Chase Gymnasium was quiet as roughly 100 students arrived to participate in Stand Up For Your Community on the night of Jan 25. Residential advisors and directors stood at the door as they scanned students into the event. Stand Up For Your Community was targeted towards first-year and new transfer students.

“We wanted to create an anonymous safe space where we can come together as a community,” Lea Sulman, the residential director of Stewart and Hart Hall shared during his opening speech. “The point [of the event] is to highlight that you are not alone.”

Students were given a few rules through a slideshow presentation and then were given the surveys and ten minutes to finish them. The anonymous surveys had 45 questions and dealt with heavy topics surrounding faith, sexuality and mental health. Once students were done with their survey they sat in silence and took time to reflect.

Residential advisors then collected the surveys and randomized them. During this time, Mike Ahn, the new dean of Spiritual Development, gave a speech sharing a story from his past and his feelings about the event. 

“As I got older I realized that silence wasn’t right. I needed mentors that could support me in a community where these things were okay to talk about,” Ahn shared.

Ahn then shared several Bible verses to further inspire students. He cited different verses throughout Romans 8 and read Genesis 50:20. Afterwards, Tia McGarvey, assistant director of Housing and Residential Life and residential director for Sigma Hall, led students through the reading of the survey. Students received someone else’s anonymous survey and as McGarvey read through the questions, students stood for any questions marked “yes” on their paper.

After the questions were read aloud, students completed a survey on the back of the paper asking how they felt about the event. During this time, McGarvey introduced representatives of the many support organizations on campus. These organizations were Campus Safety, The Learning Center, The Counseling Center, The Health Center, The Dwelling, Spiritual Direction, and Pastoral Care.

“The purpose of the event was to help students feel less isolated in their experiences and to educate students on the resources that Biola has to offer to further their development in all areas of life. In that regard, I think the event was really successful based on feedback from the event and we are excited for next year. We are excited to continue to partner with Chapel to give students chapel credits for attending and to get more attendance,” Tia McGarvey shared about the event.

After the event students returned their surveys to residential advisors and exited the gym. Interns from the Biola Counseling Center were outside of the housing office for an hour following the event as added support for students and to answer further questions. According to the survey students took after the event 88.2% of students said the event reduced their feelings of being alone in the topics discussed and 71% of students feel more willing to discuss these vulnerable topics.