St. Bonaventure University teamed up with CEO Act!on for Diversity and Inclusion to bring the Check Your Blind Spots Mobile Tour to campus on Tuesday, Oct. 30.
The event focused on allowing members of the university to become aware of their “blind spots,” which are unconscious biases held by members of society. The program occurred inside a large trailer and was guided by employees, who walked members of the university community through the meanings of each station.
The program, which started its tour in the United States last year, seeks to educate people in the workplace and on college campuses about the importance of diversity and recognizing bias.
“We should be proactive in not only acknowledging our biases, but also in exploring what those biases say about us as people individually,” Parker Suddeth, the Damietta Center for Multicultural Student Affairs’ director, said.
The program included several stations, the first of which showed participants a video about the ways in which bias can impact their lives without them even realizing it.
Next, participants took a quiz that showed how much bias influences our society. The quiz asked about statistics pertaining to gender biases, racial biases and more. Then, participants were given a virtual tour of CEO Act!on’s website, where resources on bias and inclusion can be found. Before exiting the trailer, participants faced a wall that read, “Take Act!on,” and offered ways in which participants can face their biases.
Some of the advice included, “Don’t make assumptions based solely on fit,” “Open the door to your inner circle” and “Be open.”
Once participants exited the trailer, they were asked to write down an action they would take in their own life to combat bias and exclusion in our society.
“I wrote ‘Think before you act,’ because I feel like people are so fast to judge others,” said freshman Victoria Vega.
Fr. Ross Chamberland, O.F.M., assistant vice president for Student Engagement, wrote, “Take time to think and to love.”
The messages on the board gave meaningful tidbits of advice to help the university community be cognizant of their actions and words.
The university community seemed to find the program helpful and interesting.
“[The program] gives tactical action steps in regards to the takeaway of ‘What can I do individually to work on myself?’” said Suddeth.
“I thought it was an excellent opportunity… to raise this to a level of conversation with the community that was doing this together,” said Chamberland.
Vega agreed that the exercise was one worth her while and said some of the statistics revealed throughout the experience were shocking to hear.
The trailer travels around the continental United States with goals that align well with the experiences Chamberland, Suddeth and Vega shared.
Suddeth said he hopes the university community will take this experience and use it as a learning opportunity and a way to start conversation about the complex cultural issues that we face as a society. He said he believes Tuesday’s program was “a step in the right direction.”
CEO Act!on’s Tuesday event showed university community members how important it is to be conscious of the biases that impact them. Students, faculty, staff and other members of the Bonaventure community found the experience enriching and educational.
By Meghan Hall, Staff Writer
hallml18@bonaventure.edu
