Each issue of the REPORT will feature a roleplay for use in campus mediation trainings or inservice sessions. This issue's script is based on a case originally presented in Peaceful Persuasion(Girard, Rifkin, and Townley, 1985). While in some ways it is a "typical" residence hall dispute involving noise and relations between neighbors, as you will see, it is in other ways quite complicated, given the power dynamics that can arise (dominant vs non-dominant culture, number of parties at the table, support or lack thereof from the residence hall staff, status quo vs change) and the underlying issue of race relations. Mediators in training report that for many of them it is one of the more challenging cases they face that raises important and often not easily answered questions. In training, the issue the student activists are concerned about can be changed to suit the circumstances (for instance, it could be women's issues, disability access rights, animal rights, etc., rather than African-American student concerns).

"Political" Studies: Books vs. Activism

General Information:
(for Mediators/Observers/Disputants)

Chris Jones, Pat Smith and Terry Michaels are students in the same residence hall. Pat and Terry (both African-American students) are roommates while Chris (a Euro-American student) has a single room next to them. There have been some problems between Chris and Pat and Terry over what is an acceptable level of activity and noise. Pat and Terry hold frequent meetings in their room. Last week, Chris and some of his/her friends called the campus police because Chris found it difficult to concentrate because of a meeting being held in Pat and Terry's room. After the campus police confronted them and asked them to "keep it down", Pat, Terry, and their guests were furious and went to Chris' room and angry, accusatory words were exchanged. The head of the residence was alerted and after an hour, she was able to quiet things down. Since these problems seemed to have gone on for some time, the residence manager referred Chris, Pat, and Terry to the mediation program.

Page last updated 11/27/2005

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