Talking Stick - March/April 2014 - 40

inform students of these topics and allow them
to come to their own fully informed decision.
Honestly, in my own opinion, professionals
need to use their best judgment in how much
personal information and beliefs they are willing
to share. You have to judge the maturity of the
student(s) you are working with and decide how
averse of an impact your comments might have
on impacting their decision."
Understanding and
providing information
about religious and
spiritual beliefs is just
another way for staff
to better provide what
students need, but this
requires some expertise.
For this reason, training
in these competencies is
now being provided in
professional development
programs at many
colleges and universities.
Bowling Green State
University in Ohio, for
example, offers training
for new undergraduate
resident advisors to
help them feel more at
ease with these types
of conversations. "We
wanted them to come
out of the session with
some increased comfort
having discussions about
religion in an interfaith
manner, embracing the
fact that spiritual wellbeing is an important
part of holistic wellbeing," says Anat Levtov,
senior coordinator for
academic support and
assessment in the office
of residence life. "Given our semi-rural location,
we have a large number of devoutly Christian
students who are very involved in their church
groups but don't often know how to speak about
their involvement appropriately." It is especially
important for staff to learn how to be open and
receptive to all religious or spiritual worldviews,
including those of atheists and agnostics. Staff
training at Bowling Green is shaped by the
following guidelines: "Be actively inclusive;
40

Talking STick

all students should be comfortable with you;
sharing faith, talking about your beliefs is fine,
but do not give advice or proselytize; notice that
non-Christian residents may feel lonely on their
holidays; and remember, some students are
atheist or agnostic."
Levtov's group incorporated an activity called
"Walk a Mile" into their training sessions, a
self-reflection exercise created by the Sustained
Dialogue Campus
Network as part of
its efforts to promote
interfaith dialogues
"for transforming
racial, ethnic, and other
deep-rooted conflicts in
the United States and
abroad." During this
activity, staff complete a
checklist of statements
about their faith or nonfaith identities, indicating
which statements apply
to them. The checklist
includes statements such
as "I can share my faith
or non-faith identity with
others without fear" and
"I have been physically
harassed because of
my faith or non-faith
identity." Then they come
together as a group and
exchange worksheets. As
the activity leader reads
each statement, those
that it applies to step
forward. The activity is a
way to help participants
examine their thoughts
on religion. "I think
many of [the participants]
had never thought about
diversity regarding
religion before," says Levtov. "Several RAs
approached us after the session and told us
how glad they were to be able to talk about this
sensitive topic in an appropriate way - they
had been nervous to discuss the issue, and this
conversation helped put them at ease."
Similar staff training is offered at Gannon
University in Erie, Pennsylvania. Denise Golden,
director of residence life, has worked at both
public and private institutions and feels that the
Talking Stick - March/April 2014

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