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Intergroup Relations

CommonGround

Our CommonGround program is one way that student organizations, residence halls, Greek life, academic courses, and other campus communities can request programs that raise awareness about social identities (race, gender, socioeconomic status, etc.), prejudice, stereotyping, power, privilege, and oppression. Facilitated and coordinated by trained U-M undergraduate and graduate students, these interactive workshops help promote social identity development and enhance group dynamics, while building a community of social justice advocates on campus.

Workshops are designed around a 1.5 to 3 hour time frame and are customized to your group's needs. If you don't see a topic that interests you, please let us know and we can work with you to explore various opportunities. We request that all workshops be requested three weeks prior to the event.

CommonGround Logo

What’s Happening with CommonGround?

The CommonGround program in IGR develops and facilitates short, interactive, peer-led workshops on various social identity and social justice topics for groups of undergraduate and graduate students. Our program has had an eventful summer and Fall semester in 2016, full of workshops and exciting updates.

From new staff to a program restructure, there have been a number of changes in CommonGround. Earlier in the semester, two staff members who oversaw CommonGround—Danny Alvarez (Program Manager) and Taryn Petryk (Assistant Director)—accepted new positions at the Residential Education program at Stanford University and the U-M Ross School of Business, respectively. 

Fond Farewell: Tyra Bandt

Tyra Bandt, a long-time member of the CommonGround programming team, graduated just a few short weeks ago and will soon be joining the corporate business world. Because of her deep engagement with the program and dedication, we wanted to thank her for her work with us and send her off with well wishes! 

CommonGround Update - December 2015

by Q Dockery, IGR Programming Team

Every month, the CommonGround Programming Team hosts a monthly training for the workshop facilitators and student coordinators. During this monthly training, workshop facilitators are:

Students at training retreat

Student Coordinators

Student Coordinators:

CommonGround was born from the hard work and dedication of the six original student coordinators who invented the name and developed the program structure. Today, the student coordinator team is strong and its role has been adapted to meet the needs of the ever-growing program.  This team is still the primary source of innovation and feedback for the program’s growth and direction.  It assists the Programming Team with marketing workshops, recruiting facilitators, developing facilitator trainings, and implementing community building events.

Student Coordinators at work

Meet the 2015 CommonGround Student Workshop Team

by LaQwana Dockery, IGR Programming Team

Within IGR, you will find CommonGround, the co-curricular student-led workshop program. CommonGround works with student organizations, residence halls, Greek life, academic courses, and other campus communities in raising awareness around social identities, prejudice, stereotyping, power, privilege, and oppression through workshops that involve Intergroup Dialogue. CommonGround workshops are facilitated and coordinated by trained U-

Group Photo of 2015 CommonGround Team

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Request a Workshop

                                                                           ***ATTENTION***

We are at capacity for workshop requests for the Winter 2017 semester. We are still accepting workshop requests for the summer. We appreciate your understanding and look forward to working with you!

  • Requests must be submitted three (3) weeks prior to the intended workshop date.
  • The general purpose of these workshops is to create interactive spaces to engage in dialogue about social justice and social identity. If your organization is seeking mediation, the Office of Student Conflict Resolution (www.oscr.umich.edu) or Student Activities and Leadership's Student Organization Support (http://www.lso.umich.edu/sOrgs/sos.html) can serve as resources