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Syracuse University’s Student Association approved funding for its first “Multicultural Olympics,” a celebration co-organized by SA and Las Naranjas, SU’s Spanish language and culture club, during its Monday meeting.

The Olympics will feature contributions from several cultural affinity organizations across campus and offer opportunities to partake in international traditions, SA Diversity and Inclusion Chair Tim Wong said. He also said money raised for the event will be donated to SU’s La Casita Cultural Center — the university’s hub for Hispanic cultural and civic engagement.

“We really want to increase the visibility of the affinity and culture groups here on campus,” Wong said. “Unlike a lot of other organizations here on campus, we feel like these groups often do not get their time to shine.”

The event will be part of the association’s larger Multicultural Week, which will run from April 8 to 14, Wong said. Las Naranjas first announced plans to host the event with SA in a March 14 Instagram post. It is slated to take place on April 13 on the field outside of SU’s Women’s Building.

Wong said the new initiative aims to address the lack of opportunities for on-campus cultural groups to interact with one another. He said he hopes the initiative will encourage students to learn about cultures different from their own.

This year’s Multicultural Week will be SA’s first since fall of 2020. The last series of events featured speakers of several cultural backgrounds, including students, faculty and guests.

During last week’s meeting, SA Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion Kaitlyn Paige said Multicultural Week will include several events celebrating diverse cultures — including an international film screening and an Arab Heritage Month painting event.

As of Monday’s meeting, Wong said SA’s diversity and inclusion committee has only found one speaker for its upcoming Multicultural Week panel. Wong asked the assembly to reach out to professors from diverse backgrounds to participate.

Further details surrounding the Multicultural Week and the Multicultural Olympics will be announced on a later date, Wong said. Information will be posted to SA’s social media.

During the meeting, SA Board of Elections Chair Otto Sutton also encouraged students to attend Wednesday’s executive debate ahead of its upcoming spring general elections. The debate will feature the candidates running for executive positions — president, vice president and comptroller — for next year’s 68th Session. The event begins at 7 p.m. in the K.G. Tan Auditorium in the National Veterans Resource Center.

Sutton said this year’s elections will be uncontested as only one ticket has been put forward for each position. According to SA’s Spring 2024 Candidate List, current SA Vice President of Community and Government Affairs German Nolivos is running for SA president, SA Chief of Staff Reed Granger is running for vice president and Alexis Leach, a sophomore studying business analytics and accounting, is running for comptroller.

The event will follow the format of a town hall — attendees will be able to ask the candidates questions — but will keep the “executive debate” name to stay consistent with past elections, SA Speaker Kennedy Williams said.

Following the debate, elections will open to the student body from April 1 to April 5 at midnight, according to SA’s Spring 2024 Election Timeline.

“This is a great opportunity to hear from the future leaders of the student body,” Sutton said. “Students, faculty and staff are all encouraged to attend.”

Other business:

• SA President William Treloar encouraged all to attend Tuesday night’s “Freedom of Speech Town Hall,” which aims to collect student feedback surrounding the university’s impending statement on academic freedom and free speech. The event will begin at 5 p.m. in Lyman Hall Room 132.
• SA members discussed a proposed “Orange Dash” charity run to raise money for unhoused people in the Syracuse community. The association will vote on the bill during next week’s meeting, Williams said.
• Chet Guenther, project coordinator for the New York Public Interest Research Group, encouraged SA members to participate in the organization’s menstrual and hygiene product drive. The event began on March 13 and donations will be accepted until April 5.

DISCLAIMER: Kaitlyn Paige, SA’s vice president of diversity and inclusion, is an opinion columnist for The Daily Orange. She does not influence the editorial content of the News section in her capacity as an opinion columnist.

Published on March 26, 2024 at 12:27 am

Contact Duncan: digreen@syr.edu