Running head: DIVERSITY RETREAT

Leadership/Diversity Retreat
Taylor Rilling
Azusa Pacific University

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Leadership/Diversity Retreat

Agenda
Friday 8/15
8:00 am- Meet at loading zone
8:30 am- Depart for retreat
12:00 pm- Arrive at retreat center, unload, and room assignments
1:00-2:00 pm- Lunch
2:00-3:15 pm- Opening session and meeting (Ground rules, Brave Space, etc.)
3:30-4:30 pm- Break out small group time (Get to know you questions/What do you
expect to get out of this)
4:30-6:00 pm- Free time (options for games and activities)
6:00-6:45 pm- Dinner
7:00-9:00 pm- Evening Session and Camp fire (I identify as)
9:00 pm-??- Free time
Saturday 8/16
8:30 am- Breakfast
9:30- 11:30 am- Morning session and small groups (Explaining your Name)
11:30 am- 12:30 pm- Free time
12:30 pm- Lunch
1:30-4:00 pm- Activities (Stand up for your classmate)
4:00-5:00 pm- Small group time/debrief
5:00-6:00 pm- Free time
6:00-6:45 pm- Dinner

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7:00-9:00 pm- Evening session (Team Building, Four Corners)

9:00 pm- Freetime
Sunday 8/17
8:30 am- Breakfast
9:30-11:00 am- Clean up and pack
11:00 am-12:30 pm- Wrap up session (Coat of Arms and Sharing)
12:30 pm- Lunch
1:30 pm- Depart
5:00 pm- Arrive back to campus
Sessions Chosen
For this retreat I chose to do the following sessions: Ground rules/Brave Space, I
Identify as., Explaining your name, Stand up for your Classmate, Four Corners, and
Coat of Arms. Starting with ground rules/brave space is a good conversation to have with
students, as it will set the pace for the rest of the retreat time. It is also important because
that way students can be honest and open about their experiences and feelings. Doing the
I Identify as activity will allow students to explain to the group how they identify
themselves as a person. Explaining your name is also chosen because it allows students
to become self-aware of their personal feelings of themselves and their life experiences.
Stand up for your classmate is also a good activity because it allows students to be in the
shoes of others. The activity of Four Corners is also a way to end up having deeper
conversations about ethnicity and other aspects of diversity. It will give students the
opportunity to go deeper because it has them rank statements along the path of strongly
disagree to strongly agree. Afterwards a debrief session will take place as a group where

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the group can discuss its thoughts and experiences. The last main activity that the
students will participate in is the Coat of Arms where they have the chance to explain
who they are and then discuss the fact that no one can take away those personal attributes
from them. After each of these sessions students will have the opportunity to debrief in
smaller groups in order to ask questions or explain their feelings on the issues of
diversity.
Facilitated session
The session I have chosen to facilitate is stand up for your classmate. I have
attached the document to be used for the session. After passing out the document and
having each student fill it out I will then instruct students to pass them back. I will hand
them out again to students so that they now represent a different classmate in the room.
Next, each question will be read and students will step forward for each yes answered.
After each question has been asked I will lead the group in a discussion asking them how
they felt when stepping forward, what questions surprised them, and how they felt if they
were one of the only ones who stepped forward for something.
Theories Used
The developmental theories that best fit in with this type of retreat is McIntoshs
view on white privilege and the model of multiple dimensions of identity. McIntosh talks
about white privilege and privilege in general as being an inequality where specific
individuals or experience special rights and advantages (Evans, Forney, Guido, Patton, &
Renn, 2010, p. 237). It is important during this retreat to talk about privilege because
students will bring it up. I also believe those who experience certain privileges and are
not aware of them should at least start to understand or be aware of their privileges as a

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result of this retreat. Because privilege is part of our American social structure and is part
of the diversity topic it needs to be talked about, but in a way that challenges students to
think and not tear them down.
The model of multiple dimensions of identity, developed by Jones and McEwen,
also applies to this retreat because I think it encourages students to look at all aspects of
their individual identity and not focus on just one. Many of the sessions I planned during
the retreat are included in the identity dimensions such as: family background,
sociocultural conditions, experiences, social class, religion, gender, ethnicity, culture,
education, etc. (p. 245). Because these all intersect with the core identity of a person it is
imperative to include all types of ways for students to recognize their unique different
aspects of identity. There are multiple sessions that also relate to this theory such as the
Coat of Arms and I identify as because they give student the opportunity to explore the
different facets of how they identify and who they are according to their background.
Who I Talked to and Questions
Joy Hoffman- CSU Fullerton; Bryon E. Howlett- Cal Poly Pomona
1. What type of environment do you try to create?
2. How many staff do you have and who do you choose?
3. What type of sessions are important to have?
4. What is the worst thing that has happened during something like this and how did you
navigate through it?
5. What is a normal retreat budget for you?

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Reference

Evans, N. J., Forney, D. S., Guido, F. M., Patton, L. D., and Renn, K. A. (2010). Student
development in college: Theory, research, and practice. San Francisco: JosseyBass.