Disability and Privilege: A Diversity Event (and Controversy) at an Elite College Andy Christensen Carleton College AHEAD: July 16, 2014

Purpose of Presentation Not a “How-to” Not a cautionary tale An initiative that led to unintended consequences Platform for deeper, more rigorous conversations

Overview A little about Carleton College A little about Disability at Carleton College What we were trying to do What actually took place Concluding thoughts

Carleton College Extremely rigorous About 2,000 students, all traditional undergraduates Small Minnesota city Largely inaccessible campus

Carleton College Disability Services 122 students registered in Almost exclusively invisible disabilities – No hearing-, visually-, or mobility-impaired One staff person (with visible motor disability)

Programming Challenge Beyond ensuring compliance, seeking an elevated discourse about disability – Films – Off campus speakers – Student testimonials (trying to reduce) Not particularly rigorous Feelings rather than thoughts Also worried about overprogramming

Walking a Fine Line Positive learning outcomes Student control is important Leveraging student enthusiasm – I can advise and teach, but I don’t want to decide

A Parallel Initiative Cohort of aspiring occupational therapy types – Volunteering at local community provider (1:1) – Students report clientele disappointment at never coming to campus Wouldn’t it be great to host these friends on campus once? (Yes!) – Uncomfortable with this being the only portrayal of disability on our campus in an academic year

Concerns Not sure if community provider would see this as an opportunity or burden – Logistics of moving half a dozen people with significant mobility issues around a relatively inaccessible campus – Really important that community participants feel invited, respected and welcome

The Opportunity This is a good chance to broaden and show complexity of disability on campus What if we alternated campus and community speakers in the same event? – Democracy and disability – Commonality – A chance to really embody inclusion and break barriers

The Visitors Excited to be on campus Many prepared (with assistance) presentation of their lives Brought interested family members and/or support staff Enthusiasm is palpable

The Students Not as prepared; off-the-cuff Very busy schedules One or two looked surprised by the inclusion of nonstudents – How might this have affected their thinking as they prepared to tell their own story? Conjecture: Seeing folks with significant disabilities affected how students thought about their (“minor”?) disabilities

The Event A little ragged and choppy Two parallel programs trading off Pizza for everyone! – Not perfect (I would have done both aspects slightly differently) Not about me End of term—not much feedback

The Article Underground newspaper Senior participant – Rant: “Many” thought the event was entirely inappropriate and insulting to all participants and someone (Me?) should have seen this coming and averted this disaster Why was she uncomfortable? Signed the article, but never came to see me in person

My Reaction Regret putting student(s) in situation without support Not sure such provocation is a mistake – Hard to access the intersection of disability and emotion Not following up on such strong reactions was a lost opportunity for everyone, including me – Could have really had some powerful, transformative discussions

Going Forward More student involvement in programming decisions – Student advisory board Importance of changing things up – Students can’t feel we do the same thing every year More pressure on me to come up with different events (at least four)

Final Thoughts Thought I knew this stuff, but I was caught by surprise Encourage campus conversations Take chances Don’t wait until the end of the year. Let things fall as they will

Contact Information Andy E. Christensen Coordinator of Disability Services Carleton College Thanks for listening!