As a part of ongoing diversity and inclusion training in the Office of Student Affairs, two consultants were brought to campus on Thursday, Nov. 14 to address issues of class and classism. Rachel Rybaczuk and Jerry Koch-Gonzales, consultants from an organization called Class Action, held an all-day training with Student Affairs faculty members. That evening, they facilitated a student event.
During the hour-and-a-half-long workshop, approximately 15 to 20 students participated in a common ground exercise, learned statistics about the distribution of wealth in the United States, and had conversations about how economic class affects lives. The end of the workshop provided time for a group discussion about the manifestations of class inequality at the University and how different groups of students can address these issues.
“I think the workshops went well,” Rybaczuk wrote in an email to The Argus. “The staff who attended the training were sincere, engaged, and knowledgeable. I was impressed by their interest in addressing classism on campus from interpersonal and institutional perspectives…. Students were similarly engaged in the evening workshop and generated impressive ideas for interrupting classism on campus, particularly on policy levels. I hope the workshops are the beginning of collaborative social change efforts between students and staff.”
For some of the students present at the event, the environment provided a comfortable place to talk about the issues and learn to facilitate discussion.
“Having conversations around class have been uncomfortable and taboo since the day inequality started, and likewise they may be difficult conversations to hold with residents who come from diverse backgrounds,” said Resident Advisor Zaida Garcia ’15. “I looked forward to learning about more tools that could facilitate dialogue around class.”
The impact that class can have on the University experience was an important aspect of the discussion, particularly because students come from diverse backgrounds.
“I feel like class is a subject that isn’t talked about enough on this campus,” said LaNell Williams ’15. “It intertwines with so many other diversity issues including race and gender, and many people forget how much of an impact it has on your experience here.”
Williams also spoke to her personal experience regarding class at the University.
“I consider myself middle class, and I’ve always identified my income that way, especially in comparison to many of the inner-city kids in Memphis, [Tenn.],” she said. “I’ve always known there was a gap of wealth, and because of my relative experience at home, I considered myself in the middle of that gap, until I got to Wesleyan. Once arriving here, I soon saw how large the gap truly was between myself and other students.”
With the recent economic issues, Vice President for Student Affairs Michael Whaley said he believes it is important to have discussions about the impact of class diversity on campus life.
“During my time at Wesleyan—this is my seventeenth year—it seems to me that our population has pulled towards the ends of the continuum,” Whaley said. “We have a lot of students whose families write the check, and then a lot of people who couldn’t write the check. I think as the people in the middle have been reduced, the ends become more apparent, and yet we don’t talk about class issues a lot.”
According to Rybaczuk, the entire community has a role to play in increasing discussion and awareness surrounding class issues. As administrators continue facilitating conversation, Rybaczuk believes University students also have an important role to play in the dialogue.
“I think Wesleyan students can have an impact by 1) building community in the form of cross-class alliances between students, staff, and faculty, 2) identifying specific actions to interrupt and transform classism on individual, cultural, and institutional levels, and 3) persevering with those actions beyond a semester or two in order to create long-term change,” wrote Rybaczuk.
Garcia noted that the University should take a more active role in igniting discussion, and eventually action, around issues discussed at the workshop.
“I believe the University needs to mandate workshops like these around race, privilege, class, et cetera,” Garcia said. “Generally, the same faces are present at these discussions; it is wonderful that these individuals want to be there, but they are already more aware than maybe some others [are].”
Stepping outside ones comfort zone, Garcia said, is crucial.
“The first step towards opening your consciousness is to be in the same space where these discussions are held,” she said. “I understand Wesleyan students generally don’t like to be told what to do, but there is no way that these conversations can negatively impact someone. They may be daunting and overwhelming, but you will also learn to understand a little bit better why people are the way they are.”