Spring Break
Campus cultural center offers a diverse orientation
Kimberly Tsao
Issue date: 5/5/08 Section: News
The MOSAIC Cross Cultural Center cordially invites freshmen to a New Student Welcome Reception every year. The center divides the event into different racial categories: African-American, Asian Pacific Islander or Latino/Chicano.
"I think it's weird," said Hsin Chang, a senior graphic design major who is Chinese. "They're all students. Why separate them?"
The purpose of the reception, said Sadika Hara, assistant director of MOSAIC Cross Cultural Center, is to give marginalized populations a chance to find community "pretty immediately."
"It's important to be reflected when you come into college," she said, "to know that there are people you can relate to or who may have similar cultural backgrounds that you can connect with."
Of these groups, the Hispanic community is the largest at SJSU, according to the Office of Institutional Research, with 4,908 enrolled this semester. They constitute 15.9 percent of the student body, while the African American and Asian Pacific Islander students make up less than 6 percent, at 1,496 and 266 students respectively.
MOSAIC hosts a two-hour optional reception for each race as part of the Fall Welcome Days for incoming students. Once the freshmen find their way through the zigzag staircases of the Student Union, they can mingle with members of student organizations, faculty and the community.
"(The reception) is how I met other organizations and how I got involved on campus and in the community," said Milan Balinton, a junior communication studies major who is black and Filipino. He said he's continuing his college education because he met his advisers at the reception.
In the past, people from the Disability Resource Center, the Financial Aid Office and the police department have attended.
Andre Barnes, UPD chief of police, said that as an African-American, he wanted to make sure that group, which typically doesn't do well in terms of longevity here on campus, succeeds.
"I try to make sure that I go to all the student orientations and be supportive," said Barnes, who has attended the reception for the last three years.
"I think it's weird," said Hsin Chang, a senior graphic design major who is Chinese. "They're all students. Why separate them?"
The purpose of the reception, said Sadika Hara, assistant director of MOSAIC Cross Cultural Center, is to give marginalized populations a chance to find community "pretty immediately."
"It's important to be reflected when you come into college," she said, "to know that there are people you can relate to or who may have similar cultural backgrounds that you can connect with."
Of these groups, the Hispanic community is the largest at SJSU, according to the Office of Institutional Research, with 4,908 enrolled this semester. They constitute 15.9 percent of the student body, while the African American and Asian Pacific Islander students make up less than 6 percent, at 1,496 and 266 students respectively.
MOSAIC hosts a two-hour optional reception for each race as part of the Fall Welcome Days for incoming students. Once the freshmen find their way through the zigzag staircases of the Student Union, they can mingle with members of student organizations, faculty and the community.
"(The reception) is how I met other organizations and how I got involved on campus and in the community," said Milan Balinton, a junior communication studies major who is black and Filipino. He said he's continuing his college education because he met his advisers at the reception.
In the past, people from the Disability Resource Center, the Financial Aid Office and the police department have attended.
Andre Barnes, UPD chief of police, said that as an African-American, he wanted to make sure that group, which typically doesn't do well in terms of longevity here on campus, succeeds.
"I try to make sure that I go to all the student orientations and be supportive," said Barnes, who has attended the reception for the last three years.
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