By Mackenzie Clark
A new group has formed on campus with the goal of centering programs and events on student culture and interests.
The Multicultural Student Advisory Committee is open to all students. They meet biweekly and discuss upcoming events and possibilities for activities that will highlight individual cultures of the student body.
Gabrielle Bryant, student and member of the committee, said the idea of “culture” is not limited to different ethnicities and religions.
“We have so many clubs on campus that are just a culture in itself, like Anime Club, or I’m with Active Minds,” Bryant said. She cites the Swing Dance Club’s recent D-Day of Swing as a perfect example.
Mindy Kinnaman, manager of Student Life and Leadership Development and advisor to the committee, said the committee would like to produce events that students will find more exciting and compelling.
“We really wanted to expand more beyond lecturing,” Kinnaman said. “We have lectures that happen all across campus, but we really wanted to do programs for students by students.”
Some events that are in the works include an Asian Fall Festival in November and Multicultural Night, a fundraiser for Invisible Children, scheduled for March 30.
“We hope that [Multicultural Night] will be bigger and better than ever,” Susie Sympson, advisor to Invisible Children, said. “With this task force, it kind of gives us a little more help in putting things together and reaching out to include all the clubs.”
Instead of faculty alone organizing and planning student programming, the committee will provide insight and ideas. There will be more student-initiated performances and hands-on activities where students can participate and learn about different cultures.
“The student groups have a lot of pride in their culture and so to allow them to have an opportunity to showcase it, we don’t have to bring somebody in to do that,” said Pam Vassar, assistant dean of Student Life and Leadership Development. “We don’t have to bring some local expert or national expert; we can let our students showcase those things that are most interesting for them and that they want to share with the campus community,” Vassar said.
Daniel Ferman, committee member, said the committee hopes to see more involvement from the rest of the student body.
“Put in simple terms, I would want to see more of the students get engaged and maybe expose their culture and have hands-on activities for other students to participate in,” Ferman said. “We are such a diverse school and we have so many cultures here; not just the students attending the panel but students who maybe don’t even know about the panel.”
Cultural celebrations, hands-on events, and diverse performances are currently in the works.
“I’m a minority on this campus,” JJ Wang, committee member, said. “We represent the Chinese culture within the panel itself so that we can celebrate our culture and bring the celebration to all.”
The committee meets every other Monday in the meeting room of the Center for Student Involvement (COM 309) from 4-5 p.m. The next meeting is scheduled for Oct. 24 and is open to all.
Contact Mackenzie Clark at mclark68@jccc.edu.