March 2015
This month we'd like to tell you a bit about a long-time IGR student and employee who has shown a tremendous amount of commitment to our program. Jake Cinti '15 is majoring in Sociology and minoring in Community Action and Social Change (CASC). Read on to learn more about Jake and his IGR experiences.
Q: What has your involvement in IGR been?
I have taken several IGR classes over the last four years, including facilitating two dialogue classes. I have also acted as a Program Coordinator for IGR's CommonGround workshop program for the last two years. Finally, I also assisted Roger Fisher in sharing the IGR dialogue model with students at Community High School for one semester.
Q: How did you become involved in IGR?
I became involved in IGR as a first-year student. I wasn't sure which classes to take and so a student advisor signed me up for a Women's Studies class, an IGR class, and several others! I loved the first IGR class I took and then signed up for several more throughout college. I'm so lucky that that person suggested I take the classes I did.
Q: Can you tell us more about your role with CommonGround?
As one of the two Program Coordinators, I connect with student organizations and departments that are requesting workshops from CommonGround. I find out more about the education and training they would like, and then work to find volunteer facilitators to lead the workshop. I occasionally facilitate workshops myself too.
Q: Can you say something about one of your favorite moments in IGR?
Well, I can't share org names due to confidentiality, but I remember facilitating a workshop about power dynamics with a student organization for three days last year. The first day, most participants ranged from non-receptive to even hostile. The second day, we did not hear as many complaints. The third day, one of the participants who had been really resistant to the material changed his view significantly, and he even started volunteering examples of situations in his own college experiences and how they were influenced by issues of power, privilege and oppression. I was very excited to see the training "clicking" so tangibly in someone who initially had so much resistance.
Q: What are your plans after graduation?
I haven't yet decided. However, I do know that for the long term, I want to have a career that incorporates the kind of information I've learned in IGR. I know I may have to "work from the inside" for a while, before I can do what I love. But I hope to always carry my values with me, no matter what environment I find myself in.
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
I love music. I play about 12 different instruments and I also produce hip-hop music.