Developing a taste for discomfort campus life by Kathryn Kominars

(far right) with members of PEACE (Peer Educators Advocating Cultural Enrichment).

Maybe it's 'human nature' to want the world to be straightforward and stable, while the nature of the human experience is to live in complexity and change. Since the Middle Ages, people have been looking for simple and elegant answers to complicated and messy questions. As the millennium unfolds, the search for answers to difficult questions continues despite all of the technological developments of the past 100 years. How do we cope in the midst of uncertainty? We manufacture artificial 'comfort zones.' Why? Uncertainty brings discomfort and discomfort is interpreted as a problem.

How do we prepare people for this millennium? We need to help people value, appreciate and capitalize upon diversity. But all too often as we explore 'diversity', the focus rests too easily upon differences and often misses attention to all of the ways in which people are similar. In addition to looking at differences and similarities, we need to assist people to develop a greater tolerance for experiencing discomfort because discomfort stands in the way of achieving a community that values, appreciates and capitalizes upon diversity.

Discomfort is not our enemy. Discomfort signals opportunity and challenge. Discomfort is necessary for change. Avoidance of discomfort fosters ignorance and guarantees stagnation. As we increase our ability to cope with discomfort we can move through it to greater understanding, appreciation, tolerance and community.

For the past few years, members of the Florida International University community have been conducting training sessions for faculty, staff and students to decrease discomfort with sexual minorities (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender individuals) and to create 'safe zones.' Safe zone programs provide information about sexual orientation, community resources for sexual minorities, and panel presentations. The expectation is that accurate information about sexual minorities and sexual orientation as well as personal contact will help to create an environment at FIU in which sexual minorities can feel free to be themselves. This freedom will support academic and personal achievement despite obstacles sexual minorities may encounter in their families, in the University, and in society.

Attendees have reported positive feedback, but they are self-selected and are likely to have overcome some discomfort with sexual minorities. The goal was to develop a program that would assist people to reduce their discomfort with sexual minorities, to increase understanding and to minimize intergroup stereotypes through fostering interaction and the exchange of ideas. This led to the development of the Leadership, Education, and Diversity (LEAD) Initiative for high school and college students. (The LEAD program was developed by the FIU Division of Student Affairs and funded by the Dade Human Rights Foundation.)

In July 2000, the Team Ropes Adventure Challenge (TRAC) program, located at FIU's Biscayne Bay campus, organized a two-day experiential education program. To increase understanding and promote appreciation of similarities and differences, heterosexual students were paired with non-heterosexual students. The program's educational objectives centered upon leadership and diversity training, and teambuilding. Thirty-three volunteers were recruited from local high schools, FIU's undergraduate student body, and students and staff from the FIU Student Government Association.

To measure attitude changes, participants answered two questionnaires before and after the training, a 15- item scale depicting attitudes toward gay and lesbian people and a 10-item self-esteem measure. Statistical analyses showed that there were significant changes in attitudes and self-confidence as reflected by these measures. Data analyses also support the premise that participants were able to decrease their level of discomfort with each other and increase understanding in a constructive, safe, but challenging environment. Innovative programs like the LEAD initiative are necessary. Such programs will help to reduce sexual prejudice, decrease misunderstandings and foster understanding. They will also increase peoples' tolerance of discomfort.

Increased ability to work together despite discomfort will help build tolerance and develop an inclusive community in which everyone is valued and appreciated for their similarities and for their differences. In doing this, we will be preparing people for the realities of the unfolding millennium.

Kathryn Kominars, Ph.D., is university psychologist with the Counseling and Psychological Services Center at Florida International University.