By Keya Patten
Staff Writer

The International Commons was energized with students coming together to share their past experiences of racism on Saturday, Oct. 25.  

St. Michael’s College hosted a full-day, anti-racism workshop for students in an effort to promote cultural awareness on campus. The workshop was part of a series sponsored by the Vermont Workers' Center, and the Catalyst Project, a program based in San Francisco that promotes political education.

Racism awareness motivates students

Moise St. Louis, director of Multicultural Affairs and assistant dean of students organized the workshops with the help of a few different organizations. St. Louis was pleased with student reaction to the training, he says.

“Overall as an institution of higher education, our goal should be to challenge the student to think outside of the box, or outside of their own boxes,” St. Louis says.

The anti-racism workshops were brought to campus to present community members with "food for thought" and to help individuals think rationally about these issues, he says. 

“The reason we wanted to have [the workshop] for students is mostly because when you are sharing information and discussing with your peers you kind of feel a little bit more open and a little less intimidated around people your own age,” St. Louis says. “It is good to have adults there to bring their perspective, but they shouldn’t be the most dominant group.”

At St. Michael’s there is a common theme which encourages everyone -- faculty, staff and students -- to think analytically about the community they live in and the ways in which they can make it a better environment, St. Louis says.

It is our duty as citizens to be aware of the issues at hand, to be thoughtful and informed about them, and to have the motivation to improve the social injustices we are faced with, St. Louis says.

Help from local organizations

The workshops were coordinated by the Vermont Workers’ Center and the training was made possible by a San Francisco-based program called the Catalyst Project, St. Louis says.

The training was geared toward anyone who was interested in being actively engaged in working toward social change. The comprehensive workshops explored many issues about racism, especially white supremacy, and how to use these topics to facilitate a powerful, multiracial movement toward the betterment of society as a whole, he says.

The Student Labor Action Movement worked with the Vermont Workers’ Center and the Catalyst Project to promote advertisements for the workshops, says Josh Wronski a member of S.L.A.M.

"We [S.L.A.M.] feel that racism is a really big issue especially in the work force," Wronski says. "We were very interested in bringing the issue to focus here on campus."

Ingrid Chapman of the Catalyst Project came to Vermont from San Francisco to lead the workshop. (Photo by John O'Brien)

James Haslam, of the Vermont Workers’ Center, was enthusiastic about having the opportunity to work with the Catalyst Project in directing the anti-racism workshops all over the state of Vermont, including their first stop at St. Michael’s, he says.  

It was an opportunity to have Ingrid Chapman and Chris Crass of the Catalyst Project here again, Haslam says. It is not their first time putting on these workshops at St. Michael’s and all over the state of Vermont, he says.

“It is enhancing awareness to allow people to live and be active if they so choose," St. Louis says about the anti-racism training.  "It’s a way to connect people with information and knowledge that gets them thinking [about] who they are and what they do as individuals and how their actions impact others and other societies and so on.”

Where does St. Michael’s stand?

The workshop drew in about 16 students. It was a good number, but there is always room for more, St. Louis says.

It is important to take advantage of every opportunity we have to be more thoughtful and more interested, and these workshops proved to be a great opportunity for the St. Michael’s community, St. Louis says.

"Coming out [of the workshop] a lot of people were more knowledgeable about racism and will be able to combat it better,” Wronski says. (Photo by John O'Brien)

“To be able to think critically and be engaged is powerful, so if we can create the space for people to adapt to think critically about their world, about their lives, about the things that matter most to them and their impact on other people I think we have achieved something monumental,” he says.

St. Louis says, “I think we are a very nice community, but we are also a microcosm of the larger society. Overall I think St. Michael’s as a community tries its best to pay attention. Can we be more thoughtful?  Most definitely.”

The lack of diversity on St. Michael's campus made the importance of this workshop even greater, Wronski says.

"We go to a campus that doesn't have a great deal of ethnic diversity," he says. "So on a day to day basis they may not even realize that racism exists."

St. Louis agrees that the workshop was an opportunity to encourage the campus community to think more about racism, he says.

“This is one unique opportunity to get people exposed and thinking” St. Louis says.