The diversity advisors (DAs) are an official student-facilitated diversity group with the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Their primary purpose is to provide training, awareness, and programming around issues of diversity and inclusion on campus.
The diversity advisors are passionate about the value of difference in all forms on Kenyon’s campus, and about challenging any form of discrimination or oppression based on a person’s race, ethnicity, sex, gender, sexuality, nationality, religion or socioeconomic background. To this end, they develop educational programming, facilitate discussions on diversity related topics, respond to incidents on campus in conjunction with other campus constituents, attend all necessary training and meetings, and always represent and carry out the mission of the diversity advisors.
Diversity advisors are a group of students who have received training to informally assist with cases of group-based discriminatory harassment. Their responsibilities include: knowing the College’s non-discrimination statement and policies, listening to complaints, discussing allegations, suggesting ways to address harassment, facilitating conversations with parties involved if and when appropriate, acquainting others with the College policies and procedures pertaining to discrimination, and developing College-wide anti-discrimination programming.
Please note that diversity advisors do not have confidentiality in Title IX cases and must report incidents of sexual misconduct. Any person who believes that they are a victim of discriminatory harassment should consider bringing the situation to the attention of one of the DAs and/or contacting the Office for Civil Rights directly.
While the DAs hope to offer educational programming and conversations directly in a peer-facilitated space, they also realize that some resources can be easily utilized in individual settings. Below are general resources that the DAs would like to highlight for individual use and consideration:
The DAs offer peer-facilitated programs and support, and any member or group of the campus community may reach out to schedule a session with them. Previous examples of such sessions have included peer-facilitated conversations among residents in particular halls on campus, programs hosted in collaboration with other on-campus groups, and mini-training sessions offered to student-run organizations and clubs.
In addition to these programs, the DAs can also provide more individualized support for topics related to diversity and inclusion. Previous examples of these conversations have included discussions about how to be an ally to the LGBTQ+ community, how to challenge yourself to be more inclusive, and how to recognize privilege in regards to race and/or gender.
To get in touch with the DAs, please email them at diversity.advisors@kenyon.edu.
The DAs also offer a number of signature programs which are regularly held throughout the academic year. The most popular of these programs is DA Storytime, which creates space for members of the Kenyon community to share their personal experiences relating to diversity and inclusion.
To keep up with this signature program and other programs/events hosted by the DAs, please refer to the Kenyon events calendar and simply search “diversity advisors.”
The DAs for 2019-2020 are as follows: Paige Bullock '21, co-chair (she/her of they/them), Gerry Calles '22, co-chairs (they/them), Alexia Mandla Ainsworth '21 (she/hers), Cherish Banks '22 (she/hers), Grant Hall '20 (he/him), Felecia Hamilton '22 (she/her), Natalia Hernandez '22 (she/her), Haofan Li '20 (she/her), Alexis Miramontes '22 (she/her), Julliett Montoya '22 (she/her), Jovani Olvera '22 (he/him)