College to Offer Social Justice Dormitory for Students
A “safe, supportive living-environment designed to help them grow and further their ambitio.”
1.2.2018
24
Heading off to college and worried that you might have to live with somebody of another viewpoint? Whereas that was once considered a standard feature of dormitory living, exposure to those you might otherwise not meet and thus getting outside of your bubble, The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) considers it a problem. Having identified it as such, they went ahead and corrected it by creating Social Justice House.
What exactly does that mean?
The House will seek to grapple with present day issues while providing students a safe, supportive living environment designed to help them grow and further their ambition. Students will work to initiate conversations and activism around social justice
Sounds like they're going to throw the best parties. What are the requirements of sustaining such a house?
House requirements:
- Participation in a beginning of the semester retreat to develop a sense of trust and community amongst participants
- Shared reading experience
- Active participation in monthly programming, including discussions, lectures, service projects and other educational and/or advocacy opportunities
- Field trip (TBD) to a social justice related site
Ok, but what exactly is it you do as a house?
Residents joining the Social Justice House will:
- Through discussions and programmatic efforts be able to articulate their identities and how these are impacted by systematic privilege and oppression.
- Through engagement with faculty, explore issues of social justice and interventions that can address oppression.
- Through self-reflection and collaboration with members of the community, increase their capacity to engage in social change leadership.
- Through community development, learn to engage in civil discourse and facilitation techniques to explore challenging subject matters.
Do you want to spend your college years thinking about how you've been oppressed or are oppressing others in a vacuum instead of experiencing things? Here are the requirements to apply for Social Justice House:
The Social Justice House welcomes all students who:
. Have an interest in pursuing social justice and civil rights programing at TCNJ.
. Are interested in living in a conducive environment centered around talking about current social issues in our society and TCNJ community.
. Have an interest to meet and get to know other students committed to social justice, civil rights and to integrate them in the campus and surrounding community.
. Have a commitment to organizing events, trips, and campus activities to promote activism for social justice awareness on campus.
. Have a commitment to promoting campus wide social justice and to become active social justice ambassadors.
. Wish to further their leadership abilities and strengthen their understanding of social justice.
Campus Reform asked TCNJ what would happen if a student didn't support a particular event in which the house chose to participate. If he, she, or xe skipped that event, would he, she, or xe be kicked out? TCNJ did not reply. One can assume they were greatly triggered by the question.
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