Male students on campus will have the opportunity to interact with a panel of seven female students who will provide information about approaching relationships with women in a godly way as well as encourage them to take on leadership roles.
Rachel Willhoite, Natalie Polston, Kristen Glover, Jessica Winston, Kristen James, Laura Kirby and Karis Crosby have been selected by Dan Jarboe and the Resident Life staff to participate as panel members for the discussion.
This panel is an activity planned in order to encourage the men on campus to take a more active role in pursuing godly manhood.
According to Willhoite some male leaders on campus have recognized that few male students are rising to fill leadership positions.
From both their counseling sessions and experience with other guys on campus, they have seen a need for guys to receive direction in what a godly-manhood looks like and more specifically what that looks like when pursuing relationships with women.
“We intend to discuss issues pertaining to what the character of a man looks like,” Polston said. “We were asked by Dan Jarboe, university counselor, to be a part of this panel because we were recommended by Res Life staff to be a woman on Ouachita’s campus of good reputation, as well as having the confidence to speak candidly and honestly from a woman’s perspective with a group of men.”
The panel also plans to address topics like do’s and don’ts in relationships, how to treat girls respectfully and character qualities that most women want in a man.
There will also be an opportunity for the audience to ask the panel questions, about both the topics discussed, and other questions they may have about women’s perspectives on relationships.
“This panel is unique because it brings in a perspective that is a little unconventional, as opposed to the typical ‘one-on-one man time’ or all-male conferences that they are typically offered,” Willhoite said. “I think men will be surprised by the things we discuss. Hopefully they will be encouraged to pursue godly-manhood in their relationships with women because of it.”
Some of the panel members see this as an opportunity to express how they feel about a man’s role in a relationship by offering their advice and experience from the relationships in their life.
“It would be impossible to give an answer or information that is applicable in all circumstances,” Crosby said. “Every relationship is different. They are so situational. I am hoping and praying that God gives me words that would be helpful and encouraging for the people who are attending. God has blessed me with some absolutely amazing Christ-like men in my life. I get to pull from my own experience with them as well, which is awesome. There are a lot of good answers, but I’ll do my best to represent a consensus answer that blesses Christ and builds up those who listen.”
The panel will be held on Thursday, March 3, from 7 – 8 p.m. in Hickingbotham Hall’s Young Auditorium.
