Diversity training was a perfect storm for the Res Life staff, concocted from stress, tiredness and confusion. While I cannot speak for all of the professional staff and every Residential Assistant, the many that I talked to agreed on one thing: this could have gone a lot better.
Let’s take it back a couple days. The morning of move-in, the Res Life staff and some student volunteers were thrown into McGaw Chapel in a giant sharing circle on stage. We were told that we would be participating in “training.” Oddly enough, in the time that followed, which could have been three hours or three years, it felt very much like an inferior and shortened version of the two-week training we all went through as RAs.
The company that was brought in took us through a series of sharing exercises. The entire time we were doing these exercises, it was puzzling to me at what point they would be telling us how to lead conversations about such a charged and sensitive topic. Students come to Wooster from a myriad of backgrounds, hosting an innumerable amount of personal experiences and ideas, so tackling the idea of diversity would be no small feat. Oddly enough, it seemed that the training would be concluded with them thanking us and handing out the scripts.
I remember thinking explicitly, “oh boy, oh boy, oh boy; nothing screams genuine care and sensitivity to a dynamic topic like pre-written scripts.”
After being thanked by the presenters and receiving the scripts the training drew to a close, which seemed like an odd thing to do considering they had not given us any new tools to handle the students — absolutely nothing. I looked between the script and the presenters several times trying to glean some sort of guidance, and found none.
As the day progressed and we got to the real event, I felt the viscous spit of the presenters on my face — metaphorically, that is. Turns out that the “training” they gave us was just a slightly more frank and personal version of the larger program for the first years. Oh golly gee, nothing feels better than reading fake heartfelt content from a script, after going through the same program twice. Even better, they decided to cut a bunch of activities from our schedule as students were filing into the room for the program, which I believe qualifies for last second. At the very least, I would hope that the special training and program would be accurately scheduled, god forbid these people do what they are being over-paid to do well.
When leading the conversations, I found myself leaning on my co-leader (another RA) and on our RA training only, with nothing from the presenters. However, not everyone had another RA to help them lead conversations, and as I heard, ended up being asked more about Wooster policies than about diversity on campus. Now, we are at the point where the training didn’t train the RAs or the volunteers, leaving some unequipped to lead a conversation. Stupendous. If the company had just handed us the script four nano-seconds before and a strong pat on the back it would have been as effective. My co-leader and I were able to foster a fairly strong conversation through effective use of the script. Which meant saying everything in a sarcastic tone to break the ice. Then after we got the bullshit out of the way, we were able to actually level with the students and try to connect with them on a deeper level. One of the most powerful moments came after I had just finished part of the script. The co-leader said, “alright, but seriously guys—” and showed how we actually do care deeply about diversity at Wooster.
I have no doubt that at some point there were good intentions for having this training, but I can’t help but think that this company may have been overcharging for the packets of paper. I was hoping to find out that we didn’t pay that much. Actually, I was horrified to find they charged us $36,000, according to what SGA was told.
Thankfully I can say that I don’t think this is a mistake that will be made twice. After orientation I, among others, sent an email to my supervisor highlighting my disappointment with the program. We met, and I discovered that they too were disappointed by both the low caliber of the training and program. The conversation that followed was extremely constructive, and I could tell both parties had the incoming students’ wellness in mind. Ideally this campus community will handle future situations with open communication and progress in the forefront of any dispute.
John-Paul Richard, a Contributing Writer for the Voice, can be reached for comment at JRichard20@wooster.edu.