Western Michigan University Multicultural Affairs for Students hosted the ninth annual Multicultural Meet and Greet on Monday, Sep. 16.
The event featured an array of Registered Student Organizations (RSOs) with a focus on students of color, as well as food, barbers, music and dancing.
“The Multicultural Meet and Greet is an orientation that encourages a sense of belonging for students of color at WMU and in the greater Kalamazoo community,” Assistant Dean of Academic Advising Tomika Griffin-Brown said.
She continued: “The event intends to increase retention and graduation rates for WMU students of color through coordinated efforts and college and community collaboration.”
According to Griffin-Brown, the goals of this event were to create a sense of community for students of color, as well as to help them feel supported in the WMU community by allowing them the chance to explore different resources available to them and develop personal connections.
The event also spread awareness and understanding on systemic marginalization and discussed issues concerning students of color.
“It was created to give students of color the opportunity to engage with one another in an authentic space that celebrates them and welcomes them to engage with each other as well as relevant campus and community resources,” Griffin-Brown said.
Among those in attendance were faculty advisor for the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) Brittani Shantel Jackson, NABA treasurer Araba Banson and NABA member Victor Hernandez.
The Meet and Greet allowed NABA to advertise their group to students of color.
“The National Association of Black Accountants at Western Michigan focuses on not just black individuals or accountants, but business leaders that want to be diverse and are from a diverse background,” Jackson said. “I think that it’s important for Western to host events like this because it gives us one social area where you can see all of your options.”
The Multicultural Meet and Greet was originally created due to low enrollment of students of color in one of the academic colleges, but today it is an annual event for students of color to explore opportunities and resources available to them as well as to garner a community of support and action.
“We’re passionate about the Multicultural Meet and Greet event because of our passion and drive to see students of color succeed and persist to degree attainment at the same rate as their peers,” Griffin-Brown said.“It is our goal to create culturally relevant events for students of color with the goal of helping to increase year to year retention and graduation rates.”
Additional resources for students of color can be found at WMU’s Career and Student Employment Services webpage.
