Student-Led Workshops: DEI From Many Angles

During what would typically have been Upper School assembly time, students instead attended workshops created by their peers that covered topics ranging from accent bias to body positivity in the media to the gender gap in sporting-event attendance to mass incarceration. In keeping with the year’s theme, the overarching premise of the workshops was “How to Talk About” the subject at hand, acknowledging that these topics can sometimes be challenging or divisive. And nearly every workshop was designed, executed, and led by students. This was the fourth and final session of division-wide DEI programming this academic year. 

The workshop model was introduced in 2020-21, under that year’s theme of “Finding Your Voice Around Race,” said Katie Henderson, associate director of DEI. “That was the year we shifted from a one-day ’Day of Consideration’ to a year-long approach,” she explained. The first year, the workshops were mostly run by adults on campus. “We got a lot of feedback from students, saying they’d like to be running workshops,” said Henderson, so the following year, when the theme was “Gender—Beyond the Binary,” students involved in the Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA) organized and led the sessions.

The student-led-workshop model has proven successful. “I like having student voice at the center of our DEI programming,” said Henderson. “I like that there’s a cohort who come up with their own workshop design, their own project.” Seeing peers run the workshops, she said, increases buy-in and perhaps improves participation by attendees. 

Last year and this, the student club BRIDGE (Building Real Intercultural Dialogue to Generate Engagement) served as the umbrella organization overseeing the complex and logistically challenging process of creating some two dozen student-run workshops. 

The planning starts in January with the BRIDGE leaders, Henderson said. “We do outreach to get other student leaders involved,” she said, noting that that outreach includes a range of constituencies on campus, such as the Captains’ Council and the McCartney scholars. While many of the students who proposed and led this year’s workshops are veterans at this sort of activity, all are welcome and newcomers also step up. “I love when we have ninth and tenth graders running workshops,” said Henderson. “I’m always surprised at the younger kids who come forward.” The goal, she said, is to have about 24 workshops available so that each group can be small enough to foster engagement and discussion. Students attendees rank their choices beforehand and are generally assigned to workshops in which they’ve expressed an interest. 

Students creating workshops begin by brainstorming ideas, coming up with titles and descriptions for their proposed sessions. Several BRIDGE meetings are dedicated to workshop design, and students are connected with a faculty advisor who can provide input and help develop the concepts. There’s an evening workshop retreat for the student facilitators where they can practice and receive more feedback. By the day of the workshops, leaders are ready to present their topics and engage their peers in interactive sessions. 

Last Friday, in a Revers classroom, Camille DeStefano ’24 and Maddy Stikeleather ’24 sat before a group of students, ready to address the topic of the gender gap in sport event attendance. “Why does this gap exist?” was their first question to the audience. The answers came quickly: fewer options for viewing women’s sports, the relative lack of media coverage, the greater popularity of men’s sports. The next question provoked even more discussion, since a box of Sour Patch kids was at stake: What’s the typical difference in attendance between WNBA and NBA games? Guesses ranged from 4,000 to 40,000; the actual answer was 14,500.

Across the way, Mason Klein ’24 and Zoë Powell-McCroey ’24 were deep into a workshop about mass incarceration—how it came about, what it means for us as a society, and how to have meaningful conversations around this challenging topic. Students spent a few minutes working in pairs to come up with questions that they then posed to the session’s guest speakers: Two formerly incarcerated people, who joined the group remotely and who are involved with Free Minds, a book club and writing workshop for incarcerated youth. 

Over in the Campus Center, Noah Springhorn ’24 and Teagan Janis ’24 were running a workshop on how to talk about politics in an increasingly divisive landscape. Approach others with an open mindset, they counseled; listen to understand, and know when to stop. They shared a few video clips of Daily Show correspondent Jordan Klepper grilling supporters of Donald Trump, to comic effect. It may have been amusing, but, pointed out the student leaders, it was also an example of how not to talk politics. “Was there listening? Did either side have an open mindset?” asked Springhorn. “Spoiler alert: No.”

Other workshops unfolded in various locations around campus during the 50-minute period. Not every workshop accomplishes what was envisioned or intended, said Henderson. But that, too, has value, she noted: “It’s a learning experience. Sometimes it doesn't go exactly as they wanted, or they struggle with what teachers struggle with”—namely, a lack of engagement or participation. “But that's all part of the experience. Ultimately, the benefits of being able to offer so many pathways into DEI far outweigh any potential challenges, which often turn into opportunities for reflection and learning.”