2008 Woodie Awards
Student groups come together for campus unity
By: Hannah Sparling
Issue date: 4/2/08 Section: Campus
Students from over 25 different organizations met in the Union yesterday to discuss building unity between groups on campus and the possibility of building an Ethnic Student Center.
The meeting was called "Bridging the Gap", and hosted by the Ethnic Student Center Steering Committee. It was the first of what will become monthly meetings, held on different days and hosted by different organizations each time.
Ahmed Amer, the associate director of Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs at Michigan University, spoke to students at the event about strength in numbers. He urged students to get to know one other and try to understand each others' different perspectives.
"You have to know each other to feel like you have a common stake in a goal," he said. "It's important to find common ground."
Amer urged students to be flexible with one another and to do their best to work together even if everything is not perfect.
"It's not necessarily going to look exactly how you want it to," he said.
Amer said that when students work together more and bigger change can take place, change that students might not have even known was possible.
"Students hold power on campus that they don't even realize," he said.
Sophomore Kevin Zamora, a representative from the Latino Student Union and one of the organizers of the event, said the purpose of the meeting was simply to build community between the different students and organizations at the University.
"It really is segregated," he said. "We just have to meet each other on campus and find what we have in common.
Zamora said unity would increase attendance for all of the different group events and decrease hostility.
"People wouldn't be stepping on each other's toes," he said.
Anamita Gall, president of the Caribbean Association and co-founder of the Ethnic Student Center Steering Committee, said that because of budget cuts at the University student organizations need to work together now more than ever.
"We're in a time where we should be working together," she said.
Freshman Andy Hooser, co-chairman of the College Republicans, said he was not sure if unity would be possible between organizations, but he was willing to try.
"I actually think it's going to be really difficult to get them together here," he said. " I don't know if it will work or not."
The meeting was called "Bridging the Gap", and hosted by the Ethnic Student Center Steering Committee. It was the first of what will become monthly meetings, held on different days and hosted by different organizations each time.
Ahmed Amer, the associate director of Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs at Michigan University, spoke to students at the event about strength in numbers. He urged students to get to know one other and try to understand each others' different perspectives.
"You have to know each other to feel like you have a common stake in a goal," he said. "It's important to find common ground."
Amer urged students to be flexible with one another and to do their best to work together even if everything is not perfect.
"It's not necessarily going to look exactly how you want it to," he said.
Amer said that when students work together more and bigger change can take place, change that students might not have even known was possible.
"Students hold power on campus that they don't even realize," he said.
Sophomore Kevin Zamora, a representative from the Latino Student Union and one of the organizers of the event, said the purpose of the meeting was simply to build community between the different students and organizations at the University.
"It really is segregated," he said. "We just have to meet each other on campus and find what we have in common.
Zamora said unity would increase attendance for all of the different group events and decrease hostility.
"People wouldn't be stepping on each other's toes," he said.
Anamita Gall, president of the Caribbean Association and co-founder of the Ethnic Student Center Steering Committee, said that because of budget cuts at the University student organizations need to work together now more than ever.
"We're in a time where we should be working together," she said.
Freshman Andy Hooser, co-chairman of the College Republicans, said he was not sure if unity would be possible between organizations, but he was willing to try.
"I actually think it's going to be really difficult to get them together here," he said. " I don't know if it will work or not."
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errol
posted 4/03/08 @ 12:50 AM EST
the work towards the establishment of an ethnic student center continues. our next steering committee meeting is on sunday april 6 in room 222 btsunion at 430 pm
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