Hometown: Waltham, Massachusetts
Major: American Studies 2013
Minor: Biology
Extra-curriculars: Project SAFE programming assistant ’10-’11

I became a facilitator for a variety of reasons. Firstly, I had such an amazing experience in 223 the Spring semester of my Freshman year. I wanted to continue to learn about the art of facilitation, my own personal identities and continue to foster meaningful relationships with my peers. I also thought that I would be able to contribute a lot to the program (something I never would’ve stated before going through the Dialogue process), and I wanted to “spread the love,” to the other willing members of the Occidental community. What I learned as both a student and a facilitator will stay with me forever. I now have the skills to be self-reflexive, build positive, healthy relationships and effectively engage in conflicts across difference.

Claudia Ortega

Hometown: Bell, CA
Major: Psychology
Class of 2012
Extra-Curricular Activities: Cheer, Dance Production, and Latino Grad

Why did you become a facilitator? What does dialogue mean to/do for you?
I became a facilitator because as Professor Rodriguez once told me, “I felt as if dialogue had given me a gift that I wanted to return.” That gift being, enlightenment about social inequalities and a drive to work towards social justice. Dialogue has given me a space for my voice to be heard and has taught me how I can strive for social justice. I became a facilitator because I wanted other students to feel empowered too.

Carly Phillips

Hometown: Columbus, Ohio
Major: Biology
Class of 2012
Extra-curricular activities: Zeta Tau Zeta Fraternity

I got involved with dialogue facilitation to continue the work I started as a participant in the gender and sexuality dialogue class. I want to continue creating the learning experience for others that I enjoyed. To me, dialogue means finding common ground and appreciating the uncommon ground.

Marina Rosenthal

Hometown: Santa Cruz, CA
Major: Psychology
Class of 2012

Intergroup Dialogue at Oxy is the most exciting way to take part in social justice, create alliances with other students, and learn about power, privilege, and oppression in an active, meaningful manner. Facilitating a dialogue has been extraordinarily rewarding for me. Through dialogue, I have learned how to effectively communicate to question injustices, how to both lead and participate in conversations that are challenging, engaged, and fulfilling, and how to build a connected and supportive community of diverse individuals. Participating in dialogue is part of who I am, and I take the skills, bonds, and knowledge I have gained from it everywhere I go.

Samantha Sencer-Mura

Hometown- Minneapolis, MN
Major- Critical Theory and Social Justice
Class of 2011
Extra-curricular activities- I worked at the Center for Community Based Learning and was a resident advisor for the Multicultural Summer Institute.

I became a facilitator because I think the Dialogue program is one of the few outlets at Oxy for students to have meaningful contact with people of different social identities. Because Dialogue is a class, this contact is prolonged over a semester and students can actually build relationships around social justice and being allies for each other in a way that I found hard in other classes or in the dorm. Working and learning from my classmates and fellow facilitators created a very supportive space for me and made me want to demand that same level of critical but very supportive relationships in other parts of my life. It was one of the best experiences I had at Oxy and this program has a very special place in my heart.

Mary Senyonga

Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Major: Psychology 2012

I became a facilitator because the dialogue program enriched my thinking and challenged my beliefs in a way that no other experience has. I wanted to help other people through the experience of confronting their prejudices, privileges, and beliefs. The IGD program is a great forum for tackling issues of oppression in an honest and critical fashion. Dialogue allows me to hone my skills in fighting oppression. From interrupting microaggressions that I encounter day-to-day to finding ways to take action against oppressive acts on a greater scale, dialogue has been an important facet of my time here at Oxy. Dialogue named the pain I experienced from oppression as well as validated my frustration. Without this program, I would’ve had a difficult time truly dissecting systems of power and privilege.

Dorian Vaughn

Hometown: Washington
Major: Psychology
Class of 2011