Photo by Andrew Brown ’18 – The Free Speech Club meets on thursdays to share opinions in an environment that hopes to promote healthy conversation on the topics discussed.
By Alex Kirshner ‘18
THE ROUNDUP
The Free Speech Club is a new group on campus that allows students to share their opinions while cultivating discussion about important issues facing Brophy and the country.
The club was founded by Matt Zacher ‘18 with hopes of giving students a way to share their opinions without being judged or attacked for their beliefs.
They meet on Thursdays during lunch in Brophy Hall room 104, and the club is moderated by Mr. Quentin Orem, a religion teacher.
“The Free speech Club is an intentionally structured environment where students of different background, opinions or beliefs can come together to discuss issues of great import,” said Mr. Orem.
The Free Speech Club’s discussions cover a wide variety of topics, although some are more important than others.
“The topics have included ISIS, the environment and gun control,” Mr. Orem said. “Last week was a little lighter, and I feel like it was something about football. But the atmosphere is usually light even when we talk about something serious.”
Sophomore Reese Galvin ‘18, who has been a member of the Free Speech Club for the entire school year, said that the cohesion amongst the students is what makes the club so unique.
“As a newly formed club, I think that my favorite part is the cohesiveness among all the members,” Galvin said in an email. “It’s very nice to see that the schism that inevitably forms between kids is solved peacefully and with acceptance of one another.”
Mr. Orem echoed his sentiment.
“It’s a rare environment,” he said. “What’s great is that it’s not like Fox News or CNN where people are just yelling at each other. There’s real disagreement, but there’s also real listening.”
The club is composed primarily of sophomores, but is open to students of all grade levels.
“I’d say if you’re even mildly interested, give it a shot! There’s always someone to agree with you in there,” Galvin said.
