Members of the Pitt community gathered on Sunday, Jan. 26 in the lower lounge of the William Pitt Union to participate in what was called a World Cafe. People from different perspectives came together to talk about what it means to be included at the University of Pittsburgh.
The Office of Inclusion and Belonging held the event. To kick things off, organizers set up six tables with various flags from different countries around the world as centerpieces.
The people who signed up for the event were randomly selected to one of the six tables. Once the event started, participants spent 20 minutes each on three rounds of questions, discussing their own point of view. Organizers provided various foods and snacks from different cultures to the participants.
Maggie Calvert, the LGBTQIA+ coordinator for the Office of Inclusion and Belonging, hosted the event and was inspired by one that was held during her time as a student at a different university.
“I participated in a similar event during my time in undergrad, and I wanted to recreate it here at Pitt,” Calvert said.
Before answering the questions, participants were asked to introduce themselves with their names, pronouns, a fun fact about themselves and what brought them to the World Cafe. Students came from different organizations, and others walked by and saw what was happening.
The first question was to share a time when you felt like you belonged at Pitt.
After the 20 minutes were up, Calvert gave another piece of paper to everyone with a different table number, and participants went to that table, where they would ask the next question, but this time with different people. There were three rounds of questions. Calvert emphasized that this gave participants a chance to explore different perspectives.
One participant, Emma Moran, is a senior physics and astronomy student and the president of oSTEM, an organization that supports queer students in STEM-related fields.
“As the president of oSTEM, I work closely with Maggie, OIB’s LGBTQ+ coordinator. When she mentioned she was running this event, I wanted to come and support her efforts,” Moran said.
Moran felt they benefited from the discussions and questions brought up during the event.
“Most of the conversations I had that night was very helpful, as most people held similar beliefs to me regarding what growing an inclusive community means. It made me feel very confident in the way I’ve been trying to run my own [organization],” Moran said. “I also wanted to hear from other people, as I find that to be the most valuable thing I could get from an event like this.
The second question Calvert asked was to share a time when participants felt excluded or like they didn’t belong. While thinking of what to ask, Calvert wanted to provide questions that anyone could answer.
“I was thinking about what would make an engaging conversation that would make anyone feel comfortable answering and how students move about in their everyday lives,” Calvert said.
The last question asked what a united and inclusive community looks like to the participants.
Weiyi Tu, the International Programs coordinator at the Office of Inclusion and Belonging, also helped co-host the event. Tu said that one of the goals of this event was to see how they can continue making Pitt inclusive.
“I want our students to know that we are trying to create an inclusive space. A lot of students don’t feel like they have that safe space,” Tu said. “One of our goals for us is to have students feel like they have a safe space. We want more feedback from students on how we can provide that safe space.”
Another prominent goal for the organizers was to try and understand a generation that seems to be struggling more than ever before.
“I was excited to hear the experiences of current students. I am not much older, but it feels like a different generation,” Tu said. “The student experience feels much different than when I was a student. There are also more resources, but I still feel like students are struggling more. I also feel like there are more current events happening.”
Once the event concluded, the Office of Inclusion and Belonging gave out free T-shirts, stickers and other concessions. They also let participants take home any of the snacks that were provided from around the world.
Moran mentioned how they would participate in an event like this in the future.
“I would definitely sign up for another event like this — the more people’s opinions you hear, the more you learn about a topic, after all,” Moran said.
The Office of Inclusion and Belonging is on the 9th floor of the William Pitt Union, where they will be doing other events similar to the World Cafe in the future.