In the dimly lit Heritage Room of Miami University's Shriver center, a group of roughly 100 students from organizations across campus met Thursday night to discuss diversity.
"This is an open dialogue encouraging various students around campus to talk about diversity and motive them to work together," said Eloiza Domingo-Snyder, director of Miami's Office of Diversity Affairs.
While she and her staff targeted student leaders for this invitation-only event, they asked advisers from specific groups to recommend the 15-20 students.
"We were selective in one sense and not very in another," Domingo-Synder said. "We don't want students (to be) talked at, but to engage in dialogue with one another."
Motivational speaker Don DiPaolo has spent the last two days on Miami's campus getting to know students and learning about the culture and spoke Thursday with the group. Hillel sponsored DiPaolo to lead several focus groups earlier in the day.
"I'm known for facilitating deep dialogue and having a highly unusual presence," DiPaolo said. "I'm not your typical drive-by-shooting speaker."
The students formed three sets of two rows facing each other, to facilitate direct one-on-one discussion.
"There are a lot of deeply invested people on this campus that want to create a level of comfort," DiPaolo said. "There is also a lot of hope and a lot of pain around this issue of diversity on this campus."
Domingo-Synder and DiPaolo continued to insist that the expertise in the discussion was coming from the students.
"By being here I'm not saying I'm an expert on diversity, but I do know how to be a human being," DiPaolo said. "Tonight is not about labels people are wearing when they walk in. We will honor your individual identities."
Students gathered their cookies and cups of coffee and timidly introduced themselves to their first partner in the dialogue.
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"We don't have time for this superficial, walk on eggshells, kind of talk," DiPaolo said. "People say they're sick of talking, they want action - but my theory is that the talk is action."
The event was sponsored by several different organizations from the athletic department to the Office of Resident Life, and the Office of the President.
"We received a lot of support for this from many different groups," said Steve Dealph, director of the Cliff Alexander Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life and Leadership. "Even the president's office helped out."
Senior education major Elyse Silverman felt both nervous about the intensity of the event and excited for the consequences.
"As a member of the Panhellenic Greek community, I feel that unfortunately, it's not very diverse," Silverman said. "Hopefully programs like this and others are moving us in a better direction.
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