Last Tuesday the Office of Affirmative Action, in conjunction with several other University offices, presented a new initiative to foster dialogue on diversity as it relates to different aspects of campus.The project, Wesleyan’s Community Dialogues, includes four distinct series of events designed to enhance problem-solving skills and awareness among students, faculty and staff on issues of diversity.
“The Sustained Dialogue program,” one of the four components, will bring students, faculty and staff together to talk about issues of diversity, according to organizer Michael Benn interim director of affirmative action. A similar program has been successful at Princeton.
“We thought it was important for students, faculty and staff to meet in these groups and to be able to talk together about these issues, particularly students and faculty,” Benn said.
“The Student Peer Diversity Dialogue,” organized primarily by Iris Jacob ’06, is still in the planning stages. Jacob hopes to begin monthly session in each dorm, beginning next January. Student facilitators will mediate each workshop.
“Students had been doing these for years, but I really wanted to make it part of a BiLeGaTA that would be institutional,” Jacob said. “We really need facilitators.”
The third component is a faculty series called “Race in the Classroom,” organized by Andrew Szegedy-Maszak, Jane A. Seney Professor of Greek, who heads the Center for Faculty Career Development.
“It has struck me that race has fallen off the conversational screen. We talk a lot about sexual preference, about war and peace, about class, but this dilemma of race is usually mentioned only when there is some kind of problem,” Szegedy-Maszak said.
The fourth component, “the Staff Diversity Dialogues,” will offer training by the Anti-Defamation League, a group committed to fighting global hatred, extremism, and terrorism, especially anti-Semitism.
Benn has been the primary organizer on bringing all four programs together under one name, and the main impetus behind the creation of the Sustained Dialogues Program.
“The University has a great history where the issue of diversity is concerned. We do a great deal to bring individuals from different backgrounds to campus. We realize that we also have a responsibility to create opportunities for meaningful dialogue amongst members of these groups. I think that’s what its all about,” Benn said.
Peter Patton, the interim Dean of the College, has also worked closely with Benn this year on developing the program. According to Patton, it is important to bring dialogue of diversity on campus to an institutionalized setting, in addition to the already existing pockets of discourse among students and faculty.
“There are a lot of things happening on campus each year that relate to the diversity of the community, and we need to have a place where we all know what’s happening, so we can better communicate on campus,” Patton said.
Many acknowledge that these issues are central to success of the University as a whole.
“I believe Wesleyan must embrace and learn from its diversity in all aspects of campus life. Doing so can affect every aspect of the experiences of students, faculty and staff at Wesleyan. The University can be proud of its history as a leader in bringing racial and ethnic diversity to the academy, but we know that only an ongoing and unflagging commitment will give us all the benefits of diversity into the future,” said President Doug Bennet.
According to Patton and Benn, they are hoping to organize a Steering Committee, composed of students, faculty and staff. This committee will be a sounding board for proposals on issues of difference and diversity, and would provide a connection between students and the Administration.
“I think the point is how do we take our diverse community and use it to educate everybody about all aspects of diversity,” Patton said. It’s really not enough just to celebrate diversity, it’s really something that helps prepare students, and helps educate faculty and staff about the world.“
All organizers agreed that they hope these programs will continue after this year.
Students interested in getting involved should contact the Office of Affirmative Action, and students interested in becoming facilitators for the Student Peer Diversity Dialogues should contact Iris Jacob.
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