Boards have been posted throughout the Boling University Center with different topics being split down the middle with the words “LOVE” and “HATE” on their respective sides.
UT Martin’s Baptist Collegiate Ministry provided the boards to cover the topics of Finances, College, Politics, Family, Dating and Religion with students being able to anonymously come and put their feelings about the topics onto the posters. Giving students a voice in a place where they may feel minimal compared to the larger population by being able to see others who directly relate to them about what is going on in their own lives. The boards allow for each student to be vulnerable with themselves and also relieve some of the everyday pressures of trying to be the perfect college student. The boards themselves were not branded with BCM because the goal was not to have it be religion-based, but more of an open dialogue between the student body.
Morgan Owen, Baptist campus minister for BCM, spoke on the goal when presenting the idea to UT Martin faculty, “The bottom line is, we all have things we love, things we hate and things we struggle with, but that should not be something that is being hidden away from others.” The boards give room for these ideas to be shared in a way that promotes a healthy discussion between people who may disagree, but that does not mean that either person has to be wrong. Owen said, “So we just felt like the value was, we have a dialogue about the things that can unite us, and even the things that sometimes divide us.”
The uses of the words “LOVE” and “HATE” are important because it does not leave much room for flexibility. Owen states,” Sometimes when we look at issues, we feel that we’re polarized, polarized like black and white issues, but in truth, there’s a lot of middle ground. And the value of the middle ground is where I think the majority of the people find themselves.” Forcing someone to choose a side makes them feel like they are being trapped in a group and being pinned against the other side. When in actuality that is not what is going on at all.
BCM is hosting a Discussion Night to follow up on the poster boards in Watkins Auditorium on March 7 from 5:00 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. The purpose of the event is to bring all the sides together to have a conversation about the feelings that were being shown on the boards. Charles Pate, Outreach Team leader for BCM, spoke on his goals with hosting the Discussion Night, “You’re able to find that middle ground. You’re in a room full of students, and you’re hearing their opinions and their takes. And then that night, you can be like, ‘’I see the middle ground now.’”
Owen speaks of BCM as an organization: “BCM is a place for anyone who’s seeking and searching. It’s a place for the saint, but it’s also a place for the skeptic. It’s a place where people can come and find answers. We want to help people as they’re searching, and trying to make those decisions.”
