By Mariah Bennett | Staff Writer
The Mosaic Mixer was held Wednesday primarily in the Vera Martin Daniel Plaza and SUB Bowl area. It began with an organization fair, which included tables run by the 40+ organizations advertised by the Department of Multicultural Affairs, along with numerous other departments and organizations at Baylor. The mixer included free food for the first 500 attendees, a vaccine clinic and a sea of excited new faces.
Hosted by Multicultural Affairs, the Mosaic Mixer is an annual event that allows students to connect and discover different cultural coalitions and organizations, as well as other departments on campus.
Last year, the Mosaic Mixer was held virtually due to COVID-19. This year the event, which was mainly held outdoors, still showed signs of the ongoing pandemic. There was a vaccine clinic held in the Barfield Drawing Room in the Bill Daniel Student Center. At the entrance of the room free masks, stickers, hand sanitizer and bucket hats were given to anyone passing by or participating in the clinic.
Beaumont senior Christine Phan, the Coalition of Asian Students intern under the Department of Multicultural Affairs, was one of the many involved planners of the event. Phan said Sharyl Loeung and Geoffrey Griggs of Multicultural Affairs were her advisors for event planning and dealing with the more official business, such as contracting.
Carrollton senior Mehak Punjwani, president of the Kappa Phi Gamma, said her organization had a positive experience at the mixer.
“It’s such a great opportunity for organizations. After the first half-hour we had so many people come up, we ran out of girls to explain to them what we are,” Punjwani said. “I like how it’s such an open concept. Everyone can hop around and see what we want to see. I think it’s a great place for freshmen to come, especially.”
Magnolia junior Andrei Bualat, external vice president of the Filipino Student Association (FSA) and a seasoned attendee of the Mixer, said he appreciated the event, especially as a student of color. Bualat originally discovered FSA at Mosaic Mixer in 2019 as a freshman himself.
“[Mosaic Mixer] was the first time I’d seen Filipinos be acknowledged among a large student body in this way,” Bualat said.
FSA opened the dance portion of the night, as they were the first group out of six to compete in the cultural showcase at the SUB Bowl. Some of the other groups that performed included Alpha Phi Alpha and the Heavenly Voices Gospel Choir. Before the performances, however, multiple Baylor staff members and students spoke. Among those were President Linda Livingstone and the first gent.
“We love this event every year because it gives us the opportunity to celebrate the diversity we have on this campus. Our freshman class this year is again one of the most diverse we’ve ever had,” President Livingstone said.
The winner of the cultural showcase was Phi Beta Sigma, who posted a picture on Instagram of their members and newly won seven-foot green and gold trophy.
The Mosaic Mixer kicked off “Mosaic Week,” with the Black Student Welcome on Thursday, and will continue with the Mosaic Asian Night at 6 p.m. on Tuesday and Latinx Night at 6 p.m. on Wednesday. All events will be held in the Barfield Drawing Room on the second floor of the SUB.
