What We Do

Advising and Engagement

In partnership with student organizations and campus partners, we create supportive systems for students in order to ensure a smooth and positive transition to Dartmouth, facilitate students' identity development, and increase their awareness of and access to resources throughout their time on campus.

Community and Leadership Development

We work to create a respectful and inclusive Dartmouth by coordinating and facilitating programs that center the values, needs, strengths, and practices of marginalized communities and by approaching leadership development through the lens of social justice.

Education and Training

We conduct workshops and trainings for students to increase their knowledge and awareness of identity, power, and privilege and the impact these have on themselves, others and communities. We equip students with tools for communicating across difference, recognizing bias, and intervening in moments of harm.

Advocacy

We work across the institution to remove barriers and address needs related to ethnicity, gender identity or expression, nationality, race, sexuality, first gen identity, and socioeconomic status. We empower students to self-advocate by helping them identify needs and develop strategies to achieve their goals.

In alignment with our mission, we are focused on increasing the capacity of students to contribute to a socially just world. OPAL's approach to leadership is based upon five key principles: social change, individual leadership development, community leadership, coalition building, and experiential learning. We infuse these principles into all of our community development programs, including heritage/history months, mentorship trainings, and graduation celebrations.

In these programs, we provide various opportunities for peer mentors and/or student led committees to build the following capacities while gaining hands-on experience working with others: a greater understanding of one's own identities, experiences, values, and strengths; knowledge of individual, interpersonal, and structural oppression; appreciation for the experiences and backgrounds of others; confidence to lead from one's strengths and perspectives; and strategies for standing up for one's beliefs and/or acting in solidarity with others.