By ANUSHA KHANAL
When Dr. Roger L. Worthington arrived on campus this block to present his initial findings on Colorado College’s External Review on Racism, people flocked to Celeste Theatre. Judging from the questions raised by community members at the event, inclusion seemed to be a topic that concerned many on campus.
However, this sentiment didn’t necessarily translate into action on Jan. 28, when a mere 10 people attended the event “Building Inclusive Communities.”
Building Inclusive Communities was one of the first all-campus events organized on campus by The Butler Center after the external review. The event intended to “develop a shared understanding of our individual and group roles in building an inclusive community at CC, while also creating tangible action steps.”
The workshop started with the audience’s expectations for the experience, which were regularly revisited throughout the workshop. It then progressed to an explanation of different social justice terminologies and a session on understanding our social positionalities as well as elements of a community. Attendees were asked to develop a vision for a community that they would like to see on campus and what actions could be taken in those communities to develop inclusion.
One of the most powerful opinions was that passivity is not an option to help a community on a path of inclusion. So what are we actively doing from our side in order to achieve that vision?
As we grapple with issues related to inclusion as a campus, conversations and workshops have even more significance as they encourage us to think about what we can do and what we are not doing.
Many conversations surrounding inclusion on campus focus on race, especially in the aftermath of last year’s email incident and the recent external review. Of course, one cannot expect an individual to completely rid an institution of racism, as it exists as a form of power. However, we must recognize how that power structure relates to us and question it if we truly want to bring about a change. This is what Building Inclusive Communities was about.
Programs that facilitate such dialogues are regularly conducted on campus, always providing something new to learn. They aspire to bring about necessary change from within the system.
So, what role are you playing
