Talking Stick - March/April 2017 - 24

RES LIFE
are constantly seeking resources to
enrich the residential experience.
This includes training RAs to become
social justice advocates so that they
can foster respectful dialogue about
topics such as racism, sexual violence,
and discrimination due to gender or
sexual orientation. Using information
gathered from training materials and
interviews, this article describes what
some residence life programs are
doing to initiate and continue these
conversations in the residence halls and
via RA training.

"Law
schools about social
Conversations
are
inundated
justice
need to be ongoing,
with
applicants
say authors
Fitzjarrald and
every
year. My
Boettcher.
experience as an
RA allowed me
to differentiate
myself on paper,"
says Ryan
Moriarty, an
alumnus of The
College of New
Jersey.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON

Walking the Talk
Practitioners share how their trainings
about race, privilege, and equity are
developed and maintained.
by Amy Fitzjarrald and
Michelle L. Boettcher
Most of us are familiar with the wide
variety of roles that resident assistants
play in college and university residence
halls: mediator, friend, disciplinarian,
ally, rule enforcer, and counselor, to
name a few. Another role emerging
as a more and more crucial one is the
RA as an advocate for social justice,
someone who plays an important part
in helping to create a safe and inclusive
residential environment. At a time
when issues related to social justice

24

KNOWLEDGE
DOMAINS
TALKING STICK
in this article

emerge on a daily basis, dialogue
about such topics as race, privilege,
equity, and power is essential. While
many institutions struggle to develop
appropriate responses to social justice
protests on their campuses, others
wait and watch, knowing they might
be next. In an attempt to be proactive
rather than reactive, many are bringing
conversations about social justice into
the residence halls.
Knowing that students want their
college experience to involve more
than an understanding of academic
subjects such as mathematics or
history, residence life professionals

Resident Education Services
Train staff on social justice principles.

Conversations about such complex
issues as equal access, civility, and
equity need to be entered into with care
and confidence, as housing staff work
to develop holistic learning experiences
that can help RAs acknowledge and
appreciate diverse perspectives and
intersecting identities. As Vicka
Bell-Robinson, associate director of
residence life at Miami University in
Oxford, Ohio, notes, "As a department,
we don't want the first time that staff
members talk about differences to
be when residents experience things
on the floor." RAs can begin this
process by capitalizing on their own
experiences. As Amy Gamble, associate
director of residential education at
Clemson University in South Carolina,
says, "Student staff are living these
issues every day, but they don't always
realize they are."
Social justice conversations need
to be ongoing; a single session on a
single day that highlights issues of
equity and privilege will have little
holding power. Erin Mieskowski,
assistant director for housing and
residence life at Davenport University
in Grand Rapids, Michigan, explains
their approach. "We tried to weave
discussions about diversity, inclusion,
social justice, privilege, and power
throughout training instead of doing a
'diversity day.'" Training in social justice
issues should occur across the year so
that RAs can learn and practice how to
adapt their skills to specific situations.
Talking Stick - March/April 2017

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