“Many campuses are struggling with both free expression and inclusion,” noted Jewel Jones, Guttman’s chief diversity officer with the Office of Diversity, Equity and Compliance.
In an effort to breach the seemingly intractable distance between both tenets long valued in higher education, Guttman launched “Perspectives,” an online pilot training program on 4/28 for a small group of students who volunteered to participate. The pilot aims to equip them with the skills needed to discuss sensitive and/or hard-to-navigate topics on campus.
“I have to give credit to CUNY Central for partnering with the Constructive Dialogue Institute (CDI) to pilot this initiative as a means to transform campus culture through dialogue,” explained Jones. “This new partnership seeks to build upon work that began in Fall 2024. Mind you, in today’s climate there are a whole host of topics that I can point to — from the political realm to environmental and climate justice issues, as examples. It is unfortunate that there is the appearance of repression of thought, and an exclusionary idealism, in today’s arena of higher education— but that is where CDI and Perspectives will play a role to drive a systemic culture shift across the CUNY campuses. We’re trying to foster an environment where students, faculty, and staff can openly exchange ideas, even amid disagreement.”
Through a multi-year collaboration, CDI will support CUNY with training, tools and opportunities for cultural transformation, dialogue across leadership structures, student engagement programs, and classroom experiences. This will take the form of workshops and certifications. “Perspectives” online learning will offer interactive scenarios and peer conversation guides, plus evaluation and assessment of impact.
“Here at Guttman, we have our strategic plan, Guttman Forward 2028, which is reflective of the mission and core values of the college. My office is the lead for Pillar One: Elevate Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging. I trust that if we are all in alignment with this as a core principle in the way we navigate our experiences and engagements with each other, [Pillar One] is a means to ensure that folks can engage, and all voices can be heard. It is a step in the right direction. This has worked here and is working here at Guttman. That being said, having this additional component of the CDI initiative, I truly hope that we can have constructive dialogue in and around campus and that we learn new ways to navigate ideological differences, combat hate, and promote an environment where all belong,” said Jones.
