Guadeloupe Lara, director of social work at the Children's Hospital of Michigan and a former Social Worker of the Year, kicked off the Society Organized Against Racism's annual conference with a keynote address Friday evening, which discussed the importance of communication across cultures.
Lara spoke about "Achieving Quality Outcomes in School through Effective Communication Across Cultures" to more than 200 students, professors and administrators in Webster Hall.
The SOAR conference, this year titled "The Challenges of Diversity: From Talkin' the Talk to Walkin' the Walk," attracted 240 students and 60 administrators from 24 northeastern colleges. Seventy Dartmouth students and faculty took part in the conference.
Lara emphasized that "getting along with each other means that you're going to bumble along the way" and relied on personal anecdotes to persuade her audience to "step out of the comfort zone and risk and ask."
Lara encouraged her audience to focus on the similarities between members of different cultures without ignoring their differences in what she called the "non-deficit" approach.
She said when people attribute behavior to cultural differences they are "shutting the door" and communities should strive to get "beyond the things that scare you" about other cultures.
To illustrate the importance of open communication, Lara spoke about her relationship with her brother, a heroin addict who served time in prison.
Lara said although she initially resented her brother's deception about his drug habit, she eventually resolved to "focus on the strengths" and encouraged him to develop his artistic talent.
After Lara's brother became a successful artist and businessman he told her "when I started to look for what worked in me, I started to recover."
Although Lara said people from different ethnic backgrounds could communicate effectively she warned that "it is not la-la land-- there are going to be difficult times."
The audience gave Lara a standing ovation at the conclusion of her speech.
Meylysa Tseng '98, co-chair of the Interracial Concerns Committee and Candace Crawford '98, a coordinator of the SOAR program, said Lara's speech was a highlight of the conference.
"[Lara is] very interactive-- she had the audience laughing and very interested," Tseng said.
The speech was preceded by an ice-breaking workshop titled "Developing a Common Language."
Lara's speech was followed by a Cultural Extravaganza at Collis Common Ground which included performances by Final Cut and the World Music Percussion Ensemble and Friday Night Dance Club.
On Saturday morning, the second keynote speaker, Yuri Kochiyama, a civil rights activist from Harlem, New York, spoke about "Living a Life Committed to Justice."
The weekend's activities also featured several workshops about race relations and effective communication.
Tseng and Crawford said the conference was successful.
"I had hoped that [the conference] would help motivate Dartmouth students to be interested in diversity," Crawford said.
She said she thinks it will take some time before she knows if that was accomplished.
Makiyah Moody, a student at Wheaton College attending the conference, found Lara's speech "very inspirational."
Lara "spoke on a level that was easy to understand," Moody said. "She was respectful of her audience when she was communicating her message."
Lara's speech convinced Xiaojing Wang '99 to try to communicate more effectively.
"Especially at Dartmouth we get really stressed. We tend not to be as considerate of other people," Wang said. "We get caught up in our own little world. [Lara] tells you to be patient and not to be so quick to judge."
Lara is a certified pediatric social worker who specializes in child welfare cases. She is a national consultant and trainer on multicultural and family issues.
Lara has co-founded the Michigan Standing Committee on Multicultural Mental Health, the Michigan Hispanic Mental Health Association and the national Organization of Latino Social Workers.