On Thursday, Dec. 8 in Alumni Hall at 7:00 p.m., CAB will be presenting “I Can’t Believe You Asked That: When PC is BS” with guest speaker Phillip Milano. A nationally recognized diversity advocate, Milano will address a multitude of taboo topics and questions that people are normally too afraid to ask regarding race, gender and culture.

Milano first became interested in promoting diversity causes when he helped create the National Diversity Newspaper Job Bank. When national studies revealed that more than 70 percent of Americans still feel that “racial groups are not getting along well with each other,” that “things are only going to get worse”and that they thought “racial and religious tensions are serious problems,” Milano felt compelled to create an internet forum called Yforum.com. The website allows people to anonymously ask and answer questions generally considered taboo about differences.

The intent of the website is to help individuals to better relate, respond to and respect the differences that make up the many cultures of America. He shows participants how to get real about asking, answering and learning about themselves and each other. His presentation at Gustavus will be based on Yforum.com with the purpose of holding a “diversity dialogue” and to help discover individuals culture biases with the purpose of replacing them with an appreciation of cultures different from their own.

“I think everyone has questions about things we do not know about. There may be some things that we do not know a lot about and maybe things we have misconceptions about. This is an opportunity to get answers for those questions,” Junior Environmental Studies Major and CAB Culture and Diversity Chair Alex Christensen said.

Milano will be giving a presentation and a significant portion of the event will be dedicated to a question and answer session.

“I am definitely very excited to hear what he has to say and hear the answers to questions that people are normally afraid to ask. It opens up the conversation about things that feel so taboo. He is going to give us a place to talk about these things and I hope that it opens a lot of doors for discussing topics along the lines of diversity,” Junior Communication Studies Major and CAB Co-Publicity Executive Laura Grossman said.

“The biggest goal is to get the Gustavus community more connected and to get new forms of conversation taking place that are not happening yet but could and should be happening. It is a responsible way to follow through the curiosity we have that gets in the way of real, honest relationships,” Christensen said.

Intended to be a prelude to the annual White Privilege Conference, Milano will serve as a “kick-off” for CAB’s awareness and recruitment for the event. In years past, the White Privilege Conference has been held in the Midwest. However, this year the conference will be held in Albuquerque, N.M. For factors pertaining to the distance of the event, a fewer than normal amount of Gustavus students will be sponsored to attend.

“Both Milano and the White Privilege Conference deal with openness and confront a lot of the same topics. In a way, the intent of this event is to make the White Privilege Conference less necessary as not as many students can go this year. The more we can do for the Gustavus community the better,” Christensen said.

“Gustavus values diversity. It is an important beliefs in our community. Having him come and talk about the big diversity elephant in the room brings a new amount of openness in conversation and respect within the community,” Grossman said.

The event is open to the public and all students are encouraged to attend. It is also stressed that students are welcome to bring any questions that they may have and that the event will serve as a personal and informal discussion space.

“When it comes to having a safe space to discuss stuff like this, you do not get these opportunities in the real world very often, if at all. This is for people who are well-intended who want to make a concerted effort and to broaden their experiences. It is a great opportunity to learn about ourselves as well as others. This is important because you really cannot learn about others until you learn about yourself,” Andrea Junso, CAB advisor, said.