By Staff Writer: Marcos Baltierrez
In the downstairs of the Campus Union Building there is a place that is open to all. It is called the Multicultural Center
It is home to multiple offices that represent many of the cultural areas from around the world that you can find at Eastern New Mexico University.
They are five main offices that make up Multicultural Affairs. They are: Hispanic Affairs, Black Student Union (BSU), Indigenous Affairs, International Affairs, and Veteran Affairs.
Hispanic Affairs is where you can explore and learn about the culture and its broad diversity throughout the world. The coordinator for the office is Ross Barbosa. The office puts on multiple events like the Hispanic Food Truck Rally. “The food trucks have been my favorite especially since we added entertainment to it and it something that students look forward to,” Barbosa said
Next is the BSU encapsulates the history of black people and the students here at ENMU. The coordinator for BSU is Jha’Niah Johnson. She said, “it’s about learning and trying to grow and connect with people from somewhere else” One of BSU’s biggest events during the year is Black Excellence. This is a competition where Black students of ENMU show off their talents and a male and female are crowned.
Third is Indigenous Affairs formally known as Native American affairs changed their name in order to better represent all indigenous people. The coordinator of the office Bailey Roanhorse said “We want to offer students help if they need it, like any indigenous students they can come down here at any time.” Indigenous Affairs has started indigenous club and are looking for new members so stop by and ask.
Fourth is International Affairs. This office represents all the students that come from all around the world here to ENMU. The coordinator of the office is Daisy Wilson. She said “As a whole, I really like what it represents. It’s like a catch all. I feel like any student could find a safe space here.” One of the things that the office does is hold an international club for students from different countries and for students wanting to learn about them.
And the last and newest office is Veteran Affairs. This is a place for students who are veterans or have military families that can have a place on campus to come and find people just like them. The coordinator of this office is Donovan Trayon and he said, “what it means to me is to be the strong point for other veterans and student veterans.” We hope to see a lot for Veterans Affairs future
Also located in the Multicultural Center are graphic artists. Eduardo Najera and Brisa Rodriguez are the two artists that do work for Campus Life. Najera said “I would describe our job as designing and promoting social media flyers for events for the campus.” And their services are open to all students on campus. You just have to fill out a form and they can make your flyer for you.
Multicultural means a lot to me and these people. When I was starting my job at campus life I didn’t think I would fit in but this center showed me so much love and I hope that it can be spread to the students at ENMU.