MSO event connects student groups

The three multicultural student organizations (MSOs): Hope’s Asian Perspective Association (HAPA), Black Student Union (BSU) and Latino Student Organization (LSO), collaborated for the first time at a MSO kickoff event on Saturday. This event is essential for the state of the MSOs going forward. It provides an opportunity for students from each group to get together and have fun, while also giving each board an opportunity to plan, execute, and find inspiration for future events. Each group selected its own board game and bonded together as they played.

Members of each executive board served as players and proctors of each session, ensuring that the games were being played fairly. Another group broke off and began to play pool, adding to the festivities of games and bonding. Each MSO has an executive board that is well attuned with each other and their general membership, which enabled them to have a lot of fun and also take the stress off of an otherwise stressful week. The Spotify playlist in the background consisted of a mix of modern rap, pop and chill music vibes, ebbing and flowing as the student intently played and watched.

HAPA provided delicious ramen as food, with other tasty snacks and drinks for students to enjoy as they played the board games, donated by LSO and BSU. The ramen that HAPA cooked up was delicious; attendees got to choose between mild and spicy. The drinks washed down the delicious food, providing fuel to the players as they continued playing into the early night. The difficulty associated in juggling three different group agendas while also bringing different sects of people together was overcome. Each group brought their own cultural identities and came together to have fun while also illustrating the cultural diversity of the MSOs.

With Martin Luther King (MLK) week beginning on Monday, the MSO kickoff is a perfect segue into celebrating a cultural icon, while also reminding students that, despite what is going on in the world around them, there are still spaces for students of color and their allies to have conversation and be a part of Hope. The MSOs saw the event as a successful primer to. Miles Pruitt the semester calendar and a precursor to the celebration of culture and those who sought to change the status quo with MLK week.