As the pandemic waxes and wanes, and Bethel figures out ways to mitigate risks, the college is able to be more open and free than it has been for a year and a half. However, traces of COVID-19 protection protocol still linger; most notably, Convocation has still not returned to its original format and esteem in the Krehbiel Auditorium. Instead, it is held in the largely impersonal Memorial Hall.
Because of this, and the online format Convo took last year, there’s an entire underclassman generation that doesn’t really know what Convo is for, or why we as a student body participate in it.
Convocation is one of the unique ways Bethel prepares students for a life in today’s world. In the words of the Bethel website, its purpose is to “connect faith and learning to view questions and dilemmas from multiple perspectives”, gather the community to learn together and teach students how to “engage in intellectual and faithful reflection as you ask speakers to elaborate on items that pique your interest.” It is critical to the development of a student’s learning at a liberal arts college, and one that I believe is a wonderful bonus of the Bethel experience.
But more importantly, I believe that convo isn’t some dusty, dry tradition; rather, it is startlingly applicable to our world today.
Our lives in 2021 are hostile. Now, more than ever before, with the aid of the Internet, people can get caught in deep rabbit holes. Based on a few seemingly innocent clicks, cookies and searches, users produce a large digital footprint. Advertisers and the all-mighty-algorithms trap users deep into highly specific feeds that tell users exactly what they want to see and hear. It benefits them - keeping users on the site as long as they are seeing things tailored to their desires - but does us a terrible disservice.
When we are trapped in these algorithmic chains, we are held in such a narrow range of opinions from such a small number of users. It works to pit us against one another, to close off our minds, and to demonize anything that is different from our own reality.
There is no possibility of ‘cross-contamination’ online; we as users are effectively segregated by any number of things. Political party, demographic, hobby interests. Whatever it is we are sorted by, it is specifically curated to keep us from learning or changing. Social media works to keep us stuck in one place with algorithms and cancel culture; it has people terrified of inconsistency, of growing in our opinions.
To quote Ralph Waldo Emerson, “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by the statesmen and philosophers and divines.”
I’m all for some forms of comfort, like mugs of coffee and fuzzy socks. But I think myself, and others, forget that discomfort causes us to grow. I’m sure the idea of growth is nothing new to anybody reading this article, but it’s far too easy to get attached to being comfortable all the time. It’s NICE to have things tailored to us all the time. But that’s how we get stuck in routines, in algorithms, in opinions. That’s the worst thing for us as human beings, and limits us so greatly in our relational skills. Luckily, Convo is here to save the day.
By exposing students to different ideas, people, and practices, Convo gives us the chance to develop one of the most important skills in life. Empathising with others, allowing us to walk a mile in their metaphorical shoes allows us to “see things not just for what they are, but for what they might be – and gain new perspectives.” Convo’s lessons can help us break through the chains of media enforced party lines, and see each other for what we are: humans.
That’s why it is so difficult to see the way current students approach Convocation. Students have, as of late, done an absolutely atrocious job of being mature, attentive audience members; instead, they are constantly on their phones, having full volume conversations, and blatantly not paying attention. I am absolutely ashamed to be counted as a Bethel student with the utter and abject disrespect to Convocation speakers recently.
Convo speakers aren’t there to speak to a room of toddlers; they’re there to open a dialogue with students, to help them understand new areas, to open student’s minds to a new way of thinking. They deserve our utmost attention and respect.
Fellow Threshers, I come to you as a student like you, who, yes, doesn’t always want to sit down and listen and pay attention. I implore you to understand what an important, impactful experience Convo can be, and how it can help you “discover who you are, what you stand for and how you will make a difference” in these small lives we lead.