h i s t o r y. . .

The "Sustained Dialogue" process was first created by former U.S. diplomat Harold H. Saunders. In the spring of 1999, students David Tukey and Teddy Nemeroff at Princeton University worked with Saunders to create an organization based on the ideas of that process. Two years after Princeton's success, two students at UVA, Priya Parker and Jacqueline Switzer, disturbed by race relations at the University, decided to do the same thing. After the success of Sustained Dialogue at Princeton, UVA, and Dickinson College, the International Institute for Sustained Dialogue (IISD) formed the Sustained Dialogue Campus Network (SDCN) to help students spread SD to other colleges, universities and high schools across the country. Now at over a dozen schools across the country, the strength of the student network keeps growing.

SD@ND was started in August 2003 by Tessa Garcia, Eve Thomas, Christine Amill, and Jelani McEwen-Torrence. It all started when Tessa used her Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program grant to investigate similar concerns regarding race relations at Notre Dame. Many incidents of racism within the dorms and classroom go unreported, and silent tension exists among individuals who have never been exposed to difference. She researched diversity awareness initiatives at Princeton, UVA, and Berkeley.

Intrigued by Sustained Dialogue at Princeton and UVA vs. the American Cultures academic requirement at Berkeley, Tessa proceeded to introduce the program to Notre Dame. After much hard work and dedication from many, SD gained official club status at ND by Winter 2005.

Sustained Dialogue is a proven process for tactile change. The International Institute for Sustained Dialogue, based in Washington D.C. implements Sustained Dialogue in numerous communities both nationally and internationally.

For more information, see www.sustaineddialogue.org