The Office of Multicultural Affairs will host the second annual Cultural Awareness Week Oct. 31-Nov. 4. in a campus wide event featuring four forums at 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
Monday through Wednesday, the forums will be in Chapel on the Hill, while the last forum on Thursday will be in Hart Auditorium. This year’s theme is “Misunderstood Populations.” During the week there will be interactive activities after Chapel in the campus center.
Prentice Ashford, the director of OMA, said, “I want people to come out and hear what we have to say. Hear about what the people presenting have to say because we can all learn about a topic we aren’t quite sure about.”
The week will feature discussions about Middle Eastern Culture, with a presentation from Middle Eastern students, immigrants and refugees, with International Rescue Committee representatives, Black Lives Matter, Feminism and “I’m from a country not a continent.”
“All these topics we are talking about have the potential to be polarizing,” Ashford said. “You can look at them and say, ‘I already know what I want to believe and know what I am going to dismiss.'”
OMA’s vision is to equip each student with knowledge and experience to be active, productive and vocal leaders with their diverse communities.
OMA’s purpose is to enrich the holistic development of each student by encouraging them to recognize and embrace the uniqueness of their personal culture while valuing the culture of others. Their mission statement is to support the overall success and persistence of ethnic and historically underrepresented students at ACU.
OMA is home to five different Student Organizations on campus.
- African Students’ Association
- Black Students Association
- Chinese Students’ and Scholars’ Association
- Hispanos Unidos
- Third Culture Kids
For more information visit OMA’s website at www.acu.edu/legacy/campusoffices/multicultural.
