Students invited to join cultural centers

Students will be introduced to African-American, American-Indian, Asian-American and Latino leaders on campus at the second-annual Orientation Reception for Students of Color from 5 to 7 p.m. today in the lobby of the IU Auditorium.\nMike Davis, the coach of the IU Men's basketball team, also will speak at the reception.\nDirectors of the Asian Cultural Center, La Casa -- IU's Latino Cultural Center -- and the Neal-Marshall Black Cultural Center are hosting the event along with representatives from the American Indian Student Association. Representatives from support services and other members of IU's staff will be in attendance and available to answer questions students may have.\nLast year the reception was held during IU's Welcome Week and not as many students showed up as leaders had hoped, said Gloria Gibson, associate vice chancellor for Multicultural Affairs, which was one of the main organizations in charge of organizing the event. \nThis year Gibson said she expects at least 200 to 300 students to attend the event. During the orientation, there will also be a raffle where each culture center will be giving away something from their house.\nOyibo Afoaku, director of the Black Culture Center, said this is only one of IU's activities that helps students realize how friendly the people on campus are.\n"We hope to speak to the students about our numerous positive programs and activities designed to enhance their academic, cultural, and social growth while at IUB," Afoaku said.\nMany culture centers exist on campus and each serve a unique purpose.\nLillian Casillas, director of La Casa, said the program exists to serve Latinos on campus. La Casa is located at 715 E. Seventh St.\n"La Casa is an advocacy office which provides support for Latino students and makes sure Latinos on campus have a voice," she said. \nAnother culture center which will have representatives at the orientation today is the Asian Cultural Center, which is located off 10th Street across from the Collins Living/Learning Center. \n"Since the ACC opened in October of 1998, the center has enjoyed working closely with the other cultural centers and various support offices on campus," said Melanie Castillo, director of the ACC. "ACC is an advocacy and resource center that offers a variety of educational programs. We conduct lectures, workshops, student leadership conferences [and] cultural programs among other activities to promote an understanding of the history and culture of the Asian and Asian American population."\nBesides CultureFest and this reception, IU hosts a multicultural dinner-meeting once a year for student leaders, and once a month all of the culture centers join together in celebrating heritage months. \nIU encourages students as well as faculty to celebrate diversity. \n"We want to incourage students to meet faculty, staff and student leaders," Gibson said. "We also want to make this a fun event."\n-- Contact staff writer Jay Paslay at jpaslay@indiana.edu.