Hybrid Event: Can We Talk? Dialogue on Mental Health for Students – Nov 6

Posted by Drexel Univeristy on September 23, 2025

The Can We Talk? initiative will renew its effort to combat polarization and anxiety, and to nurture the skills of civil dialogue, with a special event from 7 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, November 6.  Your students are very much invited to take part, while faculty colleagues are more than welcome to observe.

Since 2017, Can We Talk? has held more than 50 structured, moderated dialogues for more than 1,500 high school and college students.  Most dialogues have ranged over a variety of current events and issues.  For the first time on November 6, we’ll dig in depth into a single topic – mental health. This focus was chosen by students who took part in last spring’s CWT events.

Students will get to talk with their peers about topics such as anxiety, depression, pressure to perform, pressure to fit in, social media, phone addiction, and what they think about the behavioral health services and supports on their campus. On the registration form, students are invited to suggest topics they’re most interested in.

The event will be hybrid, with an in-person opportunity on the Drexel University campus in Philadelphia (Lindy Center for Civic Engagement, 3210 Cherry Street), and moderated breakout groups on Zoom for undergraduate and graduate students from any campus in North America.

Past Can We Talk? participants tell us that the chance to meet and share ideas with students from other parts of the country is one of the program’s top benefits.  Students have also called their Can We Talk? experience “refreshing,” “enlightening,” “eye-opening,” “liberating,” “enjoyable,” and “the best political conversation I’ve ever had.”

Can We Talk? is a program of the Committee of Seventy, a good government/civic education nonprofit based in Philly.  This forum is supported by a grant from the Scattergood Foundation in Philadelphia, which focuses on behavioral health issues.  It’s also sponsored by Drexel’s student government, its Office of Student Life and the Lindy Center for Civic Engagement.

Questions? Contact Chris Satullo at csatullo@gmail.com or by texting 610-828-6935.

Register.

Informational flyer.