Cardinal Radio and the Organization of Black Unity (OBU) RSOs partnered to organize a Red Table Talk event in the Alumni Lounge on Monday.
The event, which was recorded, held conversations revolving around topics of gender roles, the influence of social media and relationships, marriage and more.
Students got together and asked controversial questions in a safe and respectful environment where all ideas were heard and everyone was given an opportunity to share their opinions.
The host of the event posed different questions, asking the group whether they thought men or women should take the trash out, cook, do the dishes, among many other household chores and responsibilities..
Answers varied, but most agreed that the man should be the one to take out the trash and that the person asking someone else out on a date (whether it be a man or a woman) should be the one to pay for the meal.
Mariah Baker is a communication sophomore who hosted the event and served as a moderator.
“The goal is basically to get different perspectives on life from different people here at Saginaw Valley,” she said. “There are a lot of different people that come from a lot of different areas and you can see how everybody thinks about one topic, and at the end we can agree to disagree and we’re [going to] have fun.”
Baker said that the best way to communicate these kinds of events and spread the message to other students is to reach out by word of mouth. She also said these events are about building a community and bringing people together.
“When you go to these events, you feel like you know everybody; you feel like they’re like a small family,” Baker noted. Byron Leake is a finance senior who is the president of the Organization of Black Unity (OBU).
“OBU has a strategic meeting every year and we decided we wanted to collaborate with all the RSOs on campus,” he said “We wanted to make sure that we’re doing events with everybody this year to make our organization better.”
Leake said the event has been planned for about two months. He said that bringing different RSOs together and networking with other people is key in college, and encourages other students and RSOs to do the same.
“Based off life, it’s not really about what you know; it’s about who you know, and networking is one of the biggest things you can use as a tool in your lifetime,” Leake said
Maddy Bochenek is a communication senior who attended the event. She heard of the event through the Corq app and said that she thinks these table talks have the potential to bring the campus community together, but wished it was advertised better.
She also said that it would have been a better event if it started on time, since it didn’t start until an hour after it was scheduled to begin on the Corq app. Bochenek said that the event was interesting and got her thinking.
“My greatest takeaway from this event was getting to hear everyone’s opinions on certain topics and figuring out why they feel that way,” she said.
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