Welcome to The Roundtable: A Night of Debate with the Men of Alpha Phi Alpha & the Ladies of Alpha Kappa Alpha

On Wednesday evening Sept. 26, at 7 p.m., in the Education Center, the men of Alpha Phi Alpha Inc. and the ladies of Alpha Kappa Alpha Inc. hosted "Relationship Education: Survival of the Fittest," a forum/debate where a panel of men and women from their fraternities and sororities, as well as students in the audience, were asked questions and gave their responses.

The mediator, and host for the evening, Ms. India Broadwater, began the event by introducing the panel of debaters: Denzell Moton, James Vickers, Brandon Upson, Tiffany Smalls, Allisha Hemingway, and Brandi Rollins, and explained the rules of the forum and how long each segment would take. 

The first topic was love, where questions like "what is love" and "how is it defined,"were asked to the panel and the audience. The students were very hesitant to answer and their wasn't much response. At least, that is until they got to the next topic which was titled, "Double Standards."

During this segment, both the panel and the audience carried on a heated debate on why girls are viewed one way, and how guys are viewed a completely different way.

Things only got more heated from there when they covered topics like lies, forgiveness, communication, hair, standards, sex and dating. More and more the crowd got involved and the panelist were very engaged as well. 

Ja'Nice Drakeford, Senior

Senior, Ja'Nice Drakeford said: "I thought that the event was very informing! I liked being able to hear the guys views on things because they truly do think about things a lot differently than we do."

Brandi Rollins, Senior

"The fact that the event was a non-judging zone I think is what made students more willing to participate," panelist Brandi Rollins and senior at the college said. "We wanted to come up with topics that would make the students laugh and even think. I think it went great."

The evening ended on a more serious and somber note when Ms. Broadwater discussed the last topic, Domestic Violence. During this time, students were asked questions on what are the different types of domestic violence, and what should you do if you know a friend is being abused.

India Broadwater, Senior

"I knew that it would definitely change the mood, but it was necessary; its real," Broadwater said. "There are the good aspects of relationships that we discussed that made us laugh and make jokes, but there is also a seriousness to it that could not be ignored. It is a topic that needs to be discussed more because both women and men are dying from this."




Through the laughs and the serious message that left students silent, in the end, the event was wonderful, and I enjoyed myself. Aside from learning how the male mind works, it was very entertaining to see how the students reacted to the questions and engaged in the discussions.