If you’re looking for a place to discuss the day’s issues, the Writing Center has your back.

For the past year, it has hosted a public discussion program called Hot Takes on Current Events. The weekly program – which alternates between Hammond and Westville – is designed to foster open discussion between students, faculty and everyone in the campus community.

“It’s an outgrowth of an event that we used to have called Snacks and Chats,” said Yu Ouyang, interim department chair of History, Philosophy, Political Science and Economics. “So it’s also an event that has food, but it’s meant as a social lunch hour.”

A Hot Takes event involves Ouyang leading a presentation or discussion on a topic, then is opened to the attendees.

The program’s goal is to build community with anyone who wants to participate and allow students to meet their professors in a casual setting.

Sometimes students present research, faculty sometimes talk about what they are working on, or sometimes people simply ask questions, share opinions or move around different group discussions to listen in on other viewpoints.

“A college education [provides] the ability to discuss controversial topics,” said Steffanie Triller, Writing Center director. “The ability to co-exist, even thrive, with people with different opinions … is really about having a human conversation.”

No topic is off the table, according to Ouyang.

Discussions have centered around controversial news or events. Recently, one discussion focused on sex education in schools. Last year, a main topic was the events leading up to the 2024 presidential election. Another hotly debated topic was abortion.

“It was meant to be a one-hour event,” said Ouyang. “But I stayed in that room with students for three hours. It’s a conversation between people across the political spectrum.”

People are allowed to suggest topics.

“I would really like to hear students’ perspectives on traveling, on study abroad,” said Triller, “I would love to hear faculty share their experiences with traveling.”

But it’s also about the snacks, which change every meeting.

“My favorite thing is the free food,” said Celine Parra, a senior Computer Science major and Writing Center tutor-in-training. “My favorite meal was the baked potatoes with toppings on them and the tomato tortellini soup.”

For more information, students can join the CHESS department page on MyPNWLife for updates.