It didn't have picket signs or hunger strikes, but even the most seasoned activists had something to learn from this year's Diversity Retreat.
Every year, the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs at USC hosts a weekend-long Diversity Retreat with students from both USC and Columbia College.
For the past six years the trip has been headed by Gavin Weiser, the Assistant Director of the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs. He also runs SJP, the Student Justice Activist Program, which helps make students and staff socially-conscious activists.
“As administrators, we don’t usually build close relationships with students. But here, there’s no power dynamic,” Weiser said regarding the retreat. “The goal is to learn together.”
Weiser also believes that the retreat is an opportunity for individual’s at the universities to step away from "regular" college life.
“There’s this stereotypical college idea that you have to go out and consume substances in order to have a good time,” he said. “One of the great parts about the trip is that students push outside of their comfort zones, meet new people and have these unanticipated learning outcomes.”
Although Weiser is the primary coordinator of the trip, he has a few facilitators to help work with the students, most of whom are graduate students majoring in higher education.
The retreat is centered around educating young members of society and helping them to become allies, advocates and activists for significant social issues both within their communities and beyond.
The objective is to assist students in learning the necessary skills so they can independently generate change and impact those around them.
A broad range of social aspects are covered from race and gender to sexuality and socio-economic status. Discussing these often ignored or overlooked issues and how they relate to every individual’s identity is both eye opening and a key process that can foster trust between students.
“It’s an environment that’s extremely conductive to learning, where people are willing to share their experiences with one another,” shared Cathy Santos, first time retreat-goer and secretary of FemCo, USC’s feminist organization.
The participants are encouraged from the start of the retreat to engage in activities that involve teamwork and creating personal connections with one another.
Ranging from biology students to English students, the participants all have at least one factor in common: they want to change their communities for the better. As well as coming from different areas of study, the students also come from various backgrounds and diverse knowledge of social issues.
“I originally decided to participate because I wanted to broaden my knowledge of diversity and learn from other’s perspectives,” Santos said. “I will definitely be going again next year.”