More Students Show Up for Second Round of ‘Tea and Talk’

BY AMIRA SHERIF

The second session of Tea and Talk, a casual event open to the entire community to exchange ideas through conversation, appears to have attracted a growing number of students seeking to share thoughts and concerns with President Lisa Anderson and members of the administration.

Some of the attendees, however, said that the event lacked a basic structure and that some of the faculty and staff members were a bit confused about the proceedings.

“I thought that this event was a panel or a talk that had a beginning, middle and an end but I think the informal format of the session makes it easier because a lot of people are scared to ask questions in public,” said Rabab Abo El Fotouh, MBA Program manager.

But she added that Tea and Talk is great venue for informal talks.

Some students didn’t know how to approach faculty and staff.

“They seemed to me to be a very closed community and I didn’t know how to go to the faculty members and start a conversation because it seemed to be very strange how the sequence of the event was planned,” said Aya Mohsen, an Anthropology junior.

Rana El Harty, a manager in the Office of Student Development (OSD), believes Tea and Talk is a great initiative but would rather see round table discussions or brainstorming sessions to reach results.

Nevertheless, the event has succeeded in creating a starting point for informal communications.

Student supervisor Taher Abdel Aziz says he attended Tea and Talk for the first time on March 31 and was pleased at the opportunity to meet staff and faculty.

“I also think it’s a very good idea to have the chance to talk to President Lisa Anderson face to face,” said Abdel Aziz.

Meanwhile, Anderson has been seeking ways to increase student participation in the event and foster closer ties with administration.

Two weeks ago, she announced that every Tea and Talk session would host a different vice president; last week Vice-President of Student Affairs Khaled Dahawy attended and spoke with students and faculty.

“I think communication in general is a great event,” said Dahawy.

He added that everything is a learning process and that it mainly depends on word of mouths to make this event successful.

If the students came and benefited from the session they will definitely tell their friends about it and this will create community outreach.

“There is no best way to do anything,” said Dahawy. “I don’t believe in turn key projects. You start something small and you need to wait for it until it completes its growing process and reaches it’s final growth,” added Dahawy.

“We are still experimenting the best format and the different kind of things that I can do to make the best out of this Tea and Talk event,” said Anderson.

Anna Zaven, of the Office of University Events, says she has seen greater interest and participation among students in the second session.

“The format of the second event was different and unusual because there is no start, middle or an end,” she said.

“It is an open friendly atmosphere where you have the chance to meet the president and talk to her.”