Groups attempt to spark campus dialogue

At some point, many students imagine debating controversial topics while sitting on College Green. And recently, several programs have been popping up at Penn in an effort to encourage such dialogue. Campus Conversations, sponsored by the Office of Student Life, aims to engage Penn students in dialogue about various topics every Tuesday. The Undergraduate Assembly co-sponsors the Fireside Chats program -- a part of Campus Conversations -- that was inaugurated earlier this month with Provost Robert Barchi at the helm. And the PennTalks College House Spring Series works to "build community through conversation," using the College House System. Administrators see these programs as a way to increase student contact, and student leaders advocate them as ways for Penn students to get involved. Student leaders said that conversation-oriented events are important to help students get to know the people who run Penn. Student Committee on Undergraduate Education chairwoman Lindsey Mathews said all three programs have potential to be successful student forums. "I think they're a wonderful opportunity to give students in order to start cultivating a more intellectual atmosphere at Penn," she said. But while students agree that the programs have merit, turnout has been less than organizers ultimately hoped for. College sophomore Justin Joseph hasn't attended events organized by either program, but said "I think it's important." Stacey Rubin, a College senior, echoed Joseph's sentiments. "I think that could be useful if people do attend," she said. "They'd have to be well publicized and on topics [with] which Penn students are both interested and familiar." Last night, for one, Campus Conversations held its second forum about the relationship between Penn and the West Philadelphia community -- and only drew 10 students to Houston Hall. An eclectic group of students and West Philadelphia residents gathered to discuss both the current state of the relationship between Penn and West Philadelphia. Campus Conversations Coordinator Chidinma Ibe hopes to reach more students through dialogue like that which took place last night. "I guess I would like to see more people just for the sake of having more different opinions," she said. Ibe also said that although attendance has been low, the program "is still young... so it's kind of hard to know whether this is how it always will be." She plans to get more people involved through e-mails, listservs, and word of mouth. College sophomore Danielle Hannah expressed no surprise about the low attendance at the Campus Conversations event last night. "[It's] very sad that in a campus where there's an issue that affects everyone on campus, there's no one there," she said. "I expected only those who came, which is a small number anyway, to be there." And organizers agree that they still have to build attendance at these events, leaving student leaders struggling with the question of how to get people to the events. Attendance "has been growing, and we see much promise," former Residential Advisory Board Chairman Michael Pezzicola said. But Director of College Houses and Academic Services David Brownlee said there are some advantages to the small size. "My understanding of this is that they were intended to be relatively small, focusing on a college house audience," he said, adding that they were not "intended to be giant lectures." Barchi's Fireside Chats drew about 30 students last month and will continue on the first Tuesday of every month. The program is designed for the provost and students to address issues surrounding Penn's academic mission. Nonetheless, however, bringing students to the events still proves troublesome for leaders. UA Chairman Michael Bassik also said that it is difficult to raise attendance at such events, even though the UA regularly sends out e-mails about these events to the student body and tries to find events that will appeal to the average Penn student. He cited "lack of interest on students' part and lack of ability for us to promote the events" as major obstacles. "Our biggest problem would probably be informing the student bodies that these opportunities exist," he said. "[Students] don't really have a desire to sit around with other random students and discuss an issue." Bassik said that so far, the most effective way to ensure attendance has been through face-to-face contact. "The way that I've always been successful in ensuring that our events are filled is by requiring that individual members of the UA bring their friends," he said. The Penn Public Talk Project kicked off the PennTalks initiative last spring, which was intended to gather small groups of students to discuss their experiences at Penn. The program was poorly attended, however, and slipped from the Penn scene momentarily. But University officials and students are trying again, and PennTalks is back in a new form -- the PennTalks College House Spring Series. Pezzicola said that newly initiated PennTalks College House Spring Series' goal meshes well with RAB's goals. "PennTalks' main purpose is to promote discussion about issues among the student body at Penn," he said. "RAB's goal is to promote inter-house activities and... promote academic programs within the College House System. PennTalks is a great way to do that." The first event of the PennTalks College House Spring Series -- a series of discussions led by various faculty and students in a different college house each time -- began on January 30 with a talk about the phenomenon of reality-based TV shows. The Spring Series will continue at College Houses and will cover topics ranging from medical ethics to electoral reform. Another aspect of PennTalks involves training initiatives to teach Penn community members how to effectively facilitate a conversation. PennTalks Program Coordinator Lillian Rozin said these training initiatives are meant to teach the participants how to "make sure that everybody's opinions and thoughts are heard... when there are strong disagreements."