On the evening of December 4th, in ARH 302, Grinnellians gathered together at the Diversity Dialogue. This meeting was organized and hosted by the Pioneer Diversity Council (PDC), and its stated purpose was to discuss the divide on campus between athletes and non-athletes. For those of you who don’t know, Pioneer Diversity Council is a group of students whose mission is to empower Grinnellians to meet the challenges associated with social, cultural, economic, and other forms of diversity. Moreover, each semester they host events in an attempt to bridge the various gaps within our campus.
The week prior to the Diversity Dialogue, PDC tabled outside the dining hall during the lunch and dinner hours to promote the event and gather students’ perspectives regarding the divide. PDC members asked students to write down any concerns or comments they wanted to be addressed at the dialogue, and these notes were placed in a jar, not to be revealed until the night of December 4th.
The Diversity Dialogue was structured in an open dialogue format. A panel of students (athletes, former athletes, and non-athletes), a professor, and several coaches with varying and diverse perspectives regarding athletics fielded questions from the audience. The intent was to pull a question from the jar, read it aloud, and have the panel respond. However, after pulling just one question inquiring, “Is there a stigma on campus?”, no other questions were removed from the jar– this one facilitated the conversation for the following hour and half.
The conversation shifted from “Is there a stigma?” to what reputations surround what teams, to the desire to have friend groups implemented by the college in an attempt to integrate all students. The majority of those in attendance were student-athletes, which hindered our attempts to have a fully inclusive dialogue. Nevertheless, as both a student-athlete and member of Pioneer Diversity Council, I would venture to say the event was a success. No, we did not have a fair representation of the non-student athletes on campus. But those that were in attendance openly voiced their concerns, and student-athletes gained insight to the opposing perspective. I would also venture to say that many students left the dialogue feeling a sense of frustration; an emotion that can be used to fuel passionate conviction to address the divide and bridge the gap.
Ultimately, the diversity dialogue was a start. If we as Grinnellians want to bridge the gap, the event on December 4th was a necessary step to do so.