Washington and Lee University
On Saturday, February 3rd, over 150 students gathered for the first ever Content of Character Workshop. Sponsors for the workshop included the Office of Leadership Development, Office of Student Activities and Greek Life, Panhellenic, IFC, Elrod Commons and Campus Activities, and an Associated Colleges of the South grant.
The workshop encouraged students to focus on diversity and character on the W&L campus. Through skits and individual testimony directed by the Virginia Conference for Community and Justice (VCCJ), participants confronted one of the major issues the community faces—diversity. Following the VCCJ presentation, student facilitators led break-out groups to further discuss diversity on campus. “It was great,” said Christopher Rucker, one of the facilitators. “I hope that people realize that the day was just the beginning and we are expected to do something [more].”
The ACS grant was renewed in the fall of 2007. On September 29, fifty students watched clips from the Matrix and explored the advantages and privileges involved in race, gender, religion, and sexual orientation. In the movie, Orpehus tells Neo about the hidden structures and unseen systems in life that condition reality. Using questions adapted from Peggy McIntosh's work (White Privilege: Unpacking the White Knapsack), student participants walked an advantage line and discussed the systems and implications for W&L. The final exercise was building a Tower of Power, and discussing the implications from the perspective of class (see link below).
A dozen of the participants volunteered to undergo facilitator training, which took place on October 31. This session was led by Jeff Spence and Jonathan Zur, from the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities. These dozen facilitators will be provide facilitator training for Day of Dialogue, scheduled for Feb. 9th.