The Multi-Racial Unity Living Experience

1. The Multi-Racial Unity Living Experience Global Learning, 2012—2013 Assessing Progress & Improving Practice Jeanne Gazel, PhD. Amy Franklin Craft, PhD JordynBussey, MRULE, IDS (2014)

2. Background • In August of 2014, MRULE will be 18 years old, the life of an incoming college student. • From its inception we have refined several key pedagogical approaches. • It was designed to ensure students gain consistent practice at studying social reality, acting in the world to improve social conditions and reflecting on that action to further study, act and reflect. The goal is to develop competencies around an informed practice. • It was designedaround three pillars: Social Justice, Human Agency and Action Research.

3. MRULE Components • Weekly Round Table Discussions • Weekly Community Service/Engagement • Monthly Socials • Semester Community Building Trip Student Leadership/Peer Education supported by academic rigor and accountability to mission. The goal

4. MRULE Mission (MRULE) offers students in Residence Halls and beyond opportunities to increase knowledge and understanding of what they can do to contribute to positive race relations in their lives and their communities. It provides students from all backgrounds a unique forum to come together. Through open and frank discussions on controversial issues, informative presentations, interactive exercises and a variety of experiences that encourage the development of genuine friendships, students create and cultivate the experience of multiracial unity. They learn through action the concept of unity and diversity, while developing leadership skills that give them an edge on working and thriving in diverse environments

5. MRULE 2012-2013 End of Year Evaluation Qualitative and Quantitative Results

6. Neighborhood Participation N = 98

7. 1% 48% Gender, N = 99; Race/Ethnicity, N = 94

8. Class Level, N=93; Semesters, N=94; RTD’s, N=95

9. *Other Includes: bulletin board, Dr. Jeanne Gazel, MAGIC, Sparticipation, and walk in. N =97

10. *Other Includes: • Critical thinking • Different types of discussion with members of the neighborhood • Family • FUN • Intellectually stimulating late night discussions • Learning about people and things that are different from the customs that I practice (SIC) • Making friends • Personal Growth • The love N=96; 502 Responses

11. Course examples given: ISS 315 ISS WRA All Science Courses IAH SOC 215 SOC 131 ISS 210 SOC 216 ISS 335 TE 250 HST 311 TE 150 WRA 125 ESA 324 ISS 215 IAH 231 PHL 200 ISB 202 CCP 231 URA 130 Madison Courses IAH 202 MC 325 IAH 211 Economics Courses MC 380 FW 211 WRA 150 WRA 130 ESL 220 ISS 330 IAH 207 LIN ANP 201 MC 221 NSC 100 ISS 220 Environmental Issues Seminar MC 280 SW 201 N=94; Presented as %

12. How helpful was MRULE in assisting you to communicate and interact with diverse audiences? This helped me more easily approach someone of another ethnicity. – Brody Participant It gives me the opportunity to ask questions about things I was already curious about. – South Participant Before attending MRULE I didn’t interact with different audiences. – South Participant MRULE Community Building Trip – This was the most diverse group of people I have ever interacted with! – Brody Participant I liked the people in meetings, but late night helped me more. – East Participant N=95

13. How helpful was MRULE in assisting you to engage in genuine relationships with people from different backgrounds and perspectives? MRULE gave me the opportunity to meet people. I did the rest.” – South Participant I met people from my hall and all of Brody Neighborhood through MRULE. – Brody Participant The LBGT topic helped me talk to my friends who go through these issues. – East Participant I am open to having conversations with language barriers. – East Participant The family that I have made in MRULE are some of the most genuine friendships that I have ever made. – East Participant N=95

14. How helpful was MRULE in developing your capacity to actively listen and dialogue with people from different backgrounds and perspectives? Usually I am always talking so this made me step back and listen. – Brody Participant I became a better listener because I’ve become more interested in what others have to say. – Brody Participant I’ve been involved in the Superwoman group, and was able to use MRULE knowledge to improve and augment my comments. – South Participant First, I get to practice my English. Second, the students in MRULE are friendly, which gives me courage to talk with them. – East Participant N=96

15. How helpful was MRULE in assisting you to recognize commonalities among people of different cultures? I already appreciated different cultures and diversity. – East Participant When we talked about problems we’ve faced as individuals I was able to relate to more people than I thought. – South Participant When we talked about problems we’ve faced as individuals I was able to relate to more people than I thought. – Brody Participant I met people from all over the world that love to help other people. – East Participant I could actually realize we are all people and these are human issues. – South Participant N=96

16. How helpful was MRULE in assisting you to recognize differences and nuance among people within common cultures? It actually heightened my ability to perceive religious differences in people seeming very socially similar. – Brody Participant The LBGT day, when people of the same race were on different sides shows how grounded this is. – South Participant I learned this growing up, but I didn’t have the terminology to describe it before college and MRULE. – East Participant Opinions aren’t restricted to cultures. – South Participant N=94

17. How helpful was MRULE in assisting you to recognize implicit and explicit forms of power and privilege? Male privilege/misogynistic culture. We teach “don’t get raped” instead of “don’t rape.” – Brody Participant It reinforced common knowledge (for me) about poverty. – East Participant I learned some from the discussion, but I still need to learn more about privilege. – South Participant Coming into MRULE I wasn’t aware of implicit and explicit power and privilege as scholarly terms. – South Participant The bootstraps game really helped with this. – Brody Participant N=96

18. Was your participation in MRULE influential in changing/challenging your attitudes and beliefs? N=94

19. How helpful was MRULE in your personal development (learning, critical thinking, self-understanding)? I was provided the opportunity to reflect on my experiences getting to MSU and also how I interact with my peers. – Brody Participant Talking about a different issue each week really made me consider my own reaction to each issue, and I learned a lot about myself that way. – South Participant I’m still working on it, but this has helped with my stereotyping and judgment of others. – South Participant It helped me realize that my beliefs were not the only “right” beliefs and that as I become more aware of the world my perception changes. – East Participant N=93

20. How helpful was MRULE in increasing your awareness on various topics? I try to keep up to date on the news anyways, but coming to MRULE helps too. – Brody Participant I find myself looking up global issues everyday due to the discussions presented in MRULE. – East Participant I learned a lot about the cycle of poverty. I thought I knew it all, but there’s so much more. – East Participant Learning about the prison industrial complex completely made me rethink my life. – South Participant N=94

21. How helpful was MRULE in increasing your openness to different beliefs and opinions? This has particularly helped me regarding the topic of race. – South Participant My openness hasn’t changed, but my understanding has! – South Participant I was aware of why people stood behind something, which gave me a better understanding of the issues. – Brody Participant The LBGT program really opened my eyes. – East Participant N=93

22. ICA 2012-2013 End of Year Evaluation of MRULE Qualitative and Quantitative Results *Rating on a scale of 1(Strongly Disagree) – 5(Strongly Agree)

23. It really allows you to get more of an in-depth look at how your residents may think about certain situations because sometimes you just assume people feel a certain way about a situation, but really in a lot of instances it turns out to be the exact opposite. This can present educational opportunities for both Aides and students. Participation in MRULE has been helpful by presenting me with ideas and approaches for programming and event planning that my team has been able to use, as well as other groups I’ve been involved in throughout West Circle. Due to my neighborhood not having an MRULE meeting held within it, it has been challenging to get residents to attend, although I feel that many of them would have benefited from attending. It gives me a great venue to meet students of great diversity and allows me to connect with them in a cultural setting. This amplifies what we do as aides. N=50

24. MRULE’s policy of keeping it in the middle, I feel, hinders a lot of the learning when it comes to communicating with residents. When you keep it in the middle it usually doesn’t allow you to address certain issues with a student and doesn’t promote ownership of your statements. I was able to communicate with my peers before attending MRULE, but I think it has helped me communicate differently, in that I am able to ask people why they think the way they do about certain matters. MRULE has done less of assisting me in communicating with my peers and more of providing me with situations and a venue where communication is easier and less awkward for some residents. In the halls some residents might not want to be that open but when there is a discussion topic I found they open up more.” I think it provided me with a bank of knowledge that was not something you can read in a book; it was life experience and research on topics that I wouldn’t have googled. This gave me an edge when engaging in a discussion. N=52

25. Yes, because MRULE elaborates on differences, more than T&D, so what you don’t learn from T&D MRULE provides another opportunity to teach you. This has been the greatest thing MRULE has given me. It has fostered a way for me to learn how to approach differences and have educated conversations about differences as well as have conversations with individuals that are different from myself. It has definitely given me more practice or a platform for expressing my feelings fluidly as well as step out of my comfort zone and really understand how to have difficult conversations with residents without making it uncomfortable for myself or the resident.” Before MRULE I had a pretty good idea of how to cross-culturally communicate. After having attended many MRULEs I feel not so much more competent in “how” to communicate this way, but I feel more comfortable doing so. N=51

26. Most of the MRULE programs have enlightened me on many issues including health, health care, human rights, the prison industrial complex, and different worldly laws. All these issues have helped me become more informed in a plethora of subjects. I feel like I can participate in more discussion that happen with friends and even in classes where I am able to give input and provide meaningful commentary. Most of the issues that are brought up in MRULE I already know about, but the meetings help me expand on what these topics mean to my life. We spoke about many different topics and issues that I was not even aware existed in our world. Going to MRULE has helped me become more well rounded and an informed individual about issues that are affecting me everyday and I didn’t even know it. MRULE brings up fresh topics where I am presented with new information and encouraged to develop my own ideas about it.” N=52

27. Engagement Center Data 2012-2013

28. Table I. Class by Neighborhood

30. Table 2. Citizenship Status by Neighborhood

31. Table 3. Gender by Neighborhood

32. Table 4. Race by Neighborhood