On Nov. 21, Geneseo Village Mayor Margaret Duff visited the Geneseo campus to host a discussion about inclusivity, diversity and equity both on the campus and in the surrounding community.
The discussion was hosted in the Fireside Lounge in the MacVittie College Union and was open to all who wished to attend.
This event served to instigate a dialogue between the college and the surrounding community regarding experiences on the topics of inclusivity, diversity and equity.
Duff, who led the discussion, said that she was inspired to host the event after she was informed of incidents that occurred in the community which made members of the campus feel “uncomfortable, unwelcome and unsafe.”
“Soon after I took office, I was told of some incidents that some people had heard about that had happened in the community that particularly made students of color uncomfortable, unsafe and unwelcome. That really upset me. I found that appalling to tell you the truth and I wanted to dig in deeper and find out what it was that was going on and if there was anything that as a community we could do together to overcome that,” Duff said.
Duff said that she hopes there can be more open discussions about this topic between the village and campus.
“I hope that there really is more of this cross-communication between the village and campus and working together on addressing the issue and clearly from the things that were said, the general consensus is that there needs to be more education maybe or more understanding of how people come across,” Duff said.
robbie routenberg, the Chief Diversity Officer, was also present at the event. routenberg leads “diversity, equity and inclusion efforts to advance the broader aim of creating an inclusive and supportive campus climate,” according to their department’s website.
routenberg said that they thought it was great for the student body to have a mayor who is involved with the campus and engaging with students about their experiences.
“I think it’s great that the mayor is not just open to that but really eager for it and that she wants to be able to be talking to students directly about those experiences. I thought it was a great opportunity, an important one and one that will become sort of the rhythm of things that happen here,” routenberg said.
routenberg said that they think there are two steps moving forward: “concrete steps and abstract, symbolic steps.” According to routenberg, concrete steps involve responsive actions and proactivity while abstract and symbolic steps cannot simply be checked off a list, rather they have a symbolic meaning.
“I think on a very concrete level I know that she was taking some very specific action items from that conversation, both responsive on issues and proactive around setting a climate,” routenberg said. “I think she expressed to people her commitment and how important it is to her that students have a platform and can feel heard and be heard surrounding these issues of inclusion. That isn’t something you can check off a list but has symbolic importance.”
The collaboration between the village of Geneseo and the school’s student body was a major topic during the discussion. Along with this, both Duff and routenberg said that communication is important in order to cultivate a better climate.
routenberg said they believe that collaborations between the village and student body will spark innovation and creative teamwork along with finding the most effective ways to be on the same page.
“When we are at our best it’s probably because we’re being collaborative and integrated,” routenberg said. “I hope that part of that conversation last week allows us to be creative, innovative, always asking ‘what are the most effective ways to do that work’ so that we’re on the same page moving together. Students’ experience of Geneseo is not solely based on the college but also based on when they step on the other side of the college boundaries.”
Duff said she thinks that communication between the students and the village population is important, especially since the student body population changes yearly.
“It has to be an ongoing thing because the population of the campus changes yearly. New students come in and it’s the new students who are feeling unwelcome and we want to make sure that it doesn’t take until their senior year to realize that they are safe here,” Duff said.
Sociology major sophomore Nakkia Smalls attended the event. Smalls said she thinks that the meeting was good to show that the campus is connected with the village.
“I think it was necessary and it was a good step to show that there are connections between the campus and the village because the campus is a big part of the village. I think it was really cool to have that connection to know that we’re able to get in contact with the mayor,” Smalls said.
Smalls also said she hopes that more conversations will start and that more events between the campus and village will become prevalent as a result of the discussion.
“I just hope more conversations like that will continue to be a part of something that we do here at Geneseo … to mesh the village and the school,” Smalls said.