Originally designed for the American minority and international students to connect on campus, the Multicultural Student Action Committee is a student-run organization open to anyone interested in learning about other cultures.
“I started MSAC around 2000, because I saw a need for our American minority and international students to get connected,” Dr. Butch Gardner, director of career services, said. “Obviously being from a different culture, a lot of the entertainment that we would have on campus for the rest of the student population was not attractive to students of other cultures.”
MSAC hosts cultural activities to give international students a taste of American culture as well as give American students a taste of other cultures, senior Shenoa Weeks said. Activities include a corn maze, a tea tasting in the student center, a Christmas party, an international movie night and devos. In the past the group attended cultural performances, such as a Japanese drum show and a Russian ballet, at the University of Central Arkansas.
“The corn maze is really fun,” senior Jin Won said. “It is all about walking about with your friends and having fun. It gets you out of your shell and makes you talk to other people in the club. I think it helped me make a lot of friendships that I wouldn’t have made if I hadn’t had gone.”
For students who do not want to join the social club process, MSAC provides a non-structured opportunity to meet new people. There are no dues or mandatory meetings and students can be as active in the organization as they want.
“It’s literally for everyone,” Won said. “Just because it’s called ‘multicultural’ society doesn’t mean it’s just for international students or minority students.”
Weeks is the president of MSAC this year and is majoring in international studies. She said that in class she learns about different cultures, but MSAC allows her to talk with people from around the world on a more personal level.
“Our main goal is to bring people from all different backgrounds and cultures into contact with one another, to increase education about other cultures and to get to know one another across boundaries,” Weeks said. “Sometimes I think getting to know one another, especially when you are bridging a cultural gap, it’s important to have fun doing it and be doing an activity. Instead of sitting in a classroom or doing a project together, you are actually getting to know each other better.”
For more information or to sign up to join MSAC, email Shenoa Weeks at sweeks@harding.edu to receive emails concerning upcoming events.
