Diversity Mentor Reflection

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Being a Diversity Facilitator (DF), a liaison between the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the student body at Rice University, requires often working with administrators, advisors, and new students who have different backgrounds and clashing perspectives. During the Orientation Week of my first year as a DF, one of the advisors, whom I had trained in a diversity workshop a few days earlier, engaged in discriminatory behavior against a student.

The advisor refused to help a student learn more about and register for a course because of his racial background and his status as a student-athlete. She claimed that “people [like him] never took that class because they would just fail”. I was immediately made aware of her comments since all of the advisors and new students were in an open, public space for course registration. I knew that I could not allow for her to leave the situation without
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I was torn between fulfilling my professional and ethical responsibilities and potentially ruining my relationship with a teammate and friend. I knew that addressing her comments could ruin our group dynamic and create a tension that would be unhealthy for our new students.

I soon realized that this was going to be a typical occurrence. As a DF, I had been told numerous times that my role would be most essential in situations in which it would feel impossible to speak up. My DF training and experiences on the receiving end of discrimination prepared me for that moment. I retained and acted on my ethical code, knowing that the new student deserved an ally on his side. I decided to speak to my friend and the new student individually about how her comments were unacceptable and false. My DF team and I also addressed the issue with the entire advising team that