The College Writing Program forged new connections this semester with the beginning of two unique groups: a writing group for racial minorities and an honors thesis writing group.
“At least since my time here, we haven’t had writing groups,” said Emma Hetrick, the College Writing Program coordinator, noting that they are “fairly common” at college writing centers across the country.
She said that because there was already a need for these specific writing groups, “these would be good places to start in experimenting with getting writing groups off the ground at Lafayette.”
Since the kickoff events for the writing groups earlier in the semester, the BIPOC – Black, Indigenous and People of Color — writing group has been meeting on Monday evenings in the Portlock Black Cultural Center. The honors thesis group convenes in Skillman Library on Thursday nights.
Hetrick said that the idea for a BIPOC writing group came from informal conversations she had with students of color on campus.
“There seemed to be a need on campus to have a space for students of color to be able to be in community with one another and work on their writing together to get feedback, to support each other,” Hetrick said.
Gabrielle Kelenyi, an assistant English professor, helped set up the writing groups and has experience in affinity-based writing groups as a facilitator and participant. She noted that these groups have been successful for both undergraduate and graduate students and have been said to have made a positive impact on many student writers.
The group is aimed at students of color seeking a place to work on any current writing projects and receive feedback from other people of color.
Both writing groups are mentored by student writing associates. Emma Li ‘27, one of the writing associates for the BIPOC writing group, said that the writing group could help form an “academic community” for students of color who struggle being on a predominantly white campus through the universal act of writing.
“It’s good to have spaces where you’ll see people of color,” Emma Li ‘27 said.
According to Herrick, the idea for the honors thesis writing group also came from conversations with students and faculty members.
“We were really excited by the opportunity to bring students’ writing theses in any discipline together since they’re all communally bound by writing this long-term project,” she said.
Kelsey Wong ‘25, one of the writing associates for the honors thesis writing group who is currently working on a thesis of her own, said that students typically don’t talk much at sessions, but that there is a sense of “silent support” in the fact that they are all working through similar assignments that “helps build a sense of community.”
“To come together in an interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary space I think helps folks see that culture of writing and feel that culture of writing,” Kelenyi said.
Both groups follow a similar format: each meeting starts with a goal-setting exercise where students can articulate what they hope to accomplish for the writing session. Students then begin to work independently on their writing for an hour with a small break in between. One or two writing associates are available if additional help is needed.
After each meeting, students reevaluate the goals they set for themselves at the beginning of the session and make a plan for what they hope to accomplish the next time they meet.
“Having a time each week where you reflect and think back on what you want to set for yourself is just helpful because it’s really easy to lose focus on what you want to actually do,” Wong said.
Feedback is also incorporated into meetings.
“We do want to encourage folks to get feedback from each other because everybody’s working through a similar thing,” Hetrick said.
“But also, if somebody just wants to put in their earbuds and work for an hour and a half, that’s totally okay too,” she added.
Hetrick and Kelenyi both hope that the two groups lead to the formation of other writing groups on campus.
“It’s starting to spread organically and grow organically,” Kelenyi said.
Disclaimer: Sports Editor Grace Sanborn ’25 is a writing associate for the honors thesis writing group. She did not contribute writing or reporting.