Diversity Day workshops are meant to encourage students to step out of their comfort zones, reflect critically on difficult, uncomfortable questions, and participate thoughtfully and maturely in challenging conversations.
Although this year’s Diversity Day was much improved from previous years, there are still ways the experience could be improved. In both of my sessions, people rarely spoke, resulting in long durations of silence. While silence is often necessary for students to process complex ideas, and one of the established Community Norms encouraged students to “be comfortable with silence,” a conversation with too much silence defeats the purpose of a discussion at all. As much as I appreciate the effort and time student facilitators devoted to Diversity Day, I wonder if replacing them with faculty facilitators would encourage more students to speak.
Student facilitators are well-equipped with guiding questions and activities to lead the conversation. However, many students feel awkward taking direction from peers who, outside of the Diversity Day discussion space, may be their friends.
Because it is hard to be vulnerable and share personal experiences when engaging in an uncomfortable conversation, it is understandable that most students choose to remain quiet when authoritative figures –– namely, faculty –– are not present to enforce participation. Faculty facilitators would likely pressure the students to participate and actively listen, as well as guide the conversation when silence drags on for too long. Though it may not ensure total participation, students are less likely to use their phones or doze off when faculty members are present.
Faculty members also have acquired more life experience and could approach the discussion prompt from another generation’s perspective — this could contribute even more diversity to the conversation. In contrast, student facilitators lack such experience and often echo the same ideas that others of the same age share. This would also allow student facilitators to become more active in the conversation without forcing them to tread neutral lines.
However, some students believe that the presence of faculty facilitators would discourage them from speaking up. During controversial conversations, the student might feel pressured to agree with a majority opinion if a faculty member is in the room. There are also topics that students might not feel comfortable discussing around adults. For example, questions such as, “How would the diversity within the faculty affect the learning atmosphere at Choate?” may cause some students to filter their opinions. In reality, students feel they can’t speak candidly when they are unfamiliar with the facilitator.
Since it is unlikely that Choate will ever be able to employ facilitators familiar with everyone in a discussion group, the best we can do is provide guidance in discussions from those who are most qualified: teachers. Those who are already familiar with the faculty would participate actively and speak candidly, while those still views the faculty as a stranger would be pressured to pay attention at least.
Overall, if students are to engage in truly valuable discussions, they must be comfortable with their leaders. If uncomfortable conversations are to be achieved on Diversity Day, Choate needs to reconsider not just the facilitators, but the structure of the day as a whole.
