Students can find intelligent and thought-provoking conversation at the Socrates Café held monthly in the OLLU main lounge.  Facilitator of the Café, Dr. Thomas Keyes, came across the idea from a book, also titled “Socrates Café” in which the author Chris Phillips convinces a Starbucks in San Francisco to let him hold discussion groups were ordinary people can discuss big issues in an open setting.
             
“It’s nice to have our ideas taken seriously,” Keyes said, “As we listen to the news or as we hear what is going on we have ideas and it’s nice to be able to express those ideas.”
           
Since the book was released in 2001, there have been over a hundred Socrates Cafés, which have sprung up all over the country including OLLU.  Topics discussed at these monthly meetings have ranged from immigration reform, to the war and even lighter topics such as movies.  There are usually one topic discussed at these meetings, which allows for deep thinking and various views on the subject.
           
“We talk about whatever comes to mind, then explore the issue casually it's rare to have an opportunity to discuss any serious issue without the discussion either moving quickly onto something else or becoming melodramatic,” senior Aaron Miller said.  “Dr. Keyes is good at encouraging people to relax, explore an issue carefully and openly, and enjoy the pursuit of truth.
           
The Café wants to inspire critical thinking and asks participants to ask themselves the following questions, “what do you mean, why do you believe that, what are you assuming, and what are the consequences of that view?”
           
“You don't need to know any jargon or about any philosophers.  You don't even have to speak much, if you prefer. You just need to be genuinely interested in life and learning,” Miller said.
             
Keyes mentions that the Socrates Café strives to develop better listeners and is a relaxed no pressure environment open to anyone focused more on thinking about an issue than winning an argument.

“The meeting is a success when people leave with more questions than they came in with,” Keyes said.