Over forty students discussed the future of multiculturalism at Macalester in a series of lively discussions last Saturday. Macalester College Student Government (MCSG) organized the event and responded to some criticism about the forum’s structure.

MCSG held the forum to gather input from students for the newly-formed Multicultural Affairs Steering Committee. President Michael McPherson formed the committee to review proposals for the structure of multicultural affairs on campus.

The proposals emerged from the Council of Multicultural Affairs’ (CMA) deliberations last fall. CMA members came up with five possible designs, including a Vice President for Internationalism and Domestic Multiculturalism and a Dean of Multicultural Affairs.

McPherson said that “the idea [of the steering committee] is not at all to supplant the work of the CMA, but to help bring the overall effort … to fruition in a timely way.”

The steering committee plans to make a recommendation by March 15.

As a first step in the process, MCSG solicited wide-ranging student opinion at last Saturday’s discussions.

“We wanted to create an opportunity for students to give their input before the steering committee makes any decisions,” MCSG President Nick Berning ’02 said. “We were dissatisfied with the way that the CMA was organized without student input, so we wanted to make sure that students had a voice this time.”

Organizers divided the event into two sessions with four focus groups: domestic students of color, domestic white students, international students and an integrated group open to all students. Student-facilitators led each of the groups and tape-recorded the conversations. To ensure anonymity, MCSG sent the tapes to an outside transcriber who changed the names of the discussants. The facilitators also asked the participants to keep the proceeds of the sessions confidential.

“We wanted to create comfortable spaces where students could raise the concerns that they had and felt comfortable enough to be frank,” Berning said. “We also wanted to create a situation where no one group could control the time or dominate what was discussed.”

Some students felt that the structure of the forum was bound to generate conflict. “I just think it’s an unrealistic environment,” said Shaina Aber ’02, who facilitated one of the discussions. “If the whole point is to talk about multiculturalism, it seems strange to divide everyone by race.”

During the first session, only one student of color, Sele Nadel-Hayes ’02 signed up for the integrated focus group.

“I’m a multiracial student and I often don’t like to be placed in the categories of student of color or white student, so I went to the mixed group,” Nadel-Hayes said. “When I got there and found out that the group wasn’t actually mixed, I felt that I wouldn’t have the same experience and would not be able to speak as freely.” She switched to the group for U.S. students of color.

Warinimu Njoya ’03 was particularly upset about the forum’s structure.

“This is a forum on multiculturalism,” she said. “How are we supposed to talk together when we all cannot even be in the same room? We are outside in this corridor talking because we cannot be together in that room, face-to-face, talking with one another, because we look different and have different backgrounds. I just cannot believe this.”

Other students offered support for the format. “I think that separating the groups was good because people would say different things in different groups,” said Kara Von Blasingame ‘02, one of the student-facilitators. “A lot of people at Macalester try to be PC and this way everyone got a chance to say what they needed and all voices were heard. People had a chance to really say what was on their minds.”

At the forums, students discussed the definition of multiculturalism, the lack of domestic diversity on campus and the lack of support for U.S. students of color. Facilitators hoped to solicit concrete suggestions for improving or replacing the current system of multicultural affairs.

Members of the steering committee will receive a summary of the forum in the weeks ahead.

“We're very eager to hear and to learn from the comments at the student forums,” President McPherson said. “I'm grateful to MCSG for organizing them. I think this is a very important moment for the college."

McPherson went on to say that "the community is ready to support a thoughtful, proactive and constructive plan for the future of multiculturalism, and I expect that is what we will have.”