Students hope to initiate change in community


To kick off its second semester as a campus organization, Motivate & Empower (M&E) held its first THINK Conversation, a student-facilitated social issues discussion, on Saturday in the Ronald Tutor Campus Center Forum. The event, titled “A Day in the Life of ME,” provided a forum for USC students to not only verbalize their views on relevant topics such as gender inequality and inaccessibility of education, but to also create a plan of action for M&E to address these issues in the community.

Think it over · The Motivate & Empower organization encourages students to utilize discussions as a “brave space” to discuss issues. - Carol Kim | Daily Trojan

Think it over · The Motivate & Empower organization encourages students to utilize discussions as a “brave space” to discuss issues. – Carol Kim | Daily Trojan

 

According to the organization’s website, M&E aims to inspire a positive leadership movement on college campuses by serving as a catalyst and support network for student action. The THINK Conversation was designed as one aspect of the organization’s motto, “Think. React. Change.” This semester, the organization plans to add a new component to its existing framework through student-proposed M&E CHANGE Initiatives that help better the overall human experience at USC and in the surrounding area.

“At USC, it’s hard to separate yourself from what you look like or the color of your skin,” M&E Vice President of Community Outreach Cecilia Quintana said.

The founding chapter of M&E was officially launched at USC in March by now-sophomore international relations major Maya Carter, who serves as president of the organization. Since then, the organization’s reach has rapidly expanded, with new chapters formed on other campuses such as Loyola Marymount University.

Several LMU students belonging to the university’s new M&E chapter attended Saturday’s THINK Conversation.

At the event on Saturday, students were asked to list labels that were imposed on them by others on campus. Terms named included “b-tch,” “ethnic,” “ghetto” and “privileged.”

To foster an open dialogue about these titles, Carter then asked students, “What limits you in this box? Why did you place yourself here? What are some unique passions you have that you wish more people knew about?”

Members of the M&E leadership team encouraged students to treat the THINK Conversation as a “brave space,” meaning that conversations should be honest and open without fear of judgment.

Students’ responses were candid.

“I visit my USC friends’ homes, and it seems like one door opens to Beverly Hills and their other door opens to Bel-Air, and, ‘Oh yeah, Beyonce just moved in down the street,’” said Tucker Aust, a sophomore majoring in theatre. “There is definitely a perception at this school that everyone is extremely affluent, and it can be alienating at times.”

The diverse group of students broke into small groups and discussed each other’s responses. Before the THINK Conversation concluded, students were asked to create a plan to change how people discuss these labels and stereotypes on campus, using their individual passions.

Janaé Headly, a sophomore who serves as M&E’s vice president of public relations, felt that the first THINK Conversation accurately reflected the organization’s mission.

“The diverse groups of students that came together — not only from ’SC but from other college campuses also — show that students want to make a difference,” she said. “They just need the necessary resources and information to do so, which is what we hope to provide.”