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Setting
the stage for social change
Alex Fox is unsure whether to list his membership in the Ohio University
Gay-Straight Alliance on his résumé. Laurencio Lara
Almodovar is concerned that his Spanish accent will put him at a
disadvantage with white interviewers. And 40-year-old Toni Bolton,
despite her 4.0 GPA, worries how employers will perceive her Appalachian
twang and lack of work experience after 20 years of raising children.
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Rick
Fatica
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| “Bridging
the Diversity Gap” members perform on campus. |
“Alex”
is graduate student Jason Weber. “Laurencio” is grad student
Hector Blanco Ponce. And “Toni” is Assistant Professor
Ann Rathbun. All are members of an interactive performance troupe,
“Bridging the Diversity Gap,” that educates audiences
about discrimination issues.
Performing in campus classrooms, members act out scenarios involving
ethical dilemmas: A “welcome to the company” brochure
that advises employees from other countries to prevent bad breath
by avoiding spicy foods, a human resources coordinator who Americanizes
international names, a worker who makes slurs about Ohio’s
rural residents. The plays are followed by discussions about ways
to deal with the situations.
“We have a changing cast, a changing audience whose questions
steer the play’s direction and changing sponsors whose various
concerns are woven into the script,” says Director Kathy Devecka.
About 40 campus and community members participate in the program,
developed in 1998 and supported by United Campus Ministry, Hillel:
The Jewish Foundation of Southeast Ohio, the Max Family Foundation
and the colleges of Communication, Education and Arts and Sciences.
Former troupe member Lynn Klyde-Silverstein, PHD ’01, says
her experiences have helped her to broach these issues with her
students.
“It allows people to discuss difficult issues in a safe environment,”
says Klyde-Silverstein, who teaches at the University of Northern
Colorado.
To learn more, call United Campus Ministry, (740) 593-7301.
— Anne McGuinness Keyser
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