Hometown: Manhattan, New York
Major: Psychology
Minor: Sociology
Class of 2014
Extra-Curricular: Intercultural Community Center Programming Assistant

I decided to become a facilitator because I found dialogue to be an accessible way for me to participate in a social movement of active resistance to societal issues; to create social change, affect personal and group interactions, and actively challenge oppression. After taking a class on Intergroup Dialogue with Professor Rodriguez, I was floored by the knowledge and awareness I gained regarding social justice and social identities. I wanted to have the opportunity to continue my personal growth around issues of difference, privilege and oppression a well as support and challenge students to start, and continue to have, the hard conversations, and to use dialogue as the means of real change on campus and beyond.

Blair Halperin

Hometown: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Major: Critical Theory and Social Justice
Class of 2012
Extra Curricular Activities: Peer Health Exchange, Peace Over Violence

Intergroup Dialogue is one of the best things I have ever done at Oxy (top 3, definitely). I remember filling out the standard course evaluation for the 223 course at the end of the year and realizing it was the first course I had taken that fulfilled every requirement. I worked hard, learned so much and felt truly inspired by the scholars we read. Furthermore, I had also made real connections to my peers in the class. The dialogue pedagogy expanded what I could learn from to include my peers, my emotions and my past experiences along with the usual academic instruments of quantitative data and articles. I now hope to bring aspects of dialogue into everything I do and into whatever future work I go into post-Oxy because I understand it to be the most important tool in forming genuine allys and friendships. I am so excited to be a facilitator, helping to continue this amazing work and making sure I continually grow myself as both a facilitator and ally.

Liana Huang

Hometown: San Francisco
Major: Psychology, Chinese
Class of 2012
Extra-curricular activities: Chinese Cultural Club, Asian American Tutorial Program

I became a facilitator because I want to help others gain a realization of the power and influence they have that they may not have been able to exert, because the Intergroup Dialogue Program at Oxy has provided me with exactly that: a safe space to find my voice and gain empowerment. Dialogue has truly taught me to be a better person, to not only learn about the social inequalities, but also to learn how we can each, individually, affect change in systems of oppression.

Ryan Kammerman

Hometown: Riverside, California
Major: Sociology
Class of 2014
Extra-Curricular Activities: Cross Country and Track

I became a facilitator because it is such rewarding way to spread the knowledge and understanding of social justice. I have had such powerful experiences from dialogue and want to share and provide a space were students can be greatly impacted by each other. It provides a unique space where people from different multiple social identities can connect and learn with each other across difference. Being an individual with all agent identities, dialogue had been very crucial to my understanding of my own privileges and has helped me with alliance building, as well as deepening my passion for social justice.  I am excited to have this opportunity to facilitate and guide people through such an amazing journey and I am also excited to see how I will grow through this experience and continue to learn.

Carly Phillips

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

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.

Mary Senyonga

Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Major: Psychology
Class of 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.

David Telfort

Hometown: Brooklyn, NY
Major: Urban Environmental Policy
Class of 2012
Extra-curricular activities: Black Student Alliance, Harambee, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship

I became involved with the Dialogue program my sophomore year at Occidental. A classmate told me that the classes would equip me with the language to articulate social ills and things I experienced everyday with a clarity and precision I did not I was without. I got that and much more from the program. I decided to become a facilitator because I would like to give back to a program that has shaped my world view and helped fashion my collegiate journey into the transformative one that it has been. I continue to challenge myself, recognize the privileges I have, the responsibility that comes with them, and renew my commitment to social justice. I look forward to the opportunity to continue in this important personal process as well as help those around me as they wrestle with it as well.