Issues of race and reconciliation at USC will be the focus of an interactive series of dialogues called Welcome Table SC, hosted by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.
The idea was introduced by the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation at the University of Mississippi, where they’ve been using it for years.
“They’ve been doing this work about bringing small groups of people together to engage in the kinds of conversations that, at first, bring down the barriers that exist between people to open them to having the dialogue to begin with,” said John Dozier, chief diversity officer and director of community engagement. “And we thought that was such an appropriate space for us and a space that we as a university could absolutely help ... maybe even outside of our university."
Events close to home such as the shooting of nine people at Mother Emanuel Church and the controversial removal of the Confederate flag are what sparked the need for this forum.
They "opened wounds of race and exposed maybe some of the real challenges that come from the fact that we’ve not engaged each other in talking about these issues," Dozier said.
The plan is to have five groups of 18 that will meet at least five times throughout the semester. Students are asked their race, gender and nationality because of the importance of having representation in each group.
Dozier hopes to reach out to more than just the same students that often attend OMSA events in order to more broadly engage members of the community.
He also hopes Welcome Table SC will be a low-stress environment where students can have a conversation without worrying about saying the wrong things. Eventually, Dozier wants these conversations to lead to action within the university.
"We're facilitating conversations in ways, again, that hopefully ... break down barriers that sometimes get in the way of people having the trust necessary to have the difficult conversation," Dozier said.