On November 6-7, more than 85 student leaders and staff from 22 colleges and universities in the North Carolina Campus Compact network traveled to UNC Pembroke for the 2015 CSNAP Student Conference. The event featured a special, day-long training in the practice of “sustained dialogue,” which opened students up to role language and listening can play in building relationships and, by extension, strong teams, partnerships, and organizations.
Local performers shared Lumbee stories and songs.
The conference was also a chance to recognize students for outstanding community service work and to highlight the unique community that is home to UNC Pembroke. Founded in 1887 as the Croatan Normal School to educate American Indian teachers, the university now has one of the most diverse student populations in the state. Robeson County is also the political and cultural home of North Carolina’s largest American Indian tribe, the Lumbee.
This local culture was a focus of a Friday evening gathering that saw participants enjoy foods like chicken bog and black-eyed peas and hear from a community storyteller and singer. Students also toured the campus and the CARE Resource Center, a project managed by the university’s Office of Community and Civic Engagement. The CARE Resource Center includes a food pantry and clothing closet open to students, staff, and community members. In conjunction with the CSNAP event, the pantry’s shelves had just been re-stocked thanks to a donation from the Food Lion Feeds program.
The Saturday event kicked off with a performance by two of the Southern Sun Singers who played and sang songs of gathering and celebration.
“We are so excited to be at UNCP,” said NC Campus Compact executive director Leslie Garvin in her opening remarks. “UNCP is a great example of what we mean by an ‘engaged campus.’ It uses its resources, especially the energy and expertise of students, faculty and staff, to work with and serve the broader community.”
The morning and afternoon sessions featured an introduction to the principles of sustained dialogue, a 
process for transforming conflictual relationships developed by U.S. diplomats who worked in Middle East peace negotiations in the 1970s. Today this process is used by student groups that are part of the Sustained Dialogue Campus Network to address issues around race, identity and community change.
Sustained dialogue facilitators introduced students to different modes of communication and decision-making, contrasting debate and discussion- modes marked by win/lose dynamics – with dialogue – where participants seek to listen and understand in order to build relationships. In small groups and pairs, students completed a series of activities that let them explore concepts like personal and social identity, inclusive language, and strong questions.
UNC Greensboro student Joe Diodato reflected on his CSNAP experience in this blog post.
The group tackled topics that resonated with recent news of campus controversies surrounding race and culture in Missouri and at Yale.
Meredith Casper, assistant director for training and leadership development at DukeEngage, was one of the staff members who attended the event. For her, CSNAP was a chance to learn about sustained dialogue and explore some of these broader issues.
Aaron Marshall created a scholarship so that one Community Impact honoree could take part in an alternative break service trip.
“Sustained dialogue has always had a great reputation on our campus but I had never seen their training in action, so I was curious about that. Also with some of the tensions that are rising all over higher ed, this seemed a really good training to be participating in right now.”
During the lunchtime awards ceremony, 21 students were recognized as Community Impact Award winners. Also honored were Queens University of Charlotte senior Kate Gatterdam, who was recognized as the 2015 John Barnhill Civic Trailblazer for creating pathways for student community engagement at her school, and UNC Pembroke senior Madison Wilcox, who received a $250 Marshall Alternative Service Experience Scholarship to support her participation in an alternative break trip.
For more information about the CSNAP Student Conference, visit the CSNAP main page.