On Wednesday Sept. 24. in the SCRD office, the Student Center for Reconciliation and Diversity launched its first Here.Listen.Experience event. Over the course of an hour, about two dozen students stopped filtered in and out of the meeting.
SCRD is trying something different this year by hosting a weekly gathering for students to discuss racial and ethnic diversity with one another.
“We know our students are already having these conversations outside of the office, and we want to have a space where they could come in and feel heard,” said Leah Sadoian, a graduate intern and program coordinator for the SCRD.
According to the SCRD interns, Here.Listen.Experience. is referred to as a “safe place” for students to gain perspectives on each other’s backgrounds and stories. The “safe place” is a place of trust and honesty among peers.
“I know we use the phrase a ‘safe place,’ but I truly believe the space is designed to be a brave space,” said Aaron Hinojosa, director of the SCRD.
At the start of the meeting, four large white posters were hung around the room, each with a different title. Attendees were asked to write their name, year, major and ethnic background on the papers. The purpose of the activity was not revealed until later.
“Looking around, we can see how diverse just the people in this room are; we all have different names, backgrounds, majors and ages,” said Danielle Harris, a senior undergraduate intern for SCRD and co-president of the Black Student Association.
Each student was then handed a notecard and answered the question, “What does diversity mean to you?” Every notecard was collected and redistributed to a different person who shared what the card said.
The activity provoked discussion as students were able to see what diversity meant to their peers in the room. Each person had a different response from the next.
“Our goal is to create a place with purposeful conversation each week through engaging activities, showing videos or having a speaker come in,” Sadoian said.
“God-honoring diversity,” a part of APU’s diversity statement in the academic catalog, became a major focus for Wednesday’s meeting. Students shared their opinions and thoughts on how the statement is lived out on campus.
“I want all students to feel welcome and bold enough to ask the questions that will help them gain understanding,” Hinojosa said. “It is only through gaining perspective of one another do we truly know what the Image of God looks like.”
Sadoian, along with the other interns and SCRD staff, hope to see the reach of the center grow and students who aren’t familiar with the office to stop by. A majority of the attendees on Wednesday regularly visit the center.
“We have talked to our [regular] students about expanding into their different spheres of influence, like the floor they live on or their friend group that isn’t already involved,” Sadoian said.
SCRD hopes to draw an additional crowd during a movie screening week or an event that’s more accessible to a wider range of students. Promotional fliers were given to regulars of the office to hand out around campus.
Here.Listen.Experience. will take place every Wednesday from 12-1 p.m. outside the SCRD office on Cougar Walk. All students are welcome to attend and join the conversation.