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Students enjoy "Dinner with the Director"

By Andy Elder, Student Affairs Writer

In her short time as director of the Paul Robeson Cultural Center (PRCC), Toby Jenkins has emphasized that one of her main goals was to "hear from campus" in order to learn how best to serve her constituency.

But with so many voices on a campus as large as University Park, Jenkins needed a filtering device so the messages of those she serves wasn't lost in the din.

That filtering device is "Dinner with the Director."

Simply put, Jenkins' "Dinner with the Director" is just that, an opportunity for a select group of students to eat dinner with Jenkins in her home and hold conversations after.

"The idea for the program came from a couple of places. First, I wanted to spend some time connecting and getting to know students," Jenkins said. "Though the PRCC is a wonderful facility, I have found it lacks some of the creative programming space that I am used to (for small-scale programs). So, I decided to use my home."

The idea isn't a new one for Penn State. Jenkins said in discussions with her Penn State colleagues, several past professionals have employed the same concept with individual students.

"I just expanded this to host a larger group of students as an outreach of the center and an opportunity to create a direct line of communication for students to the PRCC director," she said. "At my previous institution (the University of Maryland), I hosted a lunch series that allowed student leaders of color an opportunity to meet and form direct relationships with various professionals on campus - president, provost, vice president of Student Affairs, department directors.

"I didn't want to immediately start tapping colleagues here to participate yet, so I slimmed down the program to be a commitment and outreach on my part."

During fall semester, Jenkins hosted three such dinners. The first involved the Black Graduate Student Association. Another was geared toward the executive boards of several student organizations of color. The last one combined the previous two groups.

"The program was initially an opportunity for me to get to know the students, however, when they attended the dinner I found that the student leaders did not know each other," Jenkins said. "So, is also provided an opportunity for them to network and form relationships between groups. I cook dinner and we engage in discussions, and then wrap with announcements on upcoming programs and meetings."

So far, Jenkins said, attendance has been wonderful. Usually, about 25-30 students attend. Most of the student organizations - Black Caucus, National Pan-Hellenic Council, Puerto Rican Student Association, Latino Caucus, National Hispanic Business Association, NAACP, Black Graduate Student Association, Caribbean Student Association, African Student Association, etc.) have anywhere from three to five officers or executive board members attend.

After dinner, the focus shifts to relaxation and discussion of campus issues. Jenkins said the groups provide her with "synergetic ideas in a culturally inviting environment."

Naturally, the discussions evolved over the course of the three meetings.

"Discussions are focused on campus-based services - helping us to ensure that we are meeting the needs of students. The initial dinners helped me to gain a sense of what gaps existed on campus as voiced by students - what lacks in their college experience, what challenges do they continue to face, what are their impressions of the campus, are they enjoying their time here?" she said.

"After gaining a broad perspective on the student experience, I then began to brainstorm on programs and services to specifically address these issues. In the final dinner, I shared brainstormed ideas for PRCC programs to garner their feedback so that our programs are responsive to student needs and interests."

The students then offered their reactions to the ideas, including how they would be received in their cultural communities. Then Jenkins ascertained how the students would be willing to participate or support the implementation of programs - encouraging student participation, assisting with marketing, helping with planning and other aspects along those lines.

Jenkins said she plans to host one dinner this semester, but is leaning towards hosting two per semester in the future. She said the students have enthusiastically embraced the idea of "Dinner with the Director."

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