Director of Multicultural Affairs and Race Task Force work to improve Diversity Day
Training workshops, troubleshooting packet, size limit help combat past issues
by Emma Tucker | Llama Ledger Staff
Issue date: 11/19/08 Section: News
Jennifer Daigle-Matos, the new Director of Multicultural Affairs, was introduced to the Simon's Rock Diversity Day just a few weeks after she first started working here.
Diversity Day is a one day event of many different workshops put together by students, staff and/or faculty members, all regarding various issues pertaining to diversity.
When she got the job, she did some research into previous years and when time came to begin planning, Anne O'Dwyer, Faculty in Psychology, made sure Daigle-Matos was involved.
Daigle-Matos worked with the Race Task Force to understand Simon's Rock's specific meaning and structure for Diversity Day, and had, she says, "similar goals as the school: to stop and think about the issue."
Daigle-Matos was impressed by the school's willingness to set aside a full day with no classes to address diversity. "That's what's nice about Simon's Rock; it's small enough that we can do this," she says.
Daigle-Matos was asked to, first of all, recommend a Key-Note speaker. She then was asked specifically to design a social justice workshop. "It was meant to train people who wanted to facilitate their own workshop," says Daigle-Matos.
This was a new concept for Diversity Day, which originated in 2006. "This is the first year there have been mandatory training workshops," says Race Task Force Vice President Mindy Isser.
"I think they were really helpful because they gave people a way to structure their workshops, and they help teach them things they might not have known."
The workshop dealt with heavy topics that often arise during Diversity Day and have caused conflict in previous years. Daigle-Matos made it clear that a goal of hers was for everyone to leave their workshop feeling uplifted, with a purpose.
The people that were part of the workshop learned how to deal with conflict, but also to not shy away from it. "I wanted to make sure that conflict could be dealt with so that the facilitators could get on to the business of the workshop," says Daigle-Matos.
Daigle-Matos did sense that people may have been apprehensive because of problems that erupted in past Diversity Days. She made a packet, a "trouble shooting guide, basically saying, if there is a conflict, do this, if one person is talking a lot, do this, if no one is talking, here's how you handle it."
Daigle-Matos says she encouraged workshop participants to establish a "group norm." The workshop taught that Diversity Day was not a debate or a discussion, but a dialogue.
"Everyone was an expert," explains Daigle-Matos, "because life experience was the only requirement… it was not about defending your position."
The workshop dealt with strategies to keep the dialogue going, and to practice. As part of her doctoral training program, Daigle-Matos learned how to run workshops such as these, and has even taught courses on what to do when conflict arises in such situations. "If people have the right tools and confidence, they can handle anything," she says.
One of the main differences this year, along with the workshop for the facilitators, was the requirement that an adult be present at every Diversity Day session. This was for "support reasons," says Daigle-Matos.
Another difference was in the sizes of the workshops, says Isser. "We made an effort to keep the workshops smaller than the years before so they wouldn't get out of hand and people wouldn't be able to not participate by getting lost in the crowd."
Daigle-Matos says that she is happy about the way the workshops went. "The day was good, but I'd like to focus on how we can get more people involved and excited."
As far as reaction to the day, "people have been happy, saying that it was different, that it felt different, in a good way."
Isser who led two workshops&mdash "Jewishness, Whiteness and Passing" and "Reconciling White Privilege and Oppression"&mdash says she thinks the workshops went much more smoothly than workshops did last year.
"There wasn't as much anger this year; there wasn't was much name calling and yelling and there wasn't as much tension."
Contact the author: etucker@llamaledger.com
Diversity Day is a one day event of many different workshops put together by students, staff and/or faculty members, all regarding various issues pertaining to diversity.
When she got the job, she did some research into previous years and when time came to begin planning, Anne O'Dwyer, Faculty in Psychology, made sure Daigle-Matos was involved.
Daigle-Matos worked with the Race Task Force to understand Simon's Rock's specific meaning and structure for Diversity Day, and had, she says, "similar goals as the school: to stop and think about the issue."
Daigle-Matos was impressed by the school's willingness to set aside a full day with no classes to address diversity. "That's what's nice about Simon's Rock; it's small enough that we can do this," she says.
Daigle-Matos was asked to, first of all, recommend a Key-Note speaker. She then was asked specifically to design a social justice workshop. "It was meant to train people who wanted to facilitate their own workshop," says Daigle-Matos.
This was a new concept for Diversity Day, which originated in 2006. "This is the first year there have been mandatory training workshops," says Race Task Force Vice President Mindy Isser.
"I think they were really helpful because they gave people a way to structure their workshops, and they help teach them things they might not have known."
The workshop dealt with heavy topics that often arise during Diversity Day and have caused conflict in previous years. Daigle-Matos made it clear that a goal of hers was for everyone to leave their workshop feeling uplifted, with a purpose.
The people that were part of the workshop learned how to deal with conflict, but also to not shy away from it. "I wanted to make sure that conflict could be dealt with so that the facilitators could get on to the business of the workshop," says Daigle-Matos.
Daigle-Matos did sense that people may have been apprehensive because of problems that erupted in past Diversity Days. She made a packet, a "trouble shooting guide, basically saying, if there is a conflict, do this, if one person is talking a lot, do this, if no one is talking, here's how you handle it."
Daigle-Matos says she encouraged workshop participants to establish a "group norm." The workshop taught that Diversity Day was not a debate or a discussion, but a dialogue.
"Everyone was an expert," explains Daigle-Matos, "because life experience was the only requirement… it was not about defending your position."
The workshop dealt with strategies to keep the dialogue going, and to practice. As part of her doctoral training program, Daigle-Matos learned how to run workshops such as these, and has even taught courses on what to do when conflict arises in such situations. "If people have the right tools and confidence, they can handle anything," she says.
One of the main differences this year, along with the workshop for the facilitators, was the requirement that an adult be present at every Diversity Day session. This was for "support reasons," says Daigle-Matos.
Another difference was in the sizes of the workshops, says Isser. "We made an effort to keep the workshops smaller than the years before so they wouldn't get out of hand and people wouldn't be able to not participate by getting lost in the crowd."
Daigle-Matos says that she is happy about the way the workshops went. "The day was good, but I'd like to focus on how we can get more people involved and excited."
As far as reaction to the day, "people have been happy, saying that it was different, that it felt different, in a good way."
Isser who led two workshops&mdash "Jewishness, Whiteness and Passing" and "Reconciling White Privilege and Oppression"&mdash says she thinks the workshops went much more smoothly than workshops did last year.
"There wasn't as much anger this year; there wasn't was much name calling and yelling and there wasn't as much tension."
Contact the author: etucker@llamaledger.com