In the current political climate, certain groups can feel singled out and targeted. For that reason, according to speakers at a diversity-minded event at CU Boulder Thursday, it’s important for community members to learn how to be effective bystanders.
That was the central topic during part of CU’s spring 2017 Diversity and Inclusion Summit, where students and staff discussed what it means to be an ally on campus.
The event, titled “Don’t Ignore It: Bystander Skills for Ally Development,” was led by Teresa Wroe, CU’s director of education and prevention, and Julie Volckens, CU’s associate director of assessment.
While university policies can help in preventing larger instances of discrimination, the speakers said individual action is needed to quell small-scale acts of aggression.
“Laws and policies are not going to solve all of these kind of day-to-day interactional problems,” Wroe said.
While personal accountability is key, certain barriers including uncertainty, identity crisis, gender and self-preservation sometimes prevent bystanders from acting when they notice an incident. Similar social pressures like pride, social norms and authority can deter targeted people from asking for the help they need, Wroe said.
Wroe and Volckens offered four methods of action that can help bystanders overcome these social factors. These methods involved a range of skills, from direct confrontation to finding stealthy ways of intervening without making a scene.
The speakers also offered real-life anecdotes to show how these factors come into play in reality.
In one scenario, taken from the Boulder Daily Camera’s letter to the editor section, a man with a prosthetic leg fell during a hike, causing the prosthesis to fall off. The man had to attach his prosthesis by himself and hike back down to his car, since no one would stop to help.
Audience members worked with Wroe and Volckens to brainstorm why this incident occurred, and consider methods to avoid similar situations in the future.
Christina Greever, a staff member at CU’s Environmental Center who attended the discussion, said she walked away from the presentation with a number of valuable skill sets that will help her be more confident when helping people in the future.
According to the speakers, most people want to help in these situations but aren’t sure how. Wroe and Volckens hope the discussion gave the CU community tools to be more prepared and aware moving forward.
“We want people to do better, that’s the goal,” Wroe said at the end of the presentation.
Contact CU Independent News Staff Writer Sam Danshes at sam.danshes@colorado.edu.
