Basil staff holds diversity discussion

By Katie Williams
Collegian Editor
November 8, 2006

As La Salle's campus grows in diversity, it can sometimes be hard to understand the viewpoints, lifestyles and traditions of others. In light of the growing need to promote the appreciation of other cultures, Resident Assistants (RAs) in St. Basil Court have conceived an event called "You Don't Know What it's Like to be ____ on La Salle's Campus." This program will give the members of the La Salle community a forum for open and honest discussion about diversity. The event will be held Nov. 15 from 3:30-5:30 p.m. in the Dunleavy Room. Spotlight caught up with Ross Flockerzie, one of the RAs working on the event, to learn more.

Spotlight: How did you guys get the idea for this event?

Ross Flockerzie: It originated in training this year. RAs have two weeks of training before school starts. There was one exercise where there was a poster on the wall that had different phrases and words on it. Some were racial slurs, some were expressions-the stereotypical stuff you always hear. Some were more controversial than others. Each RA was given Post-It notes that would indicate whether we had said that word, agreed with the idea or were offended by the word or idea. We ended up having a fascinating discussion, but the problem was that it only lasted one hour. We wanted to provide that forum for a great discussion to the members of the La Salle community.

SP: Is this event mainly aimed at St. Basil residents, or is anyone invited to come?

RF: It's not just aimed at St. Basil. This is something that the RA staff at Basil is putting on, but it's absolutely for all members of the La Salle community - residents, commuters, staff, anyone.

SP: Do you plan on doing activities like this in the future?

RF: This is something that we are really excited about. We are obviously hoping that this goes really well, and if it does, then we can definitely look to do something similar in the future. We think events like this are something valuable that the community can really learn from.

SP: What should students expect when they attend?

RF: The main thing is that they'll be challenged, but at the very least they'll be exposed to different viewpoints while learning something, as cliché as that sounds. We want to provide a forum to talk about different viewpoints. The point of the forum isn't to show who is right or wrong, but to have an honest discussion in which we learn why these viewpoints exist.

SP: What do you hope will result from this event?

RF: I would be very happy if people came and had an honest discussion. I think that one challenge in providing an opportunity to talk with a large number of people is having to be honest. I mean, there is a correlation between the amount of people there and the amount of honesty people are willing to have. So, I hope people realize that this isn't meant to attack people who think differently, but to learn from them.

SP: How will this event be structured?

RF: We're going to have facilitators there. We want facilitators to keep the dialogue focused and to keep things under control. We're going to have people write down topics or issues that they would like to have addressed on a piece of paper. All those pieces will be put in a container and drawn from.

SP: Is there anything else you'd like to add?

RF: Just that we're really looking forward to this. We hope everyone comes out!

williamsk1@lasalle.edu