How We Can Support Our Community Members

Time and Space for Processing.

It’s important that all campus community members (not just students!) have the space to process the outcomes of the election before having to engage in potentially difficult dialogue. The results of the election will impact campus community members differently. Processing can take place individually, one-on-one, in small groups, or collectively. Here's how we can help each other thrive through the election:

• Create safe spaces in classrooms, social spaces, clubs, etc. for students to openly process information. But don't make this required! Some students may not want to openly process with others.
• Providing safe processing spaces for students to come and talk with trusted staff/faculty about their feelings.
• Don't try and "fix" students' anxiety, but provide spaces where students can hold the tension and discomfort. Let them know it’s OK for them to feel the way that they do.
• Release the power from yourself and present yourself as an ally, friend, support or whatever that student feels is appropriate.
• Make affinity spaces available facilitated by staff from Counseling Center and those trained in DEI and trauma-informed care if possible.
• Utilize breakout rooms that provide multiple types of "brave" spaces: building resilience, healing, organizing.
• Ask people “What are your hopes and dreams going forward from this point?” This question helps keep people on a constructive path.

Helpful resources:

• CEEP’s The Road Ahead: Processing the 2020 Election
• Democracy for President
• From Safe Spaces to Brave Spaces
• With Malice Towards None is an initiative to help groups of people who are “distressed” at the results, as well as “delighted” to consider how to move forward as a country after a very divisive election.

Opportunities for Healing.

Many campus community members may need access to mental health resources during this time. Be intentional about creating spaces and opportunities for healing. Partnering with counseling and wellness centers and psychology faculty especially helps for this.

• Prepare and provide a resource guide for on campus and off campus mental health resources, including resiliency and anxiety management resources.
• Create a pre-election and post-election virtual panel or workshop on coping mechanisms and healing processes.
• If possible, ensure that all campus community members have access to free resources through counseling centers, especially on November 4.
• Make sure student and campus leaders know how to access mental health resources that they can direct students to. Suggest that individuals confer with campus HR or Insurance policies to be directed to mental health services.
• Plan de-stressing activities like yoga and meditation.

Helpful resources:

• 7Cups for online therapy and free counseling
• American Counseling Association Post-Election Resources (2016)

Dialogue and Verbal Expression.

Faculty, staff, and student leaders will end up facilitating difficult yet sensitive conversations with students after the election. While you shouldn’t mandate that every faculty or staff member needs to have these conversations, as many aren't equipped to, you should still set them up for success.

• Provide training in advance in methods of dialogue, questions of curiosity, and productive discussion.
• Faculty/staff should have their own space to process the results, allowing for them to meet the needs of students in a better headspace. (This was mentioned above, but is incredibly important!)
• Make sure there are representative voices that feel encouraged to lead or facilitate discussions.
• Establish clear guidelines, boundaries and purpose setting to frame challenging discussions. Allow people to speak from their own point of view without making assumptions about others. Clearly communicate why it is necessary and why it impacts every class, student, etc., no matter personal options.
• Have discussions with an equity lens that values each student's perspective.
• Encourage faculty and staff to let students take the lead in the conversations, and ensure that their voices are heard. Students don't need a lecture about elections or their feelings on November 4.
• Be honest that this election is more than politics- it's about values, too. Prepare to navigate conversations outside of simply a “political” framework.
• Keep the conversations nonpartisan, while still providing students a chance to exchange ideas, perspectives, and experiences.
• Hold “Ask Me Anything”s to allow students to ask questions or express their perspectives. Be sure to include a content/trigger warning.
• Make sure that professors and staff are also modeling dialogue and tension in productive, respectful ways publicly.

Helpful resources:

• IDHE Report: Readiness for Discussing Democracy in Supercharged Political Times
• IDHE’s Facilitating Political Discussions: A Facilitator Training Workshop Guide
• James Madison University: Facilitating Difficult Election Conversations
• CEEP’s Campus Civic Discussions: A Nonpartisan Guide
• Bridging & Breaking Workshop Series
• Civic Dinners
• Common Ground for Action Online Forums
• Bring It to the Table

Moving Towards Action.

Always make sure to provide opportunities for civic action, not just discussion. Prepare tangible actions that students can take to stay engaged and prepare to support student activists.

• Provide opportunities of action for after the election. Civic engagement did not end with their vote. Give productive strategies for dealing with concerns - letter writing campaigns, organizations to work with, how to contact their elected officials, how to lobby elected officials, how to safely protest, volunteer, and use creative expression.
• Redirect energy towards supporting the local community. Highlight civic actions that students can plug into, like volunteering in the community and joining local organizations.
• Help students make a plan for their next steps. How are you staying engaged tomorrow? Next week? Next month? In the next year? How are you taking time to pause, heal and reflect?
• Get creative. Create space for campus community members to take part in creative actions, such as an open mic, creative and expressive writing opportunities, and spaces for artistic response.
• Check out volunteer opportunities with Election Protection! Plug into work to help ensure this election is fair and ends in a just outcome. Many states plan to have volunteers monitoring the canvassing and counting of ballots (and engaging in ballot curing where possible).
• Prepare for student activism and potential conflict. There’s a number of scenarios that could arise that may end in conflict. Be intentional about encouraging student participation while maintaining a safe and inclusive campus environment.

Helpful resources:

• Volunteering Opportunities with Election Protection
• For Freedoms: An artist-led organization that models and increases creative civic engagement, discourse and direct action