Tufts' Bias Education and Awareness Team (BEAT Bias) will tonight be hosting an event that will offer students the opportunity to converse with the opposite sex on the topic of gender roles and hook-up culture in a college setting.
The event, "Kiss and Tell," will take place at 8 p.m. in Alumnae Lounge and will serve as a forum for students to share their ideas and opinions on social life at Tufts, particularly with regard to the way members of both genders interact outside of the classroom.
Sophomore Tucker Delaney-Winn, a member of BEAT Bias, said that the evening's event is a collaboration between Zeta Psi fraternity, Chi Omega sorority and BEAT Bias.
Delaney-Winn said that the Greek community's involvement will ensure the representation of the views of a major player in the campus party scene, where gender interactions are often the most complex and potentially problematic.
"We wanted to connect with a group that might not usually do events like this," Delaney-Winn said. "[Fraternities] and sororities are a big part of the social life here, and it's important to bring them into the discussion."
Senior Jaclyn Thomas, a BEAT Bias member and event coordinator, said that the discussion will be facilitated by event coordinators but will take follow the direction of audience members who express their opinions and concerns.
"We're going to throw out questions and facts to see what people think about it," Thomas said. "It's meant to be a forum to talk about things you couldn't normally talk about."
She explained that at parties where loud music is blasting, and conversation is oftentimes secondary to dancing, men and women do not have the chance to discuss their interests or even their interest in a relationship.
According Delaney-Winn, BEAT Bias presents several opportunities each semester to foster awareness and dialogue among students about social issues such as inter-sexual relations.
"We're a proactive group that puts out educational and social events about issues such as sexism or racism," Delaney-Winn said. "We want to address how [the issues] can exist around campus, though we may not think about them every day and make people conscious about it."
Delaney-Winn said that thus far, the Facebook.com group for tonight's forum has over 150 confirmed attendees and is made up of a fairly balanced group of men and women.
"We're hoping for a larger portion of men than past events have had," Thomas said.
Delaney-Winn noted that he has spoken with male friends about the event and given them examples of some of the discussion prompts BEAT Bias plans to use. The response, he said, has been positive.
"Talking to guys about it, they're interested to hear how women will respond," Delaney-Winn said. "When I talk to people about the event, people are very excited. It's really a chance for men and women to communicate."
