Geneseo’s Cultivating Community dialogue series is so passionate about curating a more inclusive campus community that its Wednesday Oct. 21 dialogue was entitled “Making inclusion our middle name: cultivating a campus identity that ‘oozes’ inclusion.” While inclusivity was undoubtedly the event’s main focus, the dialogue organizers incorporated the ‘oozing’ component in a number of ways, from the snacks on the tables to the way they hope attendees will spread the message of inclusion.
Communication professor Meredith Harrigan, one of the co-organizers of the dialogue series, opened the event explaining that the ‘ooze’ theme traced back to a dialogue from the spring semester when psychology professor Monica Schneider talked about her desire to see the campus community ooze with inclusion. The organizers took this unique phrase and decided to explore it more in-depth with its own dialogue.
The conversation began with a presentation by two Geneseo community members who have made inclusion part of their life’s mission. Associate professor of English Alice Rutkowski and political science and communication double major sophomore Kelsey Dux addressed different ways they’ve been able to make Geneseo a more welcoming environment.
“I came to activism by hearing from students that things were missing,” Rutkowski began. After noticing that certain students lacked the resources to maximize their Geneseo experience, she started looking into how to plug the holes, ask for the right resources and centralize those who knew the most about anything her students were dealing with.
In 2013, Rutkowski centralized these experts by creating the LGTBQ Issues Working Group. This group was tasked with understanding how Geneseo currently supports LGBTQ students and finding new ways to further this support. Rutkowski’s overall goal with the working group and other inclusive efforts has become to create institutional change with high levels of community engagement.
In order to become someone who also oozes inclusion, Rutkowski advised attendees to listen and invite collaboration. Once people know you’re invested and passionate about helping those around you, the opportunities to make that possible will become apparent. “I established a reputation for being a collaborator so people felt comfortable coming to me,” she said.
Dux then took over, explaining how she has been able to become a more inclusive student and how others can follow her lead. She advised audience members to gather student concerns to create goals for the future and that knowing what has already been done in the past—both what worked and failed—can help guide your efforts.
“Your goals are subject to change,” Dux said. “But keep pushing, even if you feel like you’re being annoying. It’s good to be annoying sometimes.”
A key part of inclusion, according to Rutkowski and Dux, is including everyone, regardless of opinion or perspectives. While everyone will not always have the same ideas or beliefs, these different viewpoints can allow for a deeper discussion about what inclusion means and looks like.
The two presenters wrapped up by explaining their three levels of involvement. The levels represented different ways to become a more inclusive community with varying amounts of effort involved.
A high level of involvement encompasses applying for leadership positions on campus or being ready to take charge of a project from scratch. A medium level of involvement means making a deeper commitment to something you’re already involved in or joining an existing structure, such as becoming a SafeZone trainer or DICE facilitator.
The low level of involvement is the easiest to achieve but just as important; “the small things matter too,” according to Dux. The low level includes speaking up if you see someone or something that may be exclusive to a particular person or group.
Following the presentation, the audience broke up into smaller groups to have a more intimate discussion about inclusion. The groups were asked to answer questions such as “what everyday practices demonstrate engagement and help foster a strong campus climate?” and “how might our actions reflect the degree of importance we place on inclusion?”
The dialogue concluded with a large group reflection on what audience members had learned and ways they were going to try and ooze inclusion moving forward. Cultivating Community’s mission is to allow participants the opportunity to voice their experiences, learn from others’ perspectives and share innovative ideas related to the topic. Those who attend always leave with an improved set of skills for discussing difficult or misunderstood issues.
Dux summarized the theme of the event well, reminding the audience that inclusion is a group effort; it may start with one person but it takes many to really spark change. “In order to ooze, you cannot ooze alone,” she said.