Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 61

facilitate on a specific topic. However,
belief, or how values inform behavior,
can be an extremely personal subject.
Conversations on these topics flow
best if those involved have an opportunity to share a little about who they
are, what formed them, and a few
instances where that has worked well
or poorly for them. Vulnerability and
trust are inherent ingredients.

Phoebe Myhrum: This depends on
if and how religious, spiritual, and
worldview support is structured on
each campus, but there are many
ways to have an advocate for faith and
secular identities at the table for staff
training planning and implementation. Student representatives from
different faith and secular identities
can speak best to what it's like to live
in a particular campus community. Try
reaching out to campus organizations
that have a religious, spiritual, faith, or
worldview flavor, and ask if they would
like to be involved in the conversation. If your campus has a chaplain,
chaplaincy team, or religious life
team - especially if it is a religiously
diverse team - these individuals can
be helpful. For campuses that do not
have diverse religious professionals on
staff, then turn to faculty and staff who
choose to identify openly as religious,
spiritual, or secular. Additionally, local
congregations and religious communities can be great resources; building these relationships early and in a
sustained way can be very helpful in
supporting a religiously diverse campus community.

J. Cody Nielsen: One of higher
education's most underutilized
professional staff is their chaplains
(private universities) and campus
ministry affiliates (public universities). Campuses are typically well
populated with these individuals,
who represent a diversity of beliefs
and practice that can be useful for

the university. Understanding the
value that an individual brings is of
paramount importance in determining who should be at the table when
training staff. In an ideal world, a
diversity of beliefs would be represented in these trainings, but limited
time and resources likely requires
some screening of staff. In this case,
it is important to understand that
parachurch staff (those who represent
CRU - formerly Campus Crusade for
Christ - The Navigators, InterVarsity,
Acts2Fellowship, and others) lean
toward a conservative Christian lens
that, though important to the conversation, may not always be the most
useful. Protestant and Catholic Christian ministries, Hillel professionals,
Muslim chaplains, and professionals
or leaders of other faith and nonfaith traditions are often some of the
best professionals to consider in the
conversation and trainings, as they
represent views that are more aligned
with university administration.

Kathy Goodman: There is a lot of
variation to this, depending on your
campus structure. Those campuses
with a spirituality center, interfaith
center, or chaplain(s) have a good place
to start. If you have a religious studies
program, finding someone from there
who is interested in student learning
outside the classroom can be helpful.
Other options are to seek out the advisors (and possibly students) of student
organizations focused on religion,
spirituality, secularity, or interfaith
engagement. Sometimes you will find
interfaith work happening in offices
you might not consider, such as the
Office of Community Engagement or
a center or program for contemplative
studies or mindfulness. Hillel exists
near many campuses and very often
has an interest in promoting both
Jewish life and interfaith work. I once
worked on a campus where interfaith
work was underground in that if you

searched the campus website, you
wouldn't find it. But I learned that if
you ask around, you will eventually
find the right people.
TS: Where is a good place to start with
students to open conversations about
faith and secular identities?

Babarskis: The best place to start is
with your own story. Everyone has
experiences that shaped how they view
the world and informed their values.
When you delve into topics that touch
upon the core of who someone is, or
the central identities that inform their
lives, reciprocity and trust are important to establish. The person with the
higher position or with the greater
institutional power or authority is usually in a better place to set the tone.

Myhrum: The best place to start is
assuming that these can be vulnerable
conversations, especially for those who
claim a minority faith identity; some
students will have more privilege to
talk openly about their identities than
others. It is important that participants in these conversations are given
ample heads-up for conversations of
a religious and spiritual nature, so
they know what they are walking into
and are given the opportunity to opt
out. Starting with understanding how
these conversations can feel unsafe
for some is key to setting everyone up
for success. If the space is open and
voluntary, then having dialogue space,
rather than space for debate, is a good
next step. Basic elements of dialogue,
whether it is spiritual or not, emphasize a structure where participants
speak from "I" statements rather than
theoreticals or generalizations.
Nielsen: It is important to consider
that students may be openly resistant
to conversations around this topic,
either because of previous negative

MAY + JUNE 2018

Talking Stick - May/June 2018

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