership with Swarthmore and Pomona Colleges. The program was developed out of a need for environmental studies programs, according to Study Abroad Coordinator Katherine Yngve. This is the program’s second year of operation. Three Macalester students have participated in the program each year, Yngve said.

This is not the first time Lewis has left campus to investigate Macalester’s abroad programs. A year ago, Lewis traveled to Denmark, where she focused on getting more students involved with Macalester’s study abroad programs. Macalester does not run a program in Denmark but recommends that students study abroad in Copenhagen through the organization Denmark’s International Study Program. Lewis said the trip informed her perspective on white identity and Scandinavian influence in Minnesota. “I came back from Denmark understanding Minnesota—and Macalester—in a much deeper way,” Lewis said.

She said she hopes that her trip to South Africa will help her understand racial identity, too, especially in the wake of apartheid. “There isn’t another country that has dealt with these issues in such a way,” Lewis said. Of particular interest to her is the segregation among universities in South Africa. According to Lewis, The University of Cape Town is seen as the “colored” (mixed-race) university, while the University of the Western Cape is historically black, and Stellenbosch, another university there, is viewed as white.

“My job isn’t to go and teach people things; it’s more to go and listen,” Lewis said. She said that she hopes investigating segregation during this trip will inform her approach to multiculturalism at Macalester and give her a better understanding of how identity operates in the world and how global problems are manifested in an American context.

“What I’m trying to do is an important thing for students to model: take time to reflect,” Lewis said.

In addition to studying multiculturalism and community involvement in South Africa, Lewis will address the low number of Macalester students of color who have studied abroad in the past. According to Yngve, who helped plan Lewis’s trip, South Africa is a study abroad location that should logically attract students of color, and visiting South Africa appealed to Lewis. “South Africa fit in with some of the initiatives we had,” Yngve said.

Lewis’ said she is also eager for some sightseeing, as this is her first trip to Africa. In particular, she said she wants to see the Apartheid Museum and Kruger National Park. “I’m also interested in finding out about those hidden treasures,” Lewis said. “South Africa has some of the most beautiful places in the world, and yet there is so much heartbreak.”

Lewis will return Jan. 6, and she said that she is tentatively planning another one-month leave in the spring.

The Department of Multicultural Life invited students and staff to the Cultural House Oct. 26 to celebrate Lewis’s trip with her. The event opened with singing and poetry. Director of the Lealtad-Suzuki Center Karla Benson Rutten introduced Lewis, and Lewis outlined her plans for her journey. Benson Rutten then opened the floor to comments.

Students shared their memories and wishes for Lewis in hopes of empowering her before her trip. “Be careful,” Keon West ’06 said. “If you keep this up, you might change the whole world.”

Director of the International Center Mike Monahan and Dean of Academic Programs Ellen Guyer will also take leaves this year.