By Samantha Garza | Staff Writer, Video by Kaity Kempf | Broadcast Reporter
The Department of Multicultural Affairs hosted its annual Mosaic Mixer on Wednesday in the Bill Daniel Student Center.
The first portion of the mixer was an organization fair in which different cultural groups and coalitions set up their tables for students to get an inside look into each organization. Alongside these student groups, the fair also included tables from different departments of Baylor that students might find interest in.
The second portion of the event was a cultural showcase in which different student organizations performed in front of a panel of judges. This year, Delta Sigma Theta received first place, Alpha Kappa Alpha received second place and the African Student Association received third place.
Tonight’s event kicked off Mosaic Week at Baylor, with smaller events like Black Students Welcome Night, Latinx Night and Mosaic Asian Night scheduled to happen the following days.
Kristen McDowell, graduate apprentice in the Department of Multicultural Affairs, said the department and the Mosaic Mixer are both places for anyone to feel welcome.
“We want every person, every student on this campus to find a place where they can fit in and see people that have cultures similar to them, cultures different to them, learn from each other, talk to each other,” McDowell said. “And it’s really about sharing and embracing culture with others.”
According to McDowell, the Mosaic Mixer usually has over 1,000 students come in and out throughout the night. Because of how erratic the mixer can get, it was later broken down into three smaller events in which the different groups within the big mixer were given other chances to table. McDowell said these smaller events usually host around 100 students, depending on the year and what is planned for the event.
“We found that sometimes a huge event can intimidate people, and having a smaller, kind of more intimate setting brings more people out that might have been overwhelmed with how crazy the Mosaic Mixer can get,” McDowell said. “And it gives them a second chance to kind of connect with people.”
The upcoming events are open to any student who is interested in joining any organization or just learning something new about other students.
Oakland, Calif., junior Laura Truong said when she came to Baylor during COVID-19, it was hard to meet new people and find a sense of community while everyone was socially distancing, but the mixer helped her find a lot of people she could resonate with.
“As a junior, it was also nice to have these Mosaic Mixers because I could just reconnect with my friends after the summer,” Truong said.
