The Multicultural Student Center (MSC) will host a discussion about race and racism on campus at the Russell Union Ballroom on Oct. 20, 2015 at 7 p.m., as part of their “Courageous Conversation” series.

“The goal of the event is to have an open and honest conversation about race and racism on GSU campus and within the Statesboro community,” John Nwsou, Diversity Education Coordinator at MSC, said.

The discussion will be led by Sociology Professor Nathan Palmer and Dr. Breyan Haizlip in the Russell Union Ballroom. This will be the second time the MSC hosts “Courageous Conversation” since 2013.

Although the main topic of the conversation is race and racism at Georgia Southern, the conversation will include a variety of other topics.

“This event will specifically focus on race but several other challenging topics will make its way to the surface while doing so including, gender, sexual orientation, education and employment opportunities,” Nwsou said.

Students feel that it’s important to attend events like Courageous Conversations, to voice their opinions.

“I would go to an event about race because it’s gives you a chance to voice your opinion about controversial topics,” Shiann Kilburn, Psychology and Pre-med major, said. “You can change the world while voicing your opinion because you never know who may be listening.”

In addition, the MSC is not the only organization on-campus that discusses race and other controversial topics. The Diversity Peer Educators, which educates students on diversity, inclusion, and social justice, and the Deliberative Dialogue organizations, which teaches students different ways to bring up conversation about race, allow students to have more in-depth discussions about other topics.

It’s important to have talks about race and racism because it affects all of us and it’s not discussed enough, according to Nwsou. However, it is not always easy to have those discussions.

“It’s challenging to have the conversation because we are taught to make sure we are politically correct and not to offend others when speaking about race and racism,” Nwsou said. “Now is the time to have a conversation about race because race matters more now. There are more opportunities to have the conversation and several consequences of not having the conversation.”

The event is open to the general public and attendance verification will be provided.