By Camille Rasor | Reporter
While athletes all over the nation committed to play for NCAA athletic teams, Baylor’s Department of Multicultural Affairs encouraged students to commit to student organizations Wednesday at the Bill Daniel Student Center (SUB.)
The department celebrated its fourth annual Multicultural Affairs Signing Day by providing free food, coffee, stickers and a place to play games for students who attended.
Madelynn Lee, the multicultural affairs staffer who headed the event this year, said this event was a way for the department to give back to students who invest in student organizations year-round and to celebrate their commitment to student involvement on campus.
“We really want to just celebrate the students who get involved with our department and just have a time to give them a break before the first round of midterms,” Lee said.
The actual signing took place on laminated posters that were hung up on the walls of the SUB. There was a place for students to write why they love their student organizations as well as a place for them to mark which organization they were either committing to.
Diablo, Calif. senior Kyndra Cervantes, a member of the Filipino Student Association and the Vietnamese Student Association who recommitted to her involvement in those organization, said she participated in the event to show her support for the multicultural affairs department and multicultural student organizations on campus.
“Showing that we have a voice here is important because we are the minority of Baylor, but we’re still here,” Cervantes said. “You shouldn’t take away from it.”
Lee emphasized the importance of student organizations on campus as a means for students to connect with each other and learn how to create community with one another.
She said that the multicultural affairs office often says they are student led and staff supported. This event, Lee said was just one way for them to support student organizations in the work that they do to create communities with each other.
“College is all about students learning just how to be a part of a community and to really work together,” Lee said. “I think student organizations are just a part of the learning process in college and so it’s really a cool time for students to step up and become leaders. And just learn how to be a good community.”
Katy junior Danielle Bacani, a member of the Filipino Student Association newly committed to the organization, said that the organization gives her a sense of belonging at Baylor.
“It gives me a sense of community being here with people who appreciate the culture or just like to have fun with each other,” Bacani said.
