Marshall University’s College of Liberal Arts fueled an in-depth discussion during “Herd in Town” Monday, led by three guest speakers: Chris White, associate professor of history; Maggie Stone, assistant professor of Sociology; and Kristen Lillvis, associate professor of English.

Each professor provided their own research about social issues currently prominent in our society. The topics included: “How to Avoid Another Century of Drug Wars,” “Harm Reduction in Appalachia: An Alternative Approach to Substance Abuse” and “Why #blacklivesmatter Matters.”

White focused his discussion on his research regarding the drug war that the nation is currently facing and how he said he believes the criminalization of drugs has made things tremendously worse than they were before they criminalized drugs.

“It’s just all part of the struggle of improving the situation in our city,” White said. “I hope that it kind of sparks more research and raises more questions among the community than we’ve been inclined to do so far. I think there’s already been a lot of great stuff done so far in the city, but I want to add my voice to it and hopefully provide a resource for people so they can learn more.”

Kimberly Kocak, a second-year graduate student in the social work program, said she has followed White’s research because drugs are not only a big issue in her field of social work, but pertain to her work as an internship counselor in the Marshall Counseling Center.

“Every day I have people come in with different issues, and it’s really important to understand as much as I can, so that when someone comes to me with a problem, I have the knowledge to help them and to lead them in the right direction,” Kocak said. “That’s my responsibility.”

In addition to this, Stone’s discussion centered on harm reduction programs as an alternative to substance-abuse treatment.

With Huntington recognized as the center of the opioid crisis, Stone said when she moved to the area, she realized the abundant need to look at the opioid epidemic and it became very personal to her when she joined the community.

“I think an event like this is amazing because it brings us out of our comfort zone of the university and out into the community where there’s this mix of the people that we’re trying to reach, and now we’re in a public venue where we can actually reach out to them rather than expecting them to come to us,” Stone said.

Stone said she wants the community to be informed about the importance and success of harm reduction programs in contrast to the usual substance-abuse treatments offered.

Aiming not only at the subject of drugs in the U.S., another social issue, racism, was explored in discussion by Lillvis through her research on Black Lives Matter.

The Black Lives Matter Movement began and gained national attention after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the killing of Trayvon Martin in 2012.

Recently, Lillvis taught a graduate seminar specifically on the movement and “why not just black lives matter, but why also the movement itself matters.”

“Too often we try to think about narratives of progress and that things are getting better and using that to ignore problems that are still ongoing,” Lillvis said. “I hope that they’ll get some more awareness about the black lives matter movement and how it’s a positive progressive movement, because there are myths surrounding it, and I hope that they’ll feel like they can ask questions and have a conversation about it.”

Some students, like Sarah McGlumphy, said she really enjoyed the topics chosen for the discussion because many professors do not focus on these controversial issues.

“They’re very much topics that are really important, but at the same time no one wants to address them,” McGlumphy said. “I think a lot more college-aged students need to be more informed about it so they can be more active and more involved, and actually make a difference.”

Danite Belay can be contacted at [email protected].