On Sunday, August 20th, the Bucknell Student Government’s (BSG) Diversity Committee hosted the annual “Multicultural & Chill” mixer at Uptown in collaboration with New Student Orientation. According to Thandeka Bango, a member of the BSG Diversity Committee and class of 2026, the goal of the event was to “connect multicultural students with the necessary resources that are geared directly to them within a social setting.” This included creating “a space for multicultural students to meet and socialize with each other, [as well as] upperclassmen and multicultural clubs and organizations.”Â
From Thandeka’s perspective, events like Multicultural and Chill are integral to fostering a sense of community among students of color on campus. They allow these students to show up, commune, and enjoy themselves without the often added burden and expectation of having to develop, plan, and facilitate these types of events themselves. Burden and difficulty, however, were certainly present in the preparation of this program.
Thandeka shared that while Multicultural and Chill was supposed to be a collaborative effort between the Diversity Committee and the New Student Orientation team, the partnership wasn’t quite what he expected. In fact, it seemed to be a “partnership only in name.” Emails went unanswered, logistical mishaps with the food and drinks were plentiful, and the event “wasn’t even originally planned to be on the schedule” for the first-year orientation. To Thandeka, these instances “emphasized the direct disregard for intentionally supporting minorities on this campus.” Plainly stated, it was “insulting.”
Despite these hurdles, Multicultural and Chill had a palpable impact on those who participated and attended, and Thandeka thinks so too! “Overall, I am extremely happy and grateful that despite the chaos behind the scenes, the event went well,” he expressed. “Some students approached me afterward and expressed a similar sentiment that they enjoyed having a space to just have fun with other multicultural students which was my overarching goal. It was extremely rewarding to at least have somewhat of a positive impact on minority students on campus, and I hope I have the opportunity to help plan this event in some capacity next year.”
As a Black student on campus, I’m grateful for students like Thandeka who continue to fight for systemically marginalized students and work to carve out spaces on campus where they can show up authentically, unabashedly themselves, for and with each other. The work continues and Multicultural and Chill is just one part of that! Please the the attached poster for additional information.