Understanding the conditions that exist during bias incidents can help to create possibilities for intervention and prevention of bias, participants learned at a campus open forum and interactive workshop, "Maintaining Community in the Face of Bias," Oct. 12 in the Biotechnology Building.

"Bias does exist at Cornell," said Darren Jackson, inclusion and compliance program manager in the Department of Inclusion and Workforce Diversity for Cornell's Division of Human Resources and Safety Services. "We've all seen some evidence of it, such as graffiti on campus, or we've heard about bias incidents."

About 45 students and staff participated in the workshop, facilitated by A.T. Miller, associate vice provost for academic diversity initiatives.

"How do we build a resilient system where you do intervene?" Miller asked. "It's important to understand that all of these situations are emotion-laden, and the emotions are a part of why we act on them, or why not."

In small-group discussions of four or five people, participants were asked to share their experiences with each of four scenarios:

Following the breakout discussions, Miller said the process would help the participants to understand their experiences with bias, and in particular to see the conditions that exist around bias statements and incidents and the conditions that need to be present to allow for successful intervention.

"What were the conditions that allowed me to think that joke was funny? Or the conditions that allowed me to feel confident to say, 'Stop that'?" Miller said.

Assistant Dean of Students Patricia Nguyen also spoke at the forum, and explained that the Office of the Dean of Students is working on a new multifaceted initiative regarding bias response at Cornell, called Cornell Responds.

"These incidents are very complex, and there's a range of responses and emotions that happen," she said. "We see our role as helping our community restore itself through education."

Cornell Responds includes educational programming on such topics as "issues around racism, white privilege and identity"; communicating about bias incidents with staff members who work with diverse communities; advising administration; and contacting frontline staff (such as residence hall directors) who work with groups of students with particular social identities "to see what they want to do within their communities," she said.

Nguyen said the initiative also involves "helping our students respond to bias in their own ways, reaching out to student leaders on campus to foster relationships amongst them all, so that when a bias incident hits, there is a pre-existing relationship that can make communicating across difference in times of crisis easier."

Bias incidents on campus can be reported confidentially via a form available online, Jackson said.