I know that not everyone I go to class with has the same experience I do, but that would be the same at ANY college or university. At PCC, I also know that other students are as different from each other as they are from me. This means that to study together, to learn together, we ALL have to put in work. We all have to figure out how to talk to each other and understand each other.

Because we are learning to communicate, it doesn’t always go smoothly. I am glad to know that if I accidentally insult someone (that IS often what we are talking about when we talk about bias) they have options available to them other than to: a) take it in silence, b) flame back, or c) escalate it to a legal proceeding. Having someone to talk an experience over with is a powerful tool for figuring out how to deal with it constructively. Remember, being insulted is a feeling – not a subjective fact. That doesn’t make it any less real.

If I intend to insult you, that’s one thing. If something I say makes you feel insulted, that’s another. That might not have been my intention, but you have no way to know. The LITE program offers a resource to help you figure out what you are feeling, why you are feeling that way (which may or may not have much to do with what was actually said), and, perhaps, what next steps to take so that, If I accidentally insult you, you can come back with a cool head and tell me that, and we can talk it over, and continue to work together as friends and colleagues.

I mentioned before how PCC’s diverse student body was a real benefit to me. The demographic composition of my classes is not an accident – it is the result of many years of hard work, mentoring, leadership, and outreach. It is a result of ongoing programs like LITE, ASPCC Student Outreach, and others that work to support students in the difficult work we are doing both academically and socially. As a white man, I am privileged. Among other things, I am privileged to work and study with so many amazing people, from so many backgrounds, at such a wonderful school.

I want to thank everyone who works to help me, and all PCC students, succeed together. From the bottom of my heart – Thank you!

Thanks also to previous commenters for sharing their feelings so honestly. We don’t agree, but I am glad that we’re talking about it. See you around campus, and good luck on midterms. Now, back to the math.

“This differs from formal processes that are more objective and fact-finding in nature. By contrast, the goal of LITE is to listen and uphold – to examine how someone was affected by an experience, rather than if they were affected.”

I can’t help but to disagree with the value, and validity of this program. Moreover, I disagree that such a group in any way upholds the integrity of higher learning. When we abandon the process of seeking objective truth and rely on subjective feelings on an institutional level we run the risk of destroying the liberties and justice of the free world by replacing them with communism and cultist collectivism where hyperbole and fantasy run amok.

– Concerned Citizen