Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 62

CONVERSATIONS
engagement or because of fear of
reprisal from other students. A healthy
place to begin conversations may
be around identity itself, allowing
students to claim several identities
that may or may not be associated
with religious, secular, and spiritual
identity. Eventually, the conversation
may narrow, and conversations may
begin about upbringing and messages
about religion that were associated
with the student's childhood. This
removes the personal association and
allows for conversations to begin at the
childhood and adolescent experience
level. This narrative approach can then
be expanded upon, allowing students
to open up and express what values
and beliefs they currently hold, including any misgivings they have about
formalized religion. It is important in
these conversations to help students
understand secular identities and how
each and every person is identified
under this umbrella. These conversations are meant to be a safe space,
where debate is withheld and students
instead learn to listen to each other's
experiences and then ask questions
that clarify points.

Goodman: Values can be a good place
to start since they drive students' majors, careers, involvement on campus,
and how they interact with others or
live their values. Ask what they value
and how they developed those values.
Sometimes, you will need to be more
obvious because students perceive
this as a taboo topic. In that case you
could be more direct by asking what
they value and whether or not there
were any spiritual, secular, or religious
influences on those values. This can
be a great topic for hall programming
as long as you are inclusive. Don't
assume spirituality is a universal
experience; some religious groups and
some secular folks do not relate to this
concept. Use broad language like spiritual, secular, and religious or theistic
and non-theistic. Even the language of

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interfaith can sometimes make secular
students feel excluded, so if that is
a term you use, make sure secular
students are welcome to participate in
interfaith endeavors.
TS: What types of questions should
campus staff be prepared to answer?

Babarskis: What activities or interactions are happening within
my community informally? It's not
uncommon for questions about faith,
spirituality, and secularism to be arising organically within a residential
community: Bible studies that are
hosted by students or students' mentors, a casual conversation in a room
or lounge that turns to matters of values or belief. Are your live-in staff willing to listen for or look for the signs of
these conversations? Have your live-in
staff been given an opportunity to role
model how to dig into these topics?
Do your live-in staff have chances to
reflect and develop their own views on
these topics?

Myhrum: The main question that
staff in residential communities can
be prepared to answer is, "Who can
I turn to for religious, spiritual, and
worldview support? On campus? Off
campus?"
Nielsen: Campus staff need to be able
to first and foremost help students
identify their rights and responsibilities in their religious, secular, and
spiritual beliefs. For many students,
college and residential living is the
most diverse experience they have ever
had, maybe even their first experience
with a roommate. Reminding and
encouraging them to ask appropriate
questions can be a great way to help
them begin this conversation with
others. Campus staff also need to
understand the basic needs of students
and tell them how to access supportive resources. For example, where on

campus are the prayer and meditation
spaces (if there are any)? If there are
none, be prepared to find out how
students can meet their prayer needs
appropriately. Information about
food options, especially for practicing
Muslims and Jews (Halal and Kosher
options), is especially important.
Knowing how students can access
these on campus or at local restaurants
is important.
Campus staff should also be ready
to answer questions about the appropriateness of certain activities in and
around campus. Is inviting someone to
worship or Bible study allowed? Can a
student host a group in the residence
hall that is supported (advertised or
in some other way) by the residence
hall? These questions, along with those
regarding what is considered proselytizing, are important. These answers
should come early in the year, oftentimes discussed in hall meetings, so
that students are given answers before
the questions need to be asked, to avoid
the possibility of a student or student
group violating student conduct codes.

Goodman: Here are a few questions
students may ask and a potential
answer for each. Why can't we have
a Christmas tree in ___ (some public
space)? The Constitution prevents
public institutions from promoting
one particular religious perspective
- in this case, Christianity. You could
encourage them to create an interfaith
display that would get them to learn
about multiple religious traditions as
well as solstice or other secular winter
traditions.
Why are their Bible study groups
meeting in residence hall space (at
a public university)? The Constitution allows for religious expressions
at public schools as long as the same
resources and opportunities are
available to individuals of any theistic
or non-theistic worldview. Often,
Christians are the dominant religious
group on campus, so they can seem

Talking Stick - May/June 2018

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