Students discuss experiences of marginalized community members

APU students gathered in the Cougar Dome on Tuesday evening to engage in conversation about the experiences of people who may feel discriminated against on campus.

The Spiritual Formation Service and Leadership team organized “Uncommon Conversations,” an interactive event series, to provide a safe space for more than 50 students who attended the event to participate in difficult conversations about religion, race, social justice, sex and politics.

Discussion centered around the way the LGBTQ+ community is treated in conservative Evangelical environments, and how people engage with members of minority groups. Some other  issues that were raised included the way Central American immigrants feel living in the U.S., how African Americans are treated by the justice system and what it means to be a sexual assault survivor.

The “Uncommon Conversation” series began last semester in response to rising student concern of racial tension on campus, according to Associate Campus Pastor for Spiritual Formation Ta’Tyana Leonard.

As an exercise, students were asked to pose the sexual identities of either a heterosexual ally, a bisexual or pansexual, a gay or lesbian, or a transgender person and envision hypothetical scenarios of what each of those people might live through in real life.

Scenarios ranged from negative responses to coming out and losing relationships with loved ones to the abuse of drugs and alcohol by people who identify as LGBTQ+.

Judah Lacy, a junior commercial music major and SALT member, said it was helpful to connect with students and LGBTQ+ members and be able to listen to them.

It was good to see where people are coming from, what their pains are and realizing that other people’s pains are similar to ours,” Lacy said. “No matter where we come from and what our backgrounds are, we all have pains.”

Throughout the event, attendees filled out profiles which asked them questions about their identities, ethnicities, sex, sexual orientation and their family backgrounds.

Students then received filled-out questionnaires of anonymous individuals and were asked to discuss the similarities and differences between the stranger’s profile and their own.

Leonard said the goal of the activity was to teach students how to listen to understand, rather than respond, in order to be able to empathize with others.

Following discussion, students engaged in a ‘Privilege Walk’ in the Cougar Gym to observe how their family backgrounds affect where they find themselves on the social stratum of APU.

Students began the walk by lining up against the back wall of the gym. Depending on the answers they submitted on their profiles, they would take a step forward for positive responses and take a step back for negative ones.

Towards the end, many students remained with their backs against the wall, while others found themselves mid-way across the gym.

Santeon Brown, a senior communications major, said the event was beneficial for people who are affirming of LGBTQ+ relationships, and feel they do not have a safe space on campus to start conversations between people with opposing beliefs.

I don’t think change is going to happen by speaking to people who have the same views as you do,” Brown said. “It’s definitely harder to speak to someone who is non-affirming because a lot of guards are immediately raised, but it’s definitely something I’d like to do and think others should too.”