Talking about conversation
Magazine editor Sandy Coleman sat down with Provost Renée T. White to talk about the Community Conversations series that the provost started at Wheaton last fall. Inspired in response to racially charged incidents in the news at that time, the ongoing series aims to stimulate discussion, debate, reflection and a desire to take action.
Sandy Coleman: The first conversation was “The Role of Colleges in Times of National Racial Crisis.” What do you think that role is?
Renée T. White: We are a place about learning, generating new ideas and facing challenges. So, we should be able to use that in response to social questions. Colleges and universities prepare students to be able to function in the world in ways that show that they are civically engaged, that they do their homework about big issues and that they’re open to understanding broader perspectives. That’s sort of the long-term role. The more immediate role involves organizing opportunities for critical thinking and engagement.
Coleman: How did the conversation series get off the ground?
White: It was at a meeting that Dennis [Hanno] and [Dean of Students] Kate [Kenny] and I had with a few student leaders, who were basically asking, “What is Wheaton doing?” in response to a series of shootings that had just happened earlier that week. Many students, I think, felt hurt. They were reeling from this, trying to make sense of it, and also saying, “We’re at this institution that’s about community, so what is that going to mean?” It struck me that there’s a lot of work that we do that is invisible, in terms of how we hold to the values that we have as an institution. It can be everything from the hiring process to private conversations with people. So Dennis and Kate and I had been brainstorming about what we each thought could be a possible role that we could have to bring this work more to the surface. The conversation series was the most obvious thing I thought I could do. And I got this incredible feedback and interest from faculty when I sought their help in creating the topics and presenting them.
Coleman: What does building community together mean to you?Magazine editor Sandy Coleman sat down with Provost Renée T. White to talk about the Community Conversations series that the provost started at Wheaton last fall. Inspired in response to racially charged incidents in the news at that time, the ongoing series aims to stimulate discussion, debate, reflection and a desire to take action.
Sandy Coleman: The first conversation was “The Role of Colleges in Times of National Racial Crisis.” What do you think that role is?
Renée T. White: We are a place about learning, generating new ideas and facing challenges. So, we should be able to use that in response to social questions. Colleges and universities prepare students to be able to function in the world in ways that show that they are civically engaged, that they do their homework about big issues and that they’re open to understanding broader perspectives. That’s sort of the long-term role. The more immediate role involves organizing opportunities for critical thinking and engagement.
Coleman: How did the conversation series get off the ground?
White: It was at a meeting that Dennis [Hanno] and [Dean of Students] Kate [Kenny] and I had with a few student leaders, who were basically asking, “What is Wheaton doing?” in response to a series of shootings that had just happened earlier that week. Many students, I think, felt hurt. They were reeling from this, trying to make sense of it, and also saying, “We’re at this institution that’s about community, so what is that going to mean?” It struck me that there’s a lot of work that we do that is invisible, in terms of how we hold to the values that we have as an institution. It can be everything from the hiring process to private conversations with people. So Dennis and Kate and I had been brainstorming about what we each thought could be a possible role that we could have to bring this work more to the surface. The conversation series was the most obvious thing I thought I could do. And I got this incredible feedback and interest from faculty when I sought their help in creating the topics and presenting them.
Coleman: What does building community together mean to you?
White: For me, it is thinking about people who are parts of marginalized groups, and the issues and day-to-day experiences that many others wouldn’t be aware of, or wouldn’t necessarily think about. So it starts with looking at issues of race and social justice, but part of what I’m trying to do here is broaden the discussion and to look at all the various ways in which we’re diverse. During the spring semester, I’m hoping we can have conversations that will be more inclusive of gender, LGBTQ and international student issues, as well as global geopolitical issues.
Coleman: How have students responded?
White: It’s interesting to see what students are pulling together. The Rally for Peace, for example, was absolutely student-led. I think the election presents an opportunity to look at a whole range of drivers that shaped voting behavior—economic inequality, living in rural communities, the notion of what we think a conservative or a liberal looks like and that we may not actually have clean, easy answers to many things. That’s why civil dialogue, critical dialogue is important. For students, I hope the conversations present an opportunity for them to hear from students whom they may not interact with around these topics. I think it’s good to have them talking to one another and reacting to the content, because they get to see different worldviews. And it’s in an environment that is very collegial and intentionally so.
Faculty-led Community Conversations
These were held in the fall of 2016; others are in the works.
The Role of Colleges in Times of National Racial Crisis
Professors Shawn Christian, Peony Fhagen and Robert Morris; Provost Renée T. White; Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Kate Kenny
Who’s Responsible for Confronting Racism?
Professors Karen McCormack, Michael Berg
The Politics of Mass Protest and State Violence
Professors Aubrey Westfall, Brad Bishop, Gerry Huiskamp, Alireza Shomali, Jeanne Wilson, Jenna Wechsler, Nick Dorzweiler
When Politics Take Artistic Form
Professors Ellen McBreen, Tripp Evans, Leah Niederstadt
Writing About Images of Racism, Past and Present
Professors Constance Campana, Ruth Foley, Lisa Lebduska, Angie Sarhan
2016 Presidential Election Debrief
Professor Brad Bishop, Provost Renée T. White, President Dennis M. Hanno, Dean Kate Kenny
In their own words
A look at the collective effort of constructing connections or go back to Close-knit
Line by line
“Built by individual narratives, one at a time, the Unity Project provided us with a reminder of how communities are formed and reinforced by the unique individuals within them.”
Professor Kelly Goff
Talking about conversation
“We are a place about learning, generating new ideas and facing challenges. So we should be able to use that in response to social questions.”
Provost Renée T. White
Rallying for peace
“When the world is divided, it is easier to target and oppress groups of people. To me, community is about showing up. It is about unity.”
Olivia Benissan ’19, sociology major
Clear vision
“‘I see you’ is an important sentence for the 21st century, and building community is an essential task for the future, as, on a daily basis, we face interaction with diversity locally and around the world.”
Professor Russell Williams
One Wheaton
“Community is built daily through seemingly normal dialogue.”
F. Steven Kimball ’18, economics major
The work of shared responsibility begins within
“Accepting the evidence that the world is structured unfairly and that, unchecked, even our perceptions and behaviors can perpetuate that unfairness, allows us to work together toward change.”
Professors Michael Berg and Karen McCormack
Word by word
“As writers, we understand writing as a way to grapple: It allows an inner confrontation with what, on the surface, we cannot accept.”
Professors Constance Campana, Ruth Foley, Lisa Lebduska and Angie Sarhan
Fitting the pieces together
“As a neuroscience major, I recognize the interconnected nature of everything that I have become part of here at Wheaton. Yet, I am challenged to find the connections between the sciences and social justice issues.”
Kelvin Ampem-Darko ’17, neuroscience major
White: For me, it is thinking about people who are parts of marginalized groups, and the issues and day-to-day experiences that many others wouldn’t be aware of, or wouldn’t necessarily think about. So it starts with looking at issues of race and social justice, but part of what I’m trying to do here is broaden the discussion and to look at all the various ways in which we’re diverse. During the spring semester, I’m hoping we can have conversations that will be more inclusive of gender, LGBTQ and international student issues, as well as global geopolitical issues.
Coleman: How have students responded?
White: It’s interesting to see what students are pulling together. The Rally for Peace, for example, was absolutely student-led. I think the election presents an opportunity to look at a whole range of drivers that shaped voting behavior—economic inequality, living in rural communities, the notion of what we think a conservative or a liberal looks like and that we may not actually have clean, easy answers to many things. That’s why civil dialogue, critical dialogue is important. For students, I hope the conversations present an opportunity for them to hear from students whom they may not interact with around these topics. I think it’s good to have them talking to one another and reacting to the content, because they get to see different worldviews. And it’s in an environment that is very collegial and intentionally so.
Faculty-led Community Conversations
These were held in the fall of 2016; others are in the works.
The Role of Colleges in Times of National Racial Crisis
Professors Shawn Christian, Peony Fhagen and Robert Morris; Provost Renée T. White; Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Kate Kenny
Who’s Responsible for Confronting Racism?
Professors Karen McCormack, Michael Berg
The Politics of Mass Protest and State Violence
Professors Aubrey Westfall, Brad Bishop, Gerry Huiskamp, Alireza Shomali, Jeanne Wilson, Jenna Wechsler, Nick Dorzweiler
When Politics Take Artistic Form
Professors Ellen McBreen, Tripp Evans, Leah Niederstadt
Writing About Images of Racism, Past and Present
Professors Constance Campana, Ruth Foley, Lisa Lebduska, Angie Sarhan
2016 Presidential Election Debrief
Professor Brad Bishop, Provost Renée T. White, President Dennis M. Hanno, Dean Kate Kenny
In their own words
A look at the collective effort of constructing connections or go back to Close-knit
Line by line
“Built by individual narratives, one at a time, the Unity Project provided us with a reminder of how communities are formed and reinforced by the unique individuals within them.”
Professor Kelly Goff
Talking about conversation
“We are a place about learning, generating new ideas and facing challenges. So we should be able to use that in response to social questions.”
Provost Renée T. White
Rallying for peace
“When the world is divided, it is easier to target and oppress groups of people. To me, community is about showing up. It is about unity.”
Olivia Benissan ’19, sociology major
Clear vision
“‘I see you’ is an important sentence for the 21st century, and building community is an essential task for the future, as, on a daily basis, we face interaction with diversity locally and around the world.”
Professor Russell Williams
One Wheaton
“Community is built daily through seemingly normal dialogue.”
F. Steven Kimball ’18, economics major
The work of shared responsibility begins within
“Accepting the evidence that the world is structured unfairly and that, unchecked, even our perceptions and behaviors can perpetuate that unfairness, allows us to work together toward change.”
Professors Michael Berg and Karen McCormack
Word by word
“As writers, we understand writing as a way to grapple: It allows an inner confrontation with what, on the surface, we cannot accept.”
Professors Constance Campana, Ruth Foley, Lisa Lebduska and Angie Sarhan
Fitting the pieces together
“As a neuroscience major, I recognize the interconnected nature of everything that I have become part of here at Wheaton. Yet, I am challenged to find the connections between the sciences and social justice issues.”
Kelvin Ampem-Darko ’17, neuroscience major