A Campus Conversation surrounding current issues and racial inequality will take place in the Baker Center Ballroom Tuesday from 3 to 5 p.m.
Last semester, Ohio University students sat down to talk about civility and support. Now they have the opportunity to sit down again and talk racial inequality and dynamics.
A second Campus Conversation will take place Tuesday in the Baker Center Ballroom from 3 to 5 p.m.
“(The idea) came out of conversation,” said Winsome Chunnu-Brayda, associate director of the Multicultural Center. “There was one last semester that came out of conversations around civility and being a Bobcat family and how we support each other as Bobcats.”
Various tables will be set up with different topics along with a facilitator ready to have a conversation. People are able to have an open dialogue about the topic and move on to another table after their discussion, said Cecil Walters, director of the Office for Multicultural Student Access and Retention and a facilitator for the event.
At the 15th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Silent March & Brunch, OU President Roderick J. McDavis said he and his wife Deborah would attend.
Conversation topics cover current issues including the shooting deaths in Ferguson and Cleveland and their corresponding protests across the nation. They will also look into the social media aspect and address some of the popular hashtags that derived from the incidents.
“There’s going to be table discussions from topics like Ferguson to being black on campus, and how that feels — dealing with hate on social media,” said Jenny Hall-Jones, dean of students. “(The) conversation will help us narrow down the topics we can talk (about) through the semester. Hopefully a lot of people come. It’s really just people talking to each other.”
It is not a panel discussion, and the facilitators of the event are not experts but rather people who want to engage in conversation, Walters said.
With the events that have taken place across campus and the nation in the previous months, it shows that people want to talk about it, Walters said. Campus Conversations is a way to engage those people.
“We wanted to have a ‘next steps (table)’ because often times we have these discussions and they can be great, but what happens?” Walters said. “Let’s talk about what we want to do to address an issue. What’s the best way to do that? Students can do that. Faculty can do that. We all can do that in partnership.”
Although others believe the topic is important and talking about it is a good step, some think racial inequality should not be a present issue in society.
“I think it’s important to have this conversation,” said Taylor Ducharme, a freshman studying nutrition. “I feel that everyone should have the same rights. We shouldn’t have to talk about it all the time because recognizing equality should be second-nature.”
@lizb143
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@lizb143
eb823313@ohio.edu
