Diversity education initiative launched

The new Facilitators Re-imagining Equity and Diversity (FRED) Initiative was launched at Fredonia the weekend of Jan. 12. Seventeen participants including faculty, staff, and students participated in a Train-the-Trainer program led by consultants from the Blue Door Group.

The Blue Door Group focuses on offering diversity education using the Transformational Intergroup Dialogue Method. During the day training, the facilitators led the group in a number of activities to help increase cultural awareness and break down communication boundaries among the participants. Participants were lead in a number of intergroup dialogues based on the Charles Rojzman theory of Transformational Social Therapy. In addition, the new trainers learned about their own obstacles to leading diverse groups while gaining practical skills, activities, and exercises to facilitate campus workshops.

The FRED trainers will work alongside The Blue Door Group to continue their dialogue facilitation training throughout the spring semester through five interactive webilogues, along with another two-day in-person training.

Once trained, the FRED trainers will help to support sustained intergroup dialogues for the campus, including with individual department units, student groups, or other areas of the campus and community.

The FRED Initiative is funded through a SUNY Performance Improvement Fund grant awarded to Fredonia to support sustained diversity training for the campus. Leaders from the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, the Professional Development Center, Human Resources and Residence Life are helping to implement the initiative.