Located in the Lory Student Center’s flea market outside of the bookstore, the Listening Post is where students can get anything off their chest, free of judgement.
Although the Listening Post has been on campus in previous years, it was brought back this fall as an additional resource for students and is intended to continue each semester.
(Photo credit: Haleigh McGill)
According to Ryan Hughs, Listening Post volunteer and a minister who runs Christian Campus Ministries, the Listening Post does not try to fix people or try to give heavy advice. It is simply there for students struggling with any sort of matter as a source of release.
He also added that volunteers are able to connect students to other University resources for further emotional, medical or psychological outreach.
“If (students) ask for spiritual enrichment, emotional enrichment, et cetera, we will direct them to resources,” Hughs said. “But the goal is just to listen to whatever people have to say.”
Volunteer Rabbi Yerachmiel Gorelik, a philosophy professor at CSU, said that sometimes students are just looking to be heard and to know that somebody can listen and understand.
“It’s about reading between the lines,” Gorelik said. “(Students) are looking to … alleviate the general frustrations they have with life, a sympathetic ear and some basic advice.”
The volunteers currently selected by CSU to run the Listening Post are religiously affiliated, however, they want to make it clear to students that religion is not any part of what they do at the Listening Post. Gorelik calls it an “absence of religion.”
“Our religious standing enables us to be good counselors and listeners, but (the Listening Post) is not religious,” Gorelik said. “If someone came to us with religious questions, we would direct them to outside resources. This is essentially for listening; people want to get stuff off their chest.”
CSU junior accounting major Jason Kimel has visited the Listening Post and sees a lot of value in the idea.
“It’s good to just have someone to talk to, and know they’re going to be there for you … They understand, they’ve been there,” Kimel said.
Hughs said that they see decent student traffic but would like to see more.
“We see a few (students) every week,” Hughs said. “We would love to be more visible, more known … We’ve received nothing but positive feedback from students so far.”
Both Hughs and Gorelik hope to expand and strengthen their presence on campus as well as move into a location that better suits the program’s needs.
The Listening Post is available to students every Thursday from 11 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., and sessions will continue this semester through Dec. 18.
Collegian Reporter Haleigh McGill can be reached at news@collegian.com, or on Twitter @HaleighMcGill.
