On October 1, Indiana Wesleyan University residence life staff hosted an event called Stand Up.
This event aims to spread awareness about the struggles students may be facing.
Students filled out a survey of 43 questions related to various past experiences or current struggles. Topics included loneliness, comparison, sexual experiences, family history and others.
Students then turned their own survey in and received someone else’s. Speakers Deane and Becky Webb took turns reading through the questions while students stood on behalf of their fellow audience members.
When the answer to the survey question was “yes” students stood and had the opportunity to observe their peers standing in unity.
The Assistant Director of East Campus, Alex Schneider, said the event went well.
“It served the purpose that we wanted to achieve, which was breaking stigma about hard topics on campus…I think the beauty of this event is we can talk about hard things that don’t get brought up in conversation every other day,” Schneider said.
Freshman Sydney Goodin attended the event and said that hearing speakers Deane and Becky Webb share was encouraging.
“We all struggle and to hear that they struggled too was kind of uplifting,” Goodin said.
Assistant Resident Director Jackson Mott also commented on the event, saying “I love this event because it gives us the opportunity to see what else is going on on campus and really helps us to not feel alone in our struggles.”
Having been a part of Stand Up for the past four years, Mott said that this is the first year that all FYE classes were required to participate.
He said that this increased participation significantly.
“(It) helped with that sense of community and seeing more people on campus struggling with the things that you’re struggling with,” Mott said.
This is just one of the campus events FYE classes have attended thus far this semester as part of the changes made to FYE this year, displaying the commitment IWU has to student thriving.
