COD Students Participate in Social Justice Training Institute

College of DuPage students Stephany Ruiz-Gonzalez of Plainfield and Paolo Mazza of West Chicago are challenging themselves to implement what they learned during the recent Student Social Justice Training Institute at DePaul University.

The institute invited approximately 50 students from college and universities across the country, including Hawaii, California, Texas and Florida. The four-day experience provided opportunities for participants to focus on personal learning and development in order to become social justice change agents.

Ruiz-Gonzalez and Mazza, who both completed COD's Living Leadership Program, agreed that the experience strengthened their knowledge base and challenged them to think critically about how they approach issues.

"I definitely used this as a leadership opportunity," Ruiz-Gonzalez said. "This was a way to open myself to more perspectives. The institute not only helped train me as a leader but also helped me embrace even more the differences we find in each other."

"It deepened my abilities to understand others," Mazza added. "It furthered a dialogue about the issues and made me accept the responsibility of creating an inclusive environment."

Part of the experience was placing each participant into dominate and subordinate groups, which reflected various socio-economic classes and ethnicities. Ruiz-Gonzalez, a Presidential Scholar who is studying engineering, said that exercise helped her understand the importance of knowing your own identity and owning it.

"There was so much value to the exercise because it truly represented people," she said. "For example, the lower socio-economic class was my sub-group, and we discussed how you don't pity one another, how you choose empathy over sympathy, and what actions you can take. It wasn't about overcoming a certain situation, it was about awareness and understanding how each individual approaches it."

Mazza, a member of Phi Theta Kappa who graduated with high honors this past spring, has transferred to DePaul to major in Organizational Communication and minor in Business. He said the group exercises helped him learn how to approach social change.

"I was able to delve deep inside myself to ask why I act in a certain way, how this is perceived by others, and whether there are opportunities for growth," he said. "As a person, I need to listen more, stand up and ask questions. I need to become an active agent to break the status quo.

"The best part about the institute was interacting with the other participants and listening to their stories. When it comes to diversity, there are so many big things talk about - ethnicity, culture, sex and identity, body size, socio-economic class, veteran services, even career goals. Because there is a systematic training of bias and stereotypes that are ingrained in us as children, we as college students had to ask ourselves what we were taught as children. You must always ask questions, think about an issue and then challenge traditional structures of society."

Ruiz-Gonzalez was a team lead for COD's New Student Orientation that was held in early August, and she brought what she learned to that role.

"I had my team members reevaluate their goals and made sure they accepted all types of people," she said. "Thousands of new students attended, and everyone came from their own backgrounds and experiences. We had to be aware of what impression we gave them of the school and ourselves. We had to be welcoming to all and embrace everyone's differences.

"The institute gave me confidence in myself to stand up for what I believe. We must be a catalyst for change and take that risk."