By Alyssa Roat | Echo
This year, Women's Programming and Men's Programming have merged to become Collaborative Programming, or CoPro.
"Historically, there's been Women's Programming on campus and there's been Men's Programming, and both of those only reach half the population," Graduate Assistant for Discipleship and supervisor of the CoPro cabinet Christina Brandsma said. "This year we're trying something new by incorporating men and women in a collaborate conversation."
CoPro's mission statement declares, "Our purpose is discovering what it means to know God and be known by God and others through real conversations, delighting in God's redemptive nature, and being rooted in Scripture as we learn together."
According to Brandsma, WoPro had been considering combining the two programs since last year, especially after members of WoPro invited male student leaders into the conversation about WoPro's Stand Up event. This year, the two organizations were combined.
"I'm excited it's CoPro, men and women working together," junior and CoPro cabinet member Abby Randt said. "I think it will be a year of learning."
Senior CoPro cabinet member Annika Nord agreed.
"I'm excited to work with and for a larger, diverse group of people," Nord said. "I'm excited to help create events for all walks of life, in every dorm."
CoPro plans to continue topics WoPro covered last year, such as Stand Up, while expanding others, such as Title IX education.
"Our five key words are body, mind, and soul, sexuality, and collaboration," Brandsma said. "That's what we'll focus on."
Though CoPro has finalizations to make before revealing more specifics, there will be at least three events this fall. The first was a fun-focused gameshow night called "Waffles and Spaghetti." The event was held Tuesday, Sept. 25 at 8 p.m. It featured collaborative games that Brandsma said were intended to help attendees appreciate the ways men and women are different but equally valuable. She hoped the event would build a foundation for discussing more serious topics later.
"We want to be more of a doorway point for conversation," Brandsma said. "We want to provide individuals something to talk about. We want to be about learning together, growing as a campus and engaging hard topics."
If students want to get involved with CoPro, Brandsma encourages them to talk to student leaders and cabinet members.
"All are welcome to the table," sophomore cabinet member Nathan Rohwer said. "We're all learning together."
