Connect with others at Speak Up event
Feb. 26 | 7 p.m. | Glasrud Auditorium
Minnesota State University Moorhead students will host the second annual Speak Up Event Wednesday, Feb. 26, with a social at 6:30 p.m. and the mainstage event beginning at 7 p.m. in Weld Hall Glasrud Auditorium on the MSUM campus. Speak Up is free and open to the community.
The 2020 event theme is “connection.” Eight speakers will each give a 10-minute talk, challenging the audience to think differently about connection. Speakers will share a project or an idea they are passionate about while relating it to the theme. The event will also feature student and faculty artists, musicians, poets, and performers.
Speakers were selected through an application process to share their original ideas and experiences. The audience will learn and laugh throughout the evening as they hear from six students, one faculty member, and one community member.
Trey Bechly, a graduate student in the educational leadership program, was selected to share his experiences building connections through the Special Olympics. He’ll challenge us to viewability in a new way and to look for opportunities to connect with others through shared experiences.
Additional speakers:
- Nicole Bently, an art education major, will speak about sharing our struggles.
- Linsey Culkins, a psychology student, will talk about creating a better future for survivors of childhood abuse.
- Clara Derby, a project management and English major, will share how to connect with yourself to grow.
- Whitney Fear, MSN, is a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner at Family Healthcare. She’ll speak about how we are bound to one another.
- Ralf Mehnert Meland, a professor at MSUM’s Paseka School of Business, will share ideas on men’s shame and the connection to sexual violence prevention.
- Aridasee Tisland, a strategic communications major, will speak on how we move beyond our circumstances.
- Ponny White, a political science and multimedia journalism student, will talk about how race connects to all aspects of our lives.
About the event:
Speak Up was created in 2019 by MSUM students who wanted to build a platform for sharing ideas. Much like a TED or TEDx event, Speak Up features multiple speakers and performers who each have 10 minutes to share an idea they are passionate about related to the theme of connection.
About the theme:
Connection is about relationships. But it’s not just a relationship between two people or two different things. Connections also build on each other to create something more significant. The students are excited to explore the idea of connection from multiple perspectives.