The first outside event I attended was the InterPoint discussion “Who Even Cares About Race?” that occurred early in the semester. I had a class with Lauren Stenson, the sophomore who worked incredibly hard to put the event series together, first semester this year where she told all of us about the event so I had already been planning on going. While this event had been planned for months, it turned out to be especially timely as it occurred the week following the racist attacks that happened on campus. The turn out for the discussion was overwhelming and students of all racial and ethnic backgrounds came to share, learn, and support our community.

Going into it, I wasn’t sure exactly how the discussion was going to be facilitated. Attendees were asked how they identified racially and then divided into groups led by trained student facilitators. After playing ice breakers, our group leader posed a series of questions that anyone in the group could respond to. While I didn’t share anything personally, it was such an amazing way for me to hear the voices and stories of my classmates and better understand their experiences both on campus and in life in general. I was impressed both by the openness of those in my groups who shared and by the level of preparation that went into the event. It was incredibly well run and hard to believe that it was solely put on by students. I know that there were supposed to be two more of these discussions this semester that unfortunately were not able to happen given the circumstances, but I hope when we return to campus more discussions like this will be facilitated.