Race relations at Brandeis have been heightened during the past year, contributing to Brandeis hosting the annual Society Organized Against Racism (SOAR) conference this past Friday and Saturday. "While 'The Men's Room' incident did not directly lead to the SOAR conference's presence at Brandeis this year, it was a wakeup call for the Brandeis community," organizer Noah Browne '03 said. "It illustrated a pressing need for the conference to actually be at Brandeis, which would benefit the entire campus community, as opposed to a few students traveling to another school for the conference."

SOAR is a regional organization dedicated to anti-bias education, both in the classroom and in the community. Twenty-two colleges and universities, including Brandeis, are members of SOAR. Representatives from various institutions arrived at Brandeis to share their views on racism and exchange ideas. SOAR and Intercultural Center administrator Joan Weintraub praised the turnout for the conference, which included 31 Brandeis students and 140 guests from other schools.

In previous years, Brandeis students have traveled to other schools to attend the conference , to speak and to aid in the establishment of new chapters. Dean of Assistant Dean of Student Life and SOAR President Nathaniel Mays said the Brandeis student chapter of SOAR is an institution upon which other schools may model their own.

SOAR provides "thought-provoking tools for dealing with day-to-day issues on campus," Mays said.

Issues concerning race and racism, while not out of the ordinary on college campuses, are a "tough topic, but (they don't) have to be a mean or harsh topic," he added. Rather, Mays said such issues present a challenge that forces self-scrutiny by a campus and the beginning of change.

President Jehuda Reinharz's Commission of Diversity on Campus, formed in response to the WBRS "Men's Room" incident last year, helped establish Brandeis as the location for this year's conference.

The conference featured both speakers and participant workshops. Visitors from other schools, including students, faculty and administrators, registered before the conference began. Brandeis students could attend the conference for free. The opening session was conducted by Roseanna Pena of Cape Cod Community College. Friday night's keynote speaker was Dr. Richard L. Schwab, Dean of the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut.

Schwab spoke on the subject of the racial gap in education and the necessity for minority professors. The following day consisted of various workshops from which the participants could choose. Professor Johnny E. Williams, who received his doctorate from Brandeis, gave the closing address, touching on ways that students and faculty can fight racism on campus. He urged students to "transform (their) campuses into anti-racist sanctuaries." Williams described himself as "a catalyst of change," telling the audience how he and other students of color boycotted the Brandeis bookstore in the 1988-89 school year when they felt they were being racially profiled by overzealous employees.

Six different workshops were offered with topics ranging from intercultural interactions on campus to diversity in faculty and curricula. The workshop "Responding to Racially Sensitive Incidents on Campus" was conducted by Josephine Carabello and Patricia Trosclair. Carabello, a community-relations specialist with the U.S. Department of Justice, stressed the importance of dialogue as she addressed participants.

The current race relations climate was also discussed. Participants agreed terrorist attacks must not be used as an excuse to attack those of Middle-Eastern descent. Carabello said democracy depends on dialogue and that the "country's future hinges on our success at getting along with one another."

Participants from Suffolk University who had attended the workshop "Student Leadership and Multicultural Skills" described the workshop as "excellent." Carl Parks, a Suffolk student who had attended four previous SOAR conferences, appreciated the camaraderie apparent throughout the conference.

Browne said that, while no campus is free of prejudice or discrimination, hosting the SOAR conference is a sign that Brandeis students are concerned and want to act. He added he felt the conference was a "great experience for Brandeis students and administrators" and considered Brandeis' hosting of the conference as a point of pride.

Moreover, Browne said, the conference was an opportunity for students of diverse backgrounds to bring different views on race and racism to the table and have a good time. "We're all working toward the same goal using different (methods)," he said. "In comparison to other schools, Brandeis has both its pluses and minuses . (but) the idea is not so much to compare schools to one another as to learn from their different strategies and see if those strategies are applicable at other campuses.