The 12th annual ASUO Multicultural Advocate event, Weaving New Beginnings, which brings University students, faculty and staff together to mingle, will be held tonight at the EMU Ballroom.
The mission of the event is to promote networking, role modeling and mentorship opportunities, said Lorena Landeros, the ASUO Multicultural Advocate, who works as the liaison with students of color on campus and the ASUO.
“For some students (the event is) an entryway point into what they’re going to do in the future,” ASUO Programs Coordinator Liora Sponko said.
The event was created as an initiative of the Office of Multicultural Academic Support, or OMAS, an organization “dedicated to offering a holistic approach to achieving academic success” at the University, according to its Web site.
In 1994, the ASUO Multicultural Advocate took over and has been running the event every year since.
This is an opportunity for new students of color “to get to know who’s available to them and who their allies are” at the University, Landeros said.
The theme of this year’s event is building community improvement through action, Landeros said.
A new addition to the event will be a slideshow featuring photos of students, past and present, involved in activism work, Sponko said.
The event will also include speakers, such as University president Dave Frohnmayer and Lyllye Parker, the internal advising coordinator for OMAS and adviser of Diversity-Building Scholarship recipients, Sponko said.
“The connections are being made not only for the school year,” Landeros said, adding that whether or not students decide to go to graduate school at the University or go out into the world, these are the connections that will last and prove helpful.
Guests are asked to dress in line with the color themes of the night, which are red, black and white.
In addition to music, free food will be provided by University Catering.
The event will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the EMU Ballroom.