Leading up to the National Election this November, Point Loma Nazarene University chapel has partnered with Olive Branch Solutions to bring a series of three branch-out chapels to train students in respectful dialogue. The program, called Olive Branch Conversations, will eventually culminate in a post-election dialogue session hosted by Olive Branch Solutions on Nov. 11.
The branch-out chapels will consist of training sessions which aim to equip students with strategies to engage in “humanizing” dialogue when differing viewpoints are present. Kim Lande, associate and strategist at Olive Branch Solutions, said each chapel will focus on a specific skill – enlightened listening, asking questions and respectful responses – that students will be able to practice.
The subsequent post-election dialogue is the first of its kind to take place in a formal manner on campus.
“I think one of the things that we’re committed to is to be proactive, rather than reactive,” Esteban Trujillo, university chaplain, said. “Our preparation has not only been having Olive Branch solutions as partners, but this has also been something that we’ve been thinking about even since last year, to be honest.”
The partnership between PLNU and Olive Branch Solutions was initiated by Lindey Lupo, dean of Arts and Culture, after she participated in a session, according to Kim Lande. From there, the organization was connected with Trujillo and Colby Douglas, ASB President.
For Douglas, this effort to engage students in difficult conversations is part of making good on a campaign promise of his.
“I was like, OK God, if this is truly your vision for me and for why I want to run, then I’ll make this part of my speech,” Douglas said as he referenced a copy of his speech mounted upon his office wall. “And if the students align with that, then they’ll vote for that. And so that’s what happened. I feel like I now have a duty to carry that out.”
“It’s a fitting time that the election is happening now. But also this is kind of the direction I feel like, at least I want to go,” Douglas said. “I don’t want to speak for the university as a whole, but I feel like that’s where they want to go, and that’s definitely where I want this campus to go, is just to be able to talk openly about things.”
Rosco Williamson, a professor of political science and faculty member at PLNU since 1994, said that in previous election cycles, there have not been any major events of strife on campus. This effort of preparation, he said, seems to be in line with what other universities are doing for the coming election. However, Williamson said, the campus has a tendency to not engage with political issues.
“I hate to say it, but we’re a little apathetic on these things,” Williamson said.
The first of these branch-out chapels took place last Friday, September 20. Makenna Givens, third-year graphic design student, was in attendance among the crowd just under 40 students.
“I do wish that more people had been here because I think that listening skills are really important,” Givens said. “I hope that there will be more people that want to come if they’re struggling with feelings of frustration after the election. I know that this campus will be in need of some kind of dialogue support, so I like that it’s an option.”
Trujillo said the university is working to foster this sentiment of communal support.
“Some people, they’re very passionate about it,” Trujillo said. “Some people are getting very anxious. Some people are actually feeling very emboldened, you know, all of the different things. And the reality is that we’re gonna have to hold all of these folks together in a way that we can still be a community that commits to one another.”
Douglas said the heart of this effort is to strengthen the campus community.
“I think culture can be united to the extent that it is able to talk about things that are difficult,” Douglas said.
The training is not equipping students to agree on an issue, he said, but rather, to understand where another’s beliefs come from.
While these branch-out chapels are leading up to the eventual post-election debrief, those involved including Douglas, Trujillo and Lande all echoed that these are skills that have value outside of the election season.
“When we do this type of civil discourse work, our goal is really to help change the culture on the campus,” Lande said. ”We want to create a culture change for people to be able to have these conversations and be able to take it forward on their own and be able to also learn and take it into their lives after they graduate.”
