In April, The office for equity, diversity and inclusion hosted a trip to Washington D.C. They invited 52 student leaders from cultural clubs all across campus.
According to Diversity Recruitment and Retention Specialist, Sandra Vazquez, the office wanted to host an event for these student leaders to build better relationships with each other.
“It all started when we noticed that the leadership within the cultural clubs were, lets say that there was a lot of conflict within themselves and each other,” says Vazquez. “So the intention was where can we can go? What can we do? So that students can understand what unity really is, what leaders truly are, as well as how to lead and provide some kind of context in a way to interrupt what they know and what they have been taught.”
These students spoke with one another as well as trip supervisors and had powerful conversations about how they can treat each other more kindly and be better leaders for their clubs and the campus.
These students visited national monuments, national buildings and historical museums to reflect on their past, as well as to learn about others who have also had challenging pasts and were able to overcome these obstacles.
According to Dr. Cephas Archie, Chief Diversity Officer for the college, “If you did not find one thing that motivated you in almost six floors of your history and culture, then that says a lot.”
