Asbury’s Office of Intercultural Life often seeks to help facilitate programming that engages Asbury students in difficult conversations related to race and cultural diversity. The office revamped one of these events this year through the launch of a series called “Real Talk.”
These events consist of an informal panel of students discussing how their minorized statuses have impacted their experience both in the world at large and at Asbury specifically. These conversations are student-led. The panels are made up of students who are connected to the student alliances of minorized members of campus.
The first “Real Talk” event of the semester was facilitated by students from BSA (Black Student Alliance). Many subjects were addressed including identity of biracial students, beauty standards and interactions with the police among others.
The format of these events encourages students to listen to the experiences of those different from themselves without trying to come up with a response. Students emphasized they were not speaking for the experience of everyone that shares the same racial identity, they are just speaking from what they have experienced firsthand.
The second iteration in this series was facilitated by students from LSA (Latino Student Alliance) and took place on Nov. 17 in the Student Center.
The organizers sought to have a diverse group of students represented. Alejandra Ahern, Sam Dìaz, Eswin Monroy and Veronica Rojas participated in the discussion.
Each student had the opportunity to share stories from their childhood that impacted the formation of their cultural and ethnic identity. During the second portion of the event, the panelists responded to questions submitted by the audience.
These questions covered subjects such as the different special role family plays in the lives of many Latinx people, to how members of the majority culture can be effective allies to this group of people.
More “Real Talk” events are in the works for next semester considering how highly they were attended. ASA (Asian Student Alliance), ISA (International Student Alliance) and MuKappa (Third-Culture Student Alliance) are planning to participate.
