Presidential Initiative on Intergroup Engagement

The Presidential Initiative on Intergroup Engagement creates opportunities for members of the Pitzer community and beyond to listen, learn, build relationships, and engage thoughtfully and compassionately across differences. The Initiative encourages participants to grapple with challenging ideas and issues, approach different perspectives and experiences with curiosity and empathy, and deepen understanding without requiring agreement.

The Initiative’s organizing committee is dedicated to fostering a culture of meaningful intergroup engagement, based on the following initial goals and objectives:

• Facilitate Meaningful Engagement: Organize events, programs, and workshops that strengthen communication, active listening, curiosity, empathy, and understanding across differences. Create opportunities and brave spaces for thoughtful engagement with challenging ideas, experiences, and issues.
   
• Promote Inclusivity: Develop programs that bring together people with a range of perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences, encouraging meaningful participation from students, faculty, and staff and creating opportunities to learn from one another.
   
• Build Relationships Across Differences: Create opportunities for sustained interaction and relationship-building among individuals and groups who may have different perspectives, experiences, identities, or viewpoints. Encourage engagement that can deepen understanding and connection even when differences remain.
   
• Collaborate Across the College: Partner with field groups, student organizations, and administrative areas to connect intergroup engagement efforts with existing programs. Collaborate with faculty to explore opportunities to incorporate elements of intergroup engagement into curricula and the broader educational experience.
   
• Assess and Get Feedback: Establish a system for ongoing assessment and feedback to measure the impact of the Initiative. Regularly review and adapt programs based on findings and the experiences of participants.
   
• Build on Success: Develop a communications strategy to raise awareness of the importance of intergroup engagement and the Initiative itself. Showcase programs and outcomes that demonstrate stronger relationships, deeper understanding, and meaningful engagement across differences.