Conflict Education

In the 2023-2024 academic year, CACE surveyed 91 CAS students about their experience with conflict, and the key takeaways from that survey were:

• Students report their largest conflicts occurring between roommates, classmates, and their immediate friends. 
• Students reported not engaging with support resources for conflict, because 1.) they want to handle the conflict themselves, 2.) they want a peer to assist them, or 3.) they actively avoid managing conflict. 
• Students also reported their biggest concern with handling their personal conflicts to be 1.) managing personal anxiety around conflict, 2.) struggling to initiate a conversation around conflict, and 3.) finding the right language to use in a conflict. 

To address these issues, our office work with a skilled conflict trainer and consultant, Léna Crain, PhD, to design a series of conflict workshops to help students grow their own skills with managing conflict. These workshops were taught to the CACE office staff but also to 16 staff across the Division of Student Life to partially implement at student leader trainings across our Division. 

Throughout the year, CACE will be offering these conflict education workshops to help students build skills around conflict: 

A full schedule of workshops will be published in Fall 2024 both online and in The Bark. Students who complete all of these sessions and attend one Community Dialogue this academic year will qualify to become a Student Conflict Advocate. Learn more on our Student Involvement page. 

Interested in having CACE hold a custom workshop for your student group? Email cace@lclark.edu.