Disoriented? Malnourished? In need of scholarly assistance? If so, you may have found yourself inexplicably drawn to building 4 on Oct. 21 where Skyline College hosted a multicultural event organized by the Honors Transfer Program.
The gathering involved representatives from the campus’ various learning communities, including ASTEP, Puente, Kababayan, Asian Studies, FYE, and the Honors Transfer program. The gathering gave students an opportunity to become better acquainted with the different on campus groups, and the potential opportunities that they can offer, such as studying abroad.
One of the main organizers of the proceedings was Skyline English professor Lucia Lachmayr, who helped to orchestrate much of the multicultural event. Lachmayr, who was one of many educators who were enchanted by the student turnout, cited student involvement as an integral part of the event’s success.
“It was wonderful to have people coming by,” Lachmayr said. “Students did a lot of work . . .” Lachmayr went on to name particular contributors, such as students Claudia Valle for contributing artwork, and Jasmina Bannag and Christina Jugo for handling hosting duties.
The idea behind the event developed in a fairly organic fashion, springing out of a desire to make the most of the new multicultural center.
“We had a meeting with everyone in the Multicultural Center over what to do with the conference room,” said Vanson Nguyen, coordinator for FYE, or First Year Experience. “[It] spurred out the idea to open up the multicultural center to students. If they don’t know about it, then how can they use these resources?”
The various groups represented offer different educational benefits to students. First-Year Experience offers guidance to new students. Puente helps to expose Mexican and Latino students to college at a university level and specialized curriculum. Kapabayan and ASTEP both seek to aid the Filipino and African-American communities respectively through the implementation of specialized learning courses that emphasize cultural awareness, as does the Asian Studies program, which also seeks to acclimatize students to the prospect of conducting business overseas. Many of the programs also offer additional methods to enrich one’s educational experiences. For example, FYE offers priority registration and scheduling, and Asian Studies provides students with opportunities to travel to Asia through the study abroad program. The learning communities are open to all students regardless of their backgrounds.
Based on the positive outcome of the multicultural event, plans to hold similar gatherings may become a regular occurrence, as was indicated by Skyline English professor and Honors Transfer Program Coordinator Katharine Harer.
“I think it was a really successful event with a really nice mix of people,” Harer said. “There is a plan to do this once a month. . . . It provides a great forum to discuss plans.”
