Blocking Diversity Examined

Before heading out to engage in pre-Housing Day rituals, 30 freshmen congregated in Ticknor Lounge early last night to participate in the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations’s fourth annual “Block Party,” a discussion of diversity in the context of blocking groups, the Houses and the Harvard campus.

The event’s co-director, Teddy L. Styles ’07, also announced a new Foundation initiative to promote its mission of improving relations among racial and ethnic groups at Harvard.

The Foundation Associates Program will consist of three to five students from each House who will work with race relations tutors to host events that promote or celebrate diversity.

Styles said the discussion event was held after blocking forms were due so as not to influence the blocking decisions of freshmen.

“The drive behind it is not to influence decisions about blocking, but as you move into a diverse community in houses, to see how [blocking groups] relate to social networks at Harvard,” said Styles, who is a Foundation intern.

After eating corn bread, pork, macaroni and cheese, and turkey sandwiches, freshmen were asked to break off into groups of seven to play a game called “Access.”

Styles asked each of the three groups to choose a volunteer. The volunteers were taken outside and asked to start a debate when they returned, while the group members who remained inside were asked to do as much as they could to exclude the volunteer when he or she came back.

The activity was a starting point for a discussion on how it feels to be excluded, as well as to exclude others.

“When you’re in a place where there’s a lot of diversity, you’re pleased about it, but you don’t want to lose your own identity,” said participant Ridhi Kashyap ’10.

Foundation intern Amanda R. Mangaser ’10 said she thought students should appreciate the differences of others.

“It seems like a waste not to take advantage of Harvard’s diversity while you’re here,” she said.

Fiona K. Fong ’08 said her blocking group’s diversity made her interact with people who were different from her.

“If I didn’t block with them, I would’ve tended to just hang out with people from my activities or classes, like purely Ec majors or figure skaters,” said Fong. “Because I blocked with people who are completely different from me I’m able to enhance my Harvard experience.”

—Staff writer Doris A. Hernandez can be reached at dahernan@fas.harvard.edu.