Oberlin College Dialogue Center, an organization designed to mediate conflict between groups on campus as well as to facilitate discussions, has recently played an increasingly active role on campus, moderating numerous discussions related to February’s acts of hate speech including the March 4 convocation “We Stand Together.”

OCDC, whose mission is to “further a socially just and peaceful community,” was created by the Ombuds Office — a campus office that investigates, reports on and helps to settle internal disputes — in 2001.

The organization, which aims to “empower each person to find their own voice, effectively communicate their needs and successfully improve their relationship[s],” was flooded with requests for facilitators last week. Kal Anderson, College senior and OCDC mediator, said that last week was both a challenging and exhilarating time to work for the organization.

“I think that there was a sense within OCDC of having a responsibility to help our campus and community to talk and heal in what little ways we can,” Anderson said.

Anderson, who facilitated at the “We Stand Together” convocation, said he felt the organization served a useful purpose.

“I was honored to be able to facilitate the Q&A at the convocation that Monday. I’m not sure if I would have done everything the exact same way if I did it again, but I think we did a good job,” Anderson said. “I think more important than us doing something in particular that day in Finney, we were a presence of order and communication.”

Another mediator, College senior Hannah Wolfman-Arent, agreed that OCDC needed to continue to work with the groups on campus and added that OCDC should be seen as a resource that takes into consideration issues of power and privilege when addressing conflicts.

“[I think] more and more people have begun to see the usefulness of bringing OCDC in as a third party,” she said “[but] I’m not sure people have seen the usefulness of it as a resource that takes into consideration power and privilege, and how that contributes to problems and conflict resolution.”

Yeworkwha Belachew, Oberlin’s ombudsperson, said that soon after the creation of her office she and others identified a need for a mediation service representative of the Oberlin community. To do this, a team of students, staff and faculty interviewed members of the campus community to better identify the types of services needed. The result of this inquiry was a resounding call for educational programs, mediation and facilitation.

Belachew stresses that the Dialogue Center is not neutral, but multipartial. OCDC’s goal is to allow all parties and voices to be heard and respected. It is not about the mediators, but rather the people in the meeting.

Anderson said that OCDC plans to continue working for students, particularly in meetings held as a fall-out of last month’s events.

“I think that OCDC members should continue to make ourselves available as a resource. I think that we should be gently pushing people to continue having these hard conversations around race and accessibility at Oberlin that have been started in the last week and a half,” Anderson said. “Talking isn’t always an end goal, but it is a pretty good mid-point for tangible change in my experience.”