On Tuesday evening, the Milligan Student Government Association (SGA) hosted the first phase of discussions for their Critical Conversations series. These conversations will be conducted in three phases over the course of the next couple weeks. The exact dates of the remaining phases have yet to be determined.
According to a statement from SGA, the purpose of the conversation series is to “…address concerns brought to the Milligan SGA in November of 2020 concerning the LGBTQ+ community at Milligan.”
The conversation series will have three different phases. Phase One consists of 3 independent student groups. Each group contains 10-15 people, and is led by a student moderator. SGA executives Dalton Shell, Kevin Odom and Chase McGlamery will serve as the moderators. This phase of the Critical Conversation series will be closed to the public.
In regards to the student selection process, Vice President Chase McGlamery explained, “Students were randomly selected to be in the various groups while also ensuring the end result included a balance between male/females, athletes to non-athletes, every school was represented and so forth. It is our goal to utilize a wide cross-section of our student population to participate in these conversations, in order to truly gauge the feelings and mindsets of the Milligan community.”
Phase two involves bringing three to four students from each independent student group discussion together, as well as new members to add varying viewpoints and broaden the discussion. The three moderators will also be present for this phase to help summarize ideas presented in the conversations held in phase one.
During the third and final phase, results of conversations held by the student groups and faculty members will be brought together. After the student groups and faculty members have discussed their ideas, and developed a plan, the conversations will then be shared with the rest of the Milligan community.
SGA states, “This series is designed to bring students together with various backgrounds and vocations. By bringing students together from across our campus, we hope to create an atmosphere where we may learn from and respectfully engage with one another on sensitive, real world topics.”
SGA has developed strict standards for the discussions held in the Critical Conversation series. The standards are to ensure that every participant feels safe to share opinions, and all students feel valued and appreciated. Students will also not be pressured to speak given the sensitive nature of the discussions.
In an open letter from the Student Government Association, SGA President Dalton Shell explained, “The feelings expressed by some in the community (LGBTQ+), and others who support the community, is not something that we in student leadership wish to ignore or ‘put on the back burner’… A team of students have been working, in conjunction with the faculty/staff group, to ensure that voices all across campus are heard on this issue.”
If you would like more information on the Milligan Student Government Association, click here.