Last week, the Catalyst covered the release of a new student petition, asking the college to restructure department curriculum and all-college requirements in an effort to integrate conversations about diversity and inequality into all fields of study, not just in the Race and Ethnic Studies Department.
Regardless of my opinion on the petition itself, the petition further opened the door for conversations on diversity and inequality that need to happen on this campus as we continue to accept students from a variety of economic, social, and racial backgrounds.
When we have talked about diversity and inclusion on this campus, we are missing a key part of our schedule during which diversity, in particular economic diversity, surfaces more than any other time of the year: Block Break.
I’ll admit, I have stayed on campus for one out of the nine—going on ten—Block Breaks of my CC career. I do the ‘classic’ Block Break trips: backpacking 14ers, “Breck Break,” and yurt-serviced backcountry ski trips. I’ve loved every one more than the last, and, for students who get to enjoy them, Block Breaks are one of the highlights of attending CC.
I know, though, that not everyone has equal access to such opportunities mostly due to the cost of food, gas, and lodging, but also the cost of lift tickets, gear, and other expenses. Of course, the ORC offers less expensive trips than self-led ones, but they are generally over $150 and do not appeal to everyone’s interests. Groups like the Sociology Department have also started offering day Block Break trips, but those still leave a lot of students on campus.
I stayed on campus for Block Break 5. Although I slept a lot and checked off a lot of my life to-do list, I felt excluded from the Rastall conversations that Sunday night as my friends discussed what hut they stayed in and how many times they had to play yum-yum because they cooked too much food.
I finally tasted what a fair amount of CC students experience the Sunday after many Block Breaks. That’s not my idea of inclusion, and I hope it’s not anyone else’s.
A collaboration of staff members and I brainstormed a solution: Every Block Break, one faculty/staff member invites a group of 12 students on a “Block Break Adventure.” The trips would be limited to students who are receiving at least 75 percent financial aid and would range from touring Chicago museums and attending Broadway plays in New York City to hiking the Native American ruins in Sedona, Arizona.
We also considered collaborating with the Athletics Department to organize student trips with the sports teams. As someone obsessed with both college hockey and the NHL, I’d be ecstatic to say that I got to go with the hockey team to watch their double header in Duluth.
Including flights, rooms, meals, ground transportation, tickets to attractions, and incidentals for all 13 members of the trip, it would cost $13,820. Four of these a year would invite nearly 50 students who otherwise would remain on campus onto a memorable Block Break and would cost about $55,000.
For the amount this school spends on everything else, I think $55,000 a year is worth it in the name of inclusion, but more importantly in providing every individual with the opportunity to experience CC in the fullest.
So, in the midst of conversations on diversity and inclusion and ones concerning the use of CCSGA funds after the release of Andrea More’s Cipher article, let’s think about actions we can take to reduce inequality and use our funding efficiently through CCSGA and administration-funded Block Breaks. Then we can all have a story to tell at Rastall the night before First Monday.