Facilitators for Racial and Ethnic Diversity

About Us:

Many students embark on the journey of higher education ignorant to the presence of different cultures, sexualities, genders and abilities. Often, students may later perpetuate violence and reify power dynamics through interactions with other students stemming from previous misconceptions, or have no interactions with students of differing intersections, thus rendering marginalized groups more invisible. The main outcome will be the provision of a safer, more welcoming space for students of color across all intersections. The African American Resource and Cultural Center is making strides to create an inclusive, accommodating college campus through the conception of F.R.E.D., Facilitators for Race and Ethnic Diversity. The F.R.E.D. program will be implemented to ameliorate campus climate for historically, socially and institutionally underserved communities. The program’s primary methodology will be peer-to-peer facilitated workshops to provide an educational brave space for engagement with different cultures, experiences, backgrounds, and intersecting identities without the constraints of top-down pedagogical approaches. These personal interactions will lead to the vulnerability needed for a transformative social learning environment that encourages equally valued bidirectional communication.