In the month of March, the newly up-and-running Center for Servant Leadership will be taking Mother Teresa’s famous quote, “Live simply so others may simply live,” to heart as they host “A Simple Challenge.”  In a four-week conversation, the Center for Servant Leadership hopes to provide a space for students to think about how much material wealth we all have and discern how much we really need.

“Our goal with this month-long Simple Challenge is to help people think about the desire to ‘have things’ and what that means for others in the world,” Junior Sociology and Anthropology Major and organizer of the event Ben Batz said.

The Center for Servant Leadership is not asking students to give up everything they own but to make small yet significant changes in their consumption and consumerism. “We are going to start talking about small things that we use on a regular basis here at school,  like clothes, for instance. How would life be different if you had, instead of three weeks worth of outfits, one week’s worth of clothes in your closet?” Batz said.

The project is meant to encourage conversation within the Gustavus community and ask questions such as: in what ways do the things we own complicate our lives? In what ways do the things we own complement how we want to live and who we want to be?  Where could we benefit from having less stuff?

Batz hopes that the project and conversation helps Gustavus students’ lives. “What would be different about your day if you didn’t have to spend the mental energy and precious time asking, ‘What the hell am I going to wear?’ In A Simple Challenge, we want to give people the chance to find out,” he said.

However, there is also the effort to help  the lives of others throughout the world as well. “The things that we buy every day have an effect on the world.  What we eat, what we drink and what we wear have effects on the world that we don’t always know about.  Discerning what to buy and what we own can align with the values that we have,” Batz said.

The dialogue is open to all students. Throughout the month, the Center for Servant Leadership will be hosting weekly Tuesday meetings at 8:30 p.m. It will be a time for students participating in the project or interested in the subject to  engage in discussion about consumerism, the importance of material possessions and how these possessions matter in a fulfilling life.

It will also be a time for people to reflect on real-life experience as we challenge each other to live simply on campus and notice how we feel differently.

There will be an information meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 22, in the Rundquist conference room. For more information, stop by the Center for Servant Leadership or contact Ben Batz: bbatz@gustavus.edu.