Breaking the Silence II Brings Community Members Together to Improve Multiculturalism on Campus

By Caitlin Burns | March 29, 2018

Students, faculty, staff, and administrators gathered on March 23 for Breaking the Silence II to continue to facilitate discussions about race and multiculturalism on Arcadia’s campus.

Hosted by Melanin in Action (MIA) and POWER, with additional collaboration by Pan-African Studies; International Peace and Conflict Resolution; Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice Department; the Office of the Provost; Young Democratic Socialists of Arcadia University; and Act 101/Gateway to Success, the event brought the community together to brainstorm solutions, using key topics recorded from the Day of Silence on Dec. 8.

“It’s a privilege and honor to be entrusted to have an event talking about race on my campus,” MIA member and presenter Elijah Wilson ’19 said on Twitter.

Topics that were addressed included race/racism campus policy, orientation on civility, hiring diverse faculty and staff through questions such as how Arcadia could be an innovator for having difficult conversations about race; how can curriculum implement change; how can structures already in place be improved to incorporate multiculturalism; and how can the lack of multiculturalism be addressed by the campus, and not just community members of color.