Coffee set to promote meaningful conversations

Students are invited to attend Coffee and Conversations, an event put on by the Office of Civic Engagement, to enjoy coffee and have meaningful discussions aimed at practicing awareness and empathy. 

The sixth annual Coffee and Conversations event is being held Feb. 12, 19 and 26 from I p.m. to 3 p.m. in the Trojan Center Ballrooms. Students are encouraged to go have conversations that will helpconnect them with others despite their differences. 

“At the heart of Coffee and Conversations is a chance to share perspectives no matter the topic,” said Jayden McQueen, a senior political science major from Crestview, Florida, and a civic scholar involved with the event. 

The Office of Civic Engagement is hopeful the event will encourage students from all areas to shape a culture of unity at Troy University.  

Students must attend all three sessions to earn the certification recognizing their training. The event was originally called “Real Talk on Race” and was designed to discuss stereotypes and biases but changed to discussing belonging in the Troy community. 

According to the Troy Service Instagram account, the event is a chance to practice awareness and empathy by listening to each other’s stories. 

Although there are currently no stated topics of conversation, students are encouraged to engage and share their perspective of choice. Some of the topics may be more difficult to process, and students are urged to look into them without bias. 

“Apart from strengthening skills in dialogue and deliberation,” McQueen said. “Listening to various perspectives, students can earn a certificate recognizing their willingness to engage in meaningful conversations to foster campus unity.”  

In previous years, the conversation was centered around bias and how to treat one another regardless of the intentional or unintentional biases a student may have. 

The conversations may end up being similar this year, but the overall goal is to bring new people into the mix and allow them to expand the meaningful conversations.  

Students must sign up before attending the event. Students can sign up at my.troy.edu/service. For more information on what else to expect from this event, visit @troy_service on Instagram.