Warren Wilson students speak at Elon University’s annual Intersect Conference

Press Release from Warren Wilson College:

How do you feel about cultural appropriation? It’s a question Warren Wilson College students asked the crowd during a workshop earlier this month. Not only were the undergraduate presenters aware the topic conjured strong feelings in some, but they also knew others might have never encountered the terminology. That subject and others with similar intrigue were among the selected presentations at Elon University’s annual “Intersect: Diversity & Leadership Conference.”

While Warren Wilson College students have attended the conference before, this was the first year any have proposed workshop topics. Three were selected and six undergraduates presented. In addition to discussing why one culture would take and use elements from another, students addressed the “media’s ethnically refractive lens” and spoke about “white privilege and white fragility.”

Obie Ford III, who directs the College’s Wilson Inclusion, Diversity and Equity (WIDE) program, encouraged his students to participate in the 2016 conference.

“This conference is important because of the myriad of opportunities provided to our students to be present, engage in critical dialogue and create forward action in the name of social justice,” Ford said. “I challenged the WIDE work crew to develop a conference proposal. The College’s Center for Community Engagement liked this idea and challenged their crew to do the same. Every submission was accepted.”

Among Warren Wilson College students presenting this year were chemistry major Melvis A. Madrigal Nava, sociology and anthropology majors Emily Odgers and Mariah Murdock, social work major Emily Fox, psychology major Aster Brunsting Frazer, and history and political science major Léa Nadri Churchill. An additional 14 students and three staff members also attended the 2016 Intersect Conference.

“This year, we had a great mix of first-time attendees along with returning attendees, which was wonderful. They gained a great deal from this experience and can now share what they’ve learned with our campus community,” Ford added.

The Intersect Conference, which was held Nov. 4-5, “provides attendees with an unprecedented look at the disciplines of diversity, leadership and the cross-sections of the two,” according to a release from Elon. Oppression, social change, power and privilege, and organizational development guide the conference in an effort, as described on the conference website, to “create positive change for the common good in their organizations and community.”

For more information about Warren Wilson College’s WIDE and Center for Community Engagement programs, visit http://warren-wilson.edu.