As The Hawk reported this week in “Students disrupt Day of Dialogue webinar with disrespectful comments,” we are extremely disheartened by the behavior of some student attendees at the university’s fifth annual Day of Dialogue, which occurred Feb. 13.

Day of Dialogue was established in 2019 to encourage meaningful conversations about diversity, equity and inclusion in and around the St. Joe’s community. The overarching goal of the day is to absorb the knowledge imparted to us from members of differing communities, to cultivate a fresh perspective on inclusivity and to apply what we have learned every day after that.

It is highly inconsistent with the university’s values to act in such a discriminatory and immature manner, especially on a day specifically focused on bettering ourselves as individuals and as allies. To say we are disappointed with how some St. Joe’s participants responded to Day of Dialogue would be a grave understatement. 

These actions are demeaning and shameful to the university and highly inconsiderate towards the facilitators of these sessions who invested their time, knowledge and energy into these presentations. 

We commend the facilitators who worked tirelessly to bravely produce these seminars and open up about their identities, especially to rooms filled with people who may not understand their experience at first glance. We are appreciative of everyone who made sacrifices to make this day an enormous success.

We understand that productive dialogue depends on the goodwill of participants and their willingness to listen and learn. Mandating that people attend Day of Dialogue sessions means there will be those who don’t want to be present and who, in the worst-case scenario, may act out as a result. What we can do, however, is encourage faculty who require Day of Dialogue to be cognizant of this fact going forward, to avoid incidents such as these. 

Regardless of how you feel about attending, it is still your responsibility as a member of the St. Joe’s community to be respectful and courteous of those who are willing to engage in discussion. 

While we don’t want to reduce the tremendous positive impact of Day of Dialogue and this particular session to this incident, it is equally important to acknowledge that such blatant incidents of bias and discrimination prove exactly why the St. Joe’s community needs Day of Dialogue.