Breaking News

Hawk Week event shows campus multiculturalism

By Ray Segebrecht

Thursday, August 20, 2009

photo

Photo by Jenny Terrell

Maureen Wangare, Olathe freshman, receieves information about the Multicultural Theatre Initiative group from Lizzie Hartman, Shawnee senior, and Austin Robinson, Overland Park junior, at the "Take Over the Beach" information fair at Wescoe on Wednesday afternoon.

Stephanie Farve, Lawrence senior, didn’t need to travel or study overseas in college to encounter people and cultures from across the world. All she has to do is look around her.

“I would say Lawrence itself is pretty diverse,” Farve said, “but once you’re on campus, hearing the different languages everywhere you walk, it’s amazing how diverse it actually is.”

Farve said she has connected with her Native American cultural heritage by joining the First Nations Students Association. Now the president of the group, she and the leaders of other cultural groups on campus had the opportunity yesterday afternoon to invite other students to share their cultures at the “Take Over the Beach” event outside Wescoe Hall.

The annual Hawk Week event featured 22 organizations this year and about eight departments, said Adrienne Collins Runnebaum, assistant director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs. It also included a disc jockey, various prizes and giveaways and an opportunity for the leaders of each participating student group to talk for two minutes about their organizations over a microphone.

“This is a wonderful place for students to engage themselves, meet new people, and learn to appreciate the differences among us,” Runnebaum said. “Often times, they realize there are a lot of similarities among us as well.”

Cynthia Oben, Yaounde, Cameroon, junior, said discovering those similarities has been one of her most interesting experiences at the University.

“Sometimes there will be parallels where people in Saudi Arabia or some other completely random place do something in common with me,” Oben said.

Oben, vice president of the African Students Association, said she tried to balance herself by identifying both with the African community and with the larger student body.

“I usually am African first, but it’s different depending on the setting,” Oben said. “I am also involved with the International Students Association. I have friends from all over the world.”

Jose Francisco Florencio Neto, Recife, Brazil, junior, beginning his second year as president of the Brazilian Student Association, or BRASA, this fall, said he identifies himself more as a University student than a Brazilian student because of the warm reception he received at the University.

“As soon as I got here, I was immediately accepted by everyone,” Neto said. “I immediately considered myself part of the big group.”

But Neto said he also felt a strong sense of belonging in the smaller Brazilian community through his involvement in BRASA. Neto said the Brazilian community recently made efforts to draw closer to other students with South American roots by connecting with the Peruvian Association of Lawrence and the Bolivian Community Association.

“We have activities together like barbeques,” Neto said. “Our interaction between all of us is what makes us have a voice here. We’re always helping each other so it ends up being like one big family.”

Jeanette Hor, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, senior, said the sense of family she found in the Malaysian Students Association after arriving at the University gave her the confidence and comfort she needed to find her place amidst the larger University student body.

“The Malaysians helped me a lot when I first came over here,” Hor said. “The brought me around, helped me set up my bank account, helped me settle in. That’s a very important aspect.”

As the current president of the Malaysian Students Association, Hor said providing support for new students from her former country had become an important part of her group.

“We don’t have that many Malaysian students over here,” Hor said. “We are a minority, but we still have to establish our identity over here.”

Aaron Quisenberry, associate director of the Student Involvement and Leadership Center, said that many of the 43 cultural or ethnic student groups on campus represent international students, He said the other groups, such as the Black Student Union, the Hispanic American Student Union and the First Nations Students Association, represented the cultural diversity also among native born citizens of the U.S.

“I’m from southwest Kansas originally,” Quisenberry said. “I didn’t have a lot of multiculturalism out there. When I came up here, it was a culture shock for me.”

Farve said she hoped events such as “Take Over the Beach” would help raise awareness at the Unversity about those cultures, too.

“I don’t think a lot of people know how many tribes there really are,” Farve said, reflecting on the Native American population in North America. “There are at least over 300 tribes across the country. Each has its own culture, its own language and ways of life.”

— — Edited by Brenna M. T. Daldorph

Comments

Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.

Advertisement