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Indiana’s Oldest College Newspaper vol. 164, issue 26 DePauw Dialogue 2.0 to feature more programming, address variety of issues with help of student volunteers Tuesday, February 9, 2016
BY NETTIE FINN
news@thedepauw.com The faculty voted 90-13 in December to cancel classes on April 6 for DePauw Dialogue 2.0. But this time around, they are hoping for not just student attendance, but student involvement. In order to encourage students’ involvement, DePauw Student Government sent out an email on Jan. 31 in order to “solicit student volunteers who are interested in contributing to the day.” Those involved with the day hope to see as many as 150 volunteers. So far, only 20 students have indicated interest. But the low response rate doesn’t worry senior Anna Gawlik, DSG’s vice president for student life. “With recruitment and the first days of classes, I’m not even remotely mad about that number,” she said. “We knew people would be busy going in, we just wanted to get
that email sent out.” These volunteers can participate, according to the email, by either serving as a trained facilitator for the day, assisting with pre- and postprogramming for the day or by simply submitting suggestions. The push for increased student involvement comes after responses to last year’s DePauw Dialogue. “Last year we were really rushed, so a lot of the feedback we got was that people felt like they were going in blind,” said senior Craig Carter, student body president. “One way to prevent that we thought was to have more students be involved. We want students to feel attached and let the day actually mean something.” The pre- and post-programming are a big part of this “attachment” plan, with junior Sarah Fears taking the point on these initiatives. “We’re looking to get people prepared for the day instead of going in cold,” she said. “It’s really beneficial to attend, because then [the day] won’t be as scary. I think one of the
issues is people who don’t know a lot about a topic don’t want to admit that, and to go to a day like that, they don’t want to be embarrassed or be the only one asking questions.” Examples of this programming include discussions of important terms and definitions and community building workshops. A calendar with the full lineup of pre- and post-DePauw Dialogue events will be released within a few weeks, according to Fears. The events will most likely be held in larger spaces with no need to sign up in advance. For those who cannot attend but would have liked to, “minutes” will be available, and if a particular event is greeted with enthusiasm, Fears is ready to consider scheduling another. One event already locked in for inclusion in this calendar is Ladies and Allies for Cross-Cultural Excellence’s “Privilege Walk”—an activity where students who attend will line up across a space, and take steps forward or backwards depending on their answers to questions concern-
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ing privilege. The point of these programs, Fears said, is to create “not necessarily a safe space, but a brave space, where people can see what topics might be available to them before the day.” Student volunteers will help organize and implement these programs in any way they are equipped. “If you’re really good at logistics, then you can figure out what rooms, how many people we can put in a room—that’s fantastic,” Fears said. Aside from the addition of programming leading up to and from the DePauw Dialogue 2.0, the day itself has also undergone a bit of a revamp. While there will still be a keynote speaker—there is a “working list” according to Gawlik but no one slotted for sure as of now—there will be more breakout sessions. But instead of the two breakout sessions of last year’s dialogue, where students, faculty and staff were mixed into one group, there will be two types of conversations:
“workshops” and “caucuses.” According to Gawlik, the workshops will remain a mix of students, faculty and staff, and will represent a wide variety of programming, presented conference-style, and led by those knowledgeable in whatever field that particular workshop touches on. Workshops might range from race relations to issues in the LGBT community—a stark difference from last year, when race was the focus of the day. “Me, I am someone who studies race issues, is a Sociology major, and goes to conferences about social justice—but I am not the most knowledgeable when it comes to ability discrimination,” Gawlik explained. “It gives everyone the choice about what they want to learn.” Mixed in with the workshops will be caucuses, where students, faculty
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