Gender to be topic of Sustained Dialogue

For the eighth consecutive year, students, faculty and administrators will meet in small groups to discuss race relations in Sustained Dialogue. This year, for the first time, the group will also debate campus gender issues.

The primary goals of the program are to get students and administrators to talk together about relationships and thereby facilitate dialogue and understanding among diverse individuals, Vice President for Campus Life Janet Dickerson said. Dickerson has helped oversee the program and has participated in a discussion group.

"From my own participant experience, the real strength of SD happened in those 'ah-ha' moments, where someone else's perspective challenged me to think of a situation in new and innovative ways," Carl Owens '08, the group's head moderator, said in an email.

Dickerson said that her participation in a dialogue gave her an understanding of the views of students, a greater awareness of socioeconomic issues at the University and a deeper appreciation of the difficulties of first-generation college students.

But Dickerson acknowledged that Sustained Dialogue may not have had a major effect on the student body as a whole. She noted that some students might be completely unaware of its existence.

Sustained Dialogue holds several events designed to highlight its presence on campus, including a scavenger hunt and a screening of "Crash" followed by discussion. A promotional video for Sustained Dialogue has also been presented at the end of the "Reflections on Diversity" during Freshman Week for the past two years.

Members of the organization stress that its main goal is not to affect race relations on campus.

"The purpose of SD is not to change 'race relations' overnight, but rather to create the space for students to engage the components of relationships in their everyday interactions with others," former president Sian Ofaolain '08 said in an email.

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Whitney Ajibade '09, the group's president, described it as a process in which participants from diverse backgrounds learn from each other. She said that many Sustained Dialogue participants share what they have learned with their friends, which helps to broaden the group's influence.

Some participants have been motivated to take action based on what they have learned in their groups; a few students have been spurred to raise awareness about racism in the University's history.

The program has also held an annual conference for Sustained Dialogue groups from other universities in addition to producing the video shown during Freshman Week, spending a total of $12,000 over two years. Both of these are largely funded by the national Sustained Dialogue Campus Network (SDCN).

The organization's impact on the campus environment has not yet been evaluated, though the SDCN has considered a formal review.

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Ofaolain said the main impact of the program is felt through its participants, who share their responses to the program with colleagues, friends and classmates.

"The SD model of change sees each participant as an agent of change in their respective community," she added.

One concrete effect of the program is the extension of financial aid to Outdoor Action and Community Action trips this year, which was conceived by the Sustained Dialogue groups, Dickerson noted. OA Director Rick Curtis '79, President Tilghman and Dickerson, who have all participated in Sustained Dialogue, worked to implement the aid program.

In 1999, the Princeton chapter of the program was founded by Teddy Nemeroff '01 and David Tukey '02, who were concerned about the status of race relations on campus. The program was built on a model developed by former diplomat Hall Saunders '52.

Saunders created the Sustained Dialogue concept based on his years of experience in conflict resolution. He encouraged the formation of this program at the University and developed a five-step model for relationships that Sustained Dialogue uses.

Princeton was the first university to have a Sustained Dialogue campus group. Today, the program exists at several schools. Jessica Munitz '03, who participated in the program at the University, used the money from her ReachOut 56 Fellowship to establish the SDCN, which has connections to alumni from SD programs around the country. The ReachOut 56 Fellowship is designed to help nonprofit organizations with public service projects.