JusTalks Promotes Discussion

JusTalks, a student-led forum to engage identity and promote campus-wide discussion on personal and social issues, will launch its pilot event Friday, Jan. 18. The event will begin on at 7 p.m. with an address from keynote speaker Professor of Africana Studies, Dr. Tricia Rose of Brown University. Her talk, open to the general school community, will touch on topics that will highlight conversation for the following day. Saturday will be dedicated to the forum. The first half of the day will address identity — what it is and how each student identifies — and the second will cover Middlebury specific issues.

JusTalks, which emerged as an independent initiative undertaken by Rhiya Trivedi ’12 and Matt  Johnson ’12 in the fall of 2011, stemmed from weekly Social Justice Coalition meetings when a group of students raised the idea of hosting a continuation of first-year orientation during winter term in the form of a series of events focusing on issues of identity and diversity. These discussions will include race, gender, sexual orientation, class, ability and religion, among others.

“I was really drawn to this idea from different experiences I had on campus and just feeling like there were certain people I could talk to about these things and then certain people I couldn’t,” said Carllee James ’13, one of the co-leaders of JusTalks. “I wanted it to be a more comfortable, campus-wide discussion.”

Alex Jackman ’14, another JusTalks co-leader, added, “I was frustrated. I felt that there were a lot of different people who were having these discussions in smaller groups separately but not doing any work together ... and we were hoping to help bring those conversations together.”

Other JusTalks members felt as though these conversations were largely absent in the College community altogether. Group co-leader Alice Oshima ’15 explained: “I was coming from a high school that had more of an inclusive community than I felt Middlebury had ... and that these issues were being talked about a bit more in my high school.”

The initial plan for the JusTalks event proposed a mandatory two-day event that would take place during a student’s first winter term on campus and would include large group activities like a repeat of the MiddUncensored activity first-year students complete during their orientation, and smaller group discussions led by student facilitator.

The timing of JusTalks was intentionally chosen for a variety of reasons. “Because of winter term’s more relaxed schedule, students have more time to reflect on what’s happened in their fall semester,” said co-leader Elma Burnham ’13.

Additionally, as Jackman explained, “These discussions and conversations are important to have towards the beginning of one’s Middlebury career and hopefully they’ll take away tools to use during the rest of their time here.”

Last winter and spring, student leaders conducted a campus outreach project in which they visited different organizations, teams, and residence halls at the College, seeking feedback on and endorsement of their idea. After receiving positive feedback from many student groups, the JusTalks team contacted the administration to officially pitch the JusTalks project.

“I was immediately impressed with the very thoughtful way these students were engaging this issue,” Dean of the College Shirley Collado said of the initiative.  “They were looking for deeper communication among students and were really asking hard questions about our campus culture, how students interact and how students can be more accountable to each other.”

“The [JusTalks] curriculum provides an opportunity for students to celebrate diversity and to grapple with tough issues that are specific to our community in a safe space,” added Associate Dean of Students J.J. Boggs in an email. “We can’t help but benefit from the increased awareness, diverse perspective, and honest dialogue.”

With the help and support of administrators and faculty such as Collado and Boggs, as well as Associate Dean of Students Katy Smith Abbott, Associate Professor of Education Studies and Wonnacott Commons Head Jonathan Miller-Lane, Visiting Assistant Professor of Education Studies Tara Affolter, and Wonnacott Commons Dean Matt Longman, JusTalks student leaders have brought their idea to life this school year.  The project organizers hope that the the upcoming pilot program will help them to fully test and further gather feedback on the initiative.

Students were invited to sign-up for participation in the kick-off event this past fall, the first 180 of which will be able to attend the forum. Twenty additional students were chosen through an application process to lead small group discussions as student facilitators. Throughout the fall these students were trained by three faculty members, as well as by an outside facilitator and curriculum developer, Professor Marta Esquilin from Columbia University.

Though the JusTalks initiative received much endorsement in its campaign last year, the JusTalks team original proposal to make the program mandatory for all students was met with some hesitation.

“People felt like they shouldn’t be forced to go to an event,” said James. “It’s difficult to ask 180 people who might not know each other well to stand in a circle and open up to peers,” acknowledged James. “So we’re kind of asking people to take that leap with us. [But] at the end of the day, I believe that having it be mandatory is what would make it the most successful.”

“It’ll be one of the few things in our Middlebury careers where we’ll all have the same shared experience,” Jackman added.

Collado also expressed concern that requiring first-years to attend the event would be a point of tension surrounding the initiative.

“The students organizing this want to make sure that other students don’t see this as some program about being politically correct or some diversity training,” Collado said. “That is not what this is.”

Although JusTalks student leaders do not expect an immediate change, they hope the initiative will create a more inclusive and comfortable campus climate in the future.

We’re hoping [JusTalks] will give students experience in having these conversations,” said Burnham.

“JusTalks is an opportunity to judge less and listen more—to look up and out, and into the faces and eyes of others that are here,” Associate Professor of Education Studies Jonathan Miller-Lane explained in an email. “Given how much time and energy we all spend trying to get to this campus in the Champlain Valley of Vermont, seems like a good thing to pay attention to the kind community we are actually constructing once we are here.”

For more information on the JusTalks initiative, visit go/justalks.