Salt Lake Community College students will have a chance to learn about other cultures and make friends with other students from around the world.
The Office for Diversity and Multicultural Affairs (ODMA) is hosting a multicultural meet and greet Sept. 10 at the Taylorsville Redwood Campus.
“This is an opportunity for students, staff, faculty and anyone else in the community to come together and be in a place that values who they are, celebrates what they are, and allows students to express themselves,” says ODMA director Shellie Jo Enscoe.
Enscoe describes the event as a way for students to come into a space and learn about other unique people and the many cultural clubs on campus, and also meet with multicultural advisors.
“This is the first year we are hosting this event at the Redwood Campus,” adds Enscoe.
Multicultural students will also have the chance to meet peers who serve on the student council.
“Many students don’t know that there is a multicultural student council on campus,” says Enscoe. “The council will be here to talk with students about the duty of representatives on the council, which is to ensure that students have a voice, and to make sure any student who feels unrepresented has an avenue to go to.”
The ODMA also provides a space for students to feel comfortable on campus.
“The student involvement center is a place that offers support, activities, and space for students,” says Enscoe. “We have tutors, quiet study rooms, couches, games, and a book library to read about equality and social justice, with the goal of bringing the community together through unity.”
Enscoe says the purpose behind the ODMA is to better understand appreciate everyone as individuals.
“We all have these intersections of identity, all these multiple identities, that makes us who we are. That’s why every human being is diverse, because we are uniquely different. But how can we empathize with other humans if we don’t learn about them, or take time to know them, understand them? We accomplish this by diving into their culture and exploring them.
“How can you value or respect something you don’t know?”
Activities at the meet and greet include music and movies from around the world. There will also be a fundraiser for the victims of the Nepali earthquake to support ongoing relief efforts.
Students who bring the meet and greet announcement printed in The Globe will receive a free gift.
I worked for Shellie Jo she is an awesome leader adviser and very understanding and helpful person not just to her staff or people she knows but everyone she meets I learn a lot from her and I was lucky to work for her 🙂
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