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| African Students Association Inaguaration | |||
| Jennifer Musisi Staff Writer |
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| Diversity at Manchester College has grown tremendously over the years, especially 2008-2009, which brought in about forty minorities, the largest number ever at MC. It is therefore no surprise to note that with the diversity comes a variety of needs in terms of relating, sharing and learning. Mar.7 2009 saw the initiation of group called the African Students Association on campus. The group was created in order to educate people on African culture, clear negative stereotypes or misconceptions and represent the interest of both indigenous African students or students of African descent. It was created also to act as a support group for African students, and encourage good relationships between African students and the community at large. The initiation ceremony, which was termed “Its Official; ASA inauguration,” was held in the Cordier Auditorium Lobby and began at 7.00 p.m. till 11.30 p.m. The executive board with the help of some of the ASA members went all out with a ballroom-setting for the lobby. The round tables with eight chairs around them had snow-white table clothes, covered with purple cutlery, white plates and purple champagne cups. In addition, there was sparkling non alcoholic champagne on each of the tables to give the ceremony an even more sophisticated atmosphere. The ceremony was hosted by Joi Harmon, a first-year student and started off with the introduction of the executive board, which was comprised of Khadijat Ishola-Gbenla as the president, Osunbayo Iseoluwatobi as vice president, Wallace Butts as treasurer, Peter Lewis as secretary, Rebecca Tepes as Historian, Angelet Wells as SGA representative one and Moburuk Abdiaziz as SGA representative two. Following were speeches from the some of the members. In the speech given by the president, Khadijat Ishola-Gbenla, she talked about the long journey the birth of ASA has gone through starting from last year and how exciting it was to finally know that it was an official organization on campus. “At Manchester, as many other colleges, we are now happy to know that we can celebrate and educate others on different cultures especially the African cultures which many people may hear about but most not understand it,” she said. “ASA will not discriminate against age, gender, sexual orientation, race, religion or other cultures, and everyone—not just people of African descent—is welcome to join.” The ceremony was enhanced by some students from Indiana University who performed an African dance for the crowd called “Vougoulo” by Magic System, a group from the city Abidjan in Cote d’Ivoire. The executive board and some ASA members also entertained the crowd with the song “Our Father” from the movie “Serafina,” a South African musical made in 1992 that showed student riots during the apartheid era in South Africa. Some of the staff and faculty present were the director of Multicultural Affairs, Jackie Nagila, Ejenobo Ruth Oke, assistant professor of Art as well as advisor for ASA and Lisa Gregory, assistant director of alumni relations. The food prepared for the ceremony consisted of red rice and stew, which is a food frequently eaten in Nigeria, chapatti, a food eaten in India and most East African countries, as well as chicken and egg salad. To accompany the great food was the DJ’s blend of contemporary African music with other music from all over world in order to emphasize the cultural diversity that is encouraged by the organization. Some of the students who attended the ceremony were happy about the creation of the new organization. “I am excited to know that from now on I can gain knowledge in addition to what I already know about Africa,” said Afadelya Adam, a junior bio-chemistry major. This education and sharing of the culture will take place at the organization’s weekly meetings on Thursdays at 8 p.m. in the Student Activities Centre. Every meeting will showcase a particular African country and provide some facts and figures about it and also ask the members what they know about the country. Some of the other programs the group hopes to hold are Africa Movie night once every month, Africa week where a variety of programs will be held to talk about various issues concerning Africa. The night was highlighted with the cutting of a cake which had the African map centered on it and flags of all the African countries surrounding it. There was a dance party thereafter. |
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