These two roles are to be played by facilitators. Do not share candidate descriptions with simulation participants. Simply act out the roles extemporaneously if you choose to visit the various groups and committees, using your appearances as "wild cards" to keep the simulation engaging.

The Job Candidates

Estella Rodriguez, 30, has a short but impressive resume as a social justice worker. A Puerto Rican from the Bronx, she was the first in her family to graduate from college; she was president of the student government during her junior year. Right after college, she started a street theater company that trained youth in social justice change initiatives and received a Mayor's Award for her activist work. Estella's religious roots are in the Pentecostal tradition, yet she holds a liberal theology and a very progressive ideology. She has just moved to this community. A problem people perceive with her candidacy is that her accent is "so thick" that many people don't understand her (choose any accent that works for you!). She has often been told that she needs to learn "how to speak real English." Wild card move: She goes to the White Allies meeting and says she fears her application won't be taken seriously because of her accent.

Chip Brightwater, 24, a White, heterosexual male, is a high-energy person with an eternal sense of optimism. Even when talking about serious matters, he refuses to see the challenging side of things, and simply dismisses people who raise serious questions. Chip worked in a soup kitchen his senior year in college, where for the first time he witnessed the effects of injustice. He says it changed his life. With his newly acquired bachelor's degree, Chip wants to convince the congregation that his serious commitment to injustice makes him eligible for the job. Wild card move: He offers to work free for the first year. He goes to each group or committee, states his case, and says offensive things to each group (e.g., to a Person of Color, "Your people have come a long way. I'm proud of you;" or, "I used to drink with a lesbian; I think you're cool", or, while shaking hands with a man or woman: "Well, aren't you simply just an attractive human being!"...etc.)