Students on the Honors Hall Advisory Board seek to promote intellectual thinking among their peers and community members by creating opportunities to debate controversial issues.
“It’s fun to expose people to diverse ideas,” said freshman Natasha Crook, HHAB president. “People like to hear opposing viewpoints.”
HHAB has been organizing panels of speakers throughout the year that meet to debate issues. Spring term’s first panel discussion will be “What Makes a War Just?” Other spring discussions include “Who Controls the Media?” and “Cloning.”
Past topics have included terrorism, renewable resources, free speech and pornography.
Depending on the topic, the panels have drawn crowds from 20 to 100 people, Crook said. She added the panel on abortion and society drew the largest crowd so far.
HHAB faculty adviser Sharon Schuman created the program about two years ago. Schuman, who is also an assistant professor of literature at the Honors College, met with staff, students and resident assistants to find out what kind of program they wanted to create.
Although the board emphasizes intellectual activity in the honor residence halls, Crook said the board is open to all students who want to get involved.
The board meets Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m. in the Dyment Lounge to decide what topics and keynote speakers to present.
“We try to cater to the interests of everyone,” said freshman Paul Lubliner, HHAB vice president.
After deciding on a topic, the board members discuss who they should recruit to be on the panel. They choose people representing a range of viewpoints in order to avoid a biased debate, Crook said. Panel members often include professors and various other professionals throughout the community who have experience with the topic at hand.
Philosophy Professor Cheyney Ryan spoke on the panel concerning abortion. He said the debate was intense because there were an equal number of pro-choice supporters and anti-abortion supporters.
He also spoke on the panel about chaos, which he said seemed more like a science lecture because there was not much to debate about the issue. He said he believes the program is important for fostering debate and discussion outside of the classroom.
Along with organizing panels, board members participate in other services throughout the community, such as tutoring middle school students.
“It’s a lot about community,” said freshman May Dargan, HHAB publicity committee chair. She said in the spring the board also plans to participate in gardening projects to feed the homeless.
Schuman said she hopes to eventually develop programs like HHAB in other residence halls.
“It’s one thing to have great classes, but students live the majority of their hours at home,” she said. “Why should intellectual life stop there?”