Sound Off! with Na ’Taya Quinn

Na ’Taya Quinn
11/11/11

Have you ever wanted to go to a place where you can be yourself? Or, a place where people celebrate and appreciate the differences that you possess? Well, you are in luck because this place exists on this very campus of William Jewell College. This place is the Multicultural Center a.k.a. Jones Hall.

The Multicultural center hosts three different multicultural organizations: UNITY, BSA, and SAGE. These are all groups where students can feel comfortable being themselves.

UNITY is a group that encourages and celebrates diversity regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, abilities or sexual orientation. This group provides students with a hate-free environment that allows students to mingle with and learn about other students on campus who are different from or similar to themselves.

In addition to meeting a diverse group of people, UNITY also holds “diversity forums” during their meetings. Diversity forums allow students to discuss topics of interests, whether they be personal or controversial. Examples of some topics are: issues on campus, societal issues, religion, sexuality, abilities, socioeconomics, racism and tolerance. Students are encouraged to provide their opinions  regarding the topic and to listen to the opinions of other students.Though our opinions may differ, we are able to discuss these controversial topics (without hostility) and benefit from them.

Furthermore, UNITY encourages and celebrates diversity outside of its meetings by hosting events and socials on campus. One of the events that students are most familiar with is the Step Show which will be held Feb. 24. The Step Show features the art of stepping, which is a form of rhythmic dance that involves, clapping, stomping, spoken word and other creative devices such as props or visuals. In addition to the Step show, we also will host Love Your Body Week. Love Your Body Week encourages positive body-image by displaying photos and painted body casts of different body shapes and sizes around the Union. There are also mirrors that are placed around the Union where people can write what they like about their bodies when they look in the mirror. This encourages students to find something beautiful about their bodies and to love their unique bodies.

On the other hand, we are also planning to host an event called International Tea. This event is geared toward Jewell’s international students. The international students will be able to give presentations about their countries and cultures and answer questions that people may harbor. There will also be different foods/dishes from their countries that we will be able to try and music and other items or entertainment that the international students would like to share with us.
Our goal is to be an all inclusive group that provides/creates a safe, friendly environment on William Jewell’s campus and in our community. With that said, we are making plans to reach out to our community by choosing different programs with which to volunteer (which is still under way). We also are planning to attend other multicultural events hosted by nearby colleges and possibly host some events in conjunction with different colleges in the region.

What's the wait? If you are looking to meet new people and have a good time, come check out the Multicultural Center. If you are looking for a place where you can be yourself and where your voice can be heard, check out UNITY or our other multicultural groups (SAGE and BSA). If you would like to find out more information about the organizations feel free to contact the presidents of the organizations: UNITY- Na’Taya Quinn, BSA- Chriska Francois, and SAGE- Adam Al Douri.