Eric Halvorson is a Senior Political Science Honors major and Religion minor. He is the department assistant for Political Science and also the co-president of Pi Sigma Alpha, the Political Science honor society.

His passion for Political Science stems from a place of curiosity in the ways people relate to their communities, “I am really interested in the different ways that people participate in the world and they ways in which we define our communities and our communities define us” he said.

This interest in Political Science helped him to secure a summer internship with Minnesotans United for All Families, the organization working to defeat the amendment that would define marriage as between one man and one woman. Eric worked in the Faith office, “which was a really awesome place to be because of the perceived side that people of faith are on on this issue. Its also a really excellent intersection of my interests,” he said.

Eric worked entering data, helping format the faith section of their website, phone calling, and attending conversation trainings. Though he didn’t facilitate any conversation trainings during the summer, he brought his work back to campus and has been leading conversation trainings for students.

“I really wanted to be a part of the movement to defeat this amendment here on campus,” he said.

After a test run with his friends, Eric was ready to help the campus as a whole feel more comfortable with talking about this issue.

“I jumped in and started to do things I knew needed to be done, getting the conversation going in whatever way possible and getting these trainings going,” he said.

“Its about the people who are coming and the conversations that are happening outside of that space that people can leave feeling more prepared for,” he said.

The model of the conversation trainings developed after similar campaigns occurred in other states.

“We’ve learned that there are a lot of hurtful, unhelpful ways that people end up talking about this and that happens when the dialogue is really theoretical,” Erik said. “We practice respectfully bringing the conversation to the personal sphere that it derives from.”

Overall, Eric hopes to use these conversation trainings to make other students more comfortable talking about what can be a difficult issue to address.

“The most life-giving thing to hear from people is that they have been helped to have a good conversation,” he said.

Senior Ian Shay recognizes Eric’s strength in being able to talk about this difficult issue

“What I like most about Eric’s work with Gustavus United for All Families is its integrity with who he is,”

Shay said.

“As long as I have known him, Eric has delved into meaningful, personal conversations. Such authenticity and openness is what Minnesota needs when we discuss the decision before us,” Shay said.

This issue in particular matters to Eric because he knows what it is like to be on either side.

“When I got into college I was on the other side of this issue and I thought I knew how the world worked in a really black and white way,” he said.

“There were people who I met in college who weren’t so different from how I was, and a professor in particular, who would be affected by this issue,” he said.

“I got really excited about getting to work on campus because this is the place where I have changed and opened up so much,” Eric said.

Being busy with his work for Minnesotan’s United, Eric has saved time for those around him.

“I admire all his work and dedication for Minnesota United for All Families these past few months. But more than all this, he has been one of my best friends for three years,” Senior Andrei Hahn said.

“Despite how busy Eric is, he takes time for his friends. We’ve had a lot of great and insightful discussions, usually over coffee or breakfast and that has meant a lot to me these past few years,” Hahn said.

Outside of his work with Minnesotan’s United for All Families, Eric enjoys board games, cooking without following recipes and being a Ravenclaw.

Eric spent his spring semester studying abroad in Nantes, France where he stayed with a french host family.

“They made the experience great. Saying goodbye to them was one of the hardest things I’ve done in quite a while,” he said.

Eric appreciates the way his experience traveling has changed him as a person.

“I feel more opened up since going,”  he said.

“I definitely felt more plugged into the humanity that exists on the other side of the ocean, a lot like it does here. I think if we traveled more, then maybe it would be more peaceful,” Eric said.

Shay is positive about Eric’s future, “I think he’s going to make a difference in the world because he believes in trying, even if we’ll never know for sure what is the right thing to do” Shay said.

“I want to be a positive force, but I haven’t yet figured out what that looks like,”Eric said.