During the 2022 Multicultural Expo, which took place in Baker Ballroom Thursday evening, Ohio University students found organizations they can connect and identify with at OU.
Tables were set up in the Ballroom for students to learn about more than 50 different multicultural organizations on campus. The booths included poster boards and photos of the organizations' members and what they stood for.
Winsome Chunnu-Brayda, the director of the Multicultural Center, welcomed guests and awarded raffle winners with Walmart gift cards. Guests were also offered food and watched live performances by members of various organizations.
China Henderson, president of the Black Student Union, or BSU, greeted the crowd and shared BSU's mission statement.
"Our mission is to build a cohesive bond among the African American student community at Ohio University," Henderson said. "We promote social, cultural and political awareness of African American issues and help to provide our members with knowledge about themselves, as well as African American culture as a whole."
Rhys Carr, treasurer of Vibrancy Theater, explained that one of the organization's goals is to shed light on Black, Indigenous and people of color students in theater.
"We felt that the School of Theater and theater itself needed an organization for BIPOC artists, students and designers to collaborate and come together to work to colonize a lot of theater spaces because they often are Eurocentric," Carr said. "(If) they do highlight BIPOC voices it is either a stereotype or is untrue and not based in truth."
Mickey Serbia, a member of El 787, a Puerto Rican student organization, said the group aims to offer a safe space for all Puerto Ricans.
The Asian American Pacific Islander Student Union, or AAPISU, run by President Aireen Maurisio, said they are looking to strengthen and increase Asian American Pacific Islander voices.
AAPISU hosts many socials, Maurisio said. Next Wednesday, from 5 to 6:30 p.m., the group is hosting a volleyball social on OU's South Beach.
Bebe Acuna, a member of Alpha Psi Lambda, the nation's largest Latino co-ed fraternity, said the fraternity's main motive is to support the Hispanic Latino community. Throughout the year, the co-ed fraternity stays active in the community by organizing outreach programs and volunteer work for its members.
African Student Association Undergraduate Chapter, or ASAUC, led by President Chelsea Tano, focuses on African culture, history and background.
"It's a very inclusive organization," Tano said. "Our meetings consist of music, dancing (and) dialogue between all different types of cultures coming together."
Though the BSU focuses on the bonds between African American students at OU, Henderson said the club tries to help every student find an organization with which they can connect.
"We try to keep the black community together," Henderson said. "Even if it's not with the Black Student Union, we try to find every multicultural student, kind of like a whole organization that they can fit with."
