October kicks off International Month on campus at Seton Hall. Activities include a variety of cultural experiences such as a free Japanese cuisine tasting and a foreign film festival. Celebrating diversity for a month on campus is a great way for students to learn about other cultures, but shouldn’t every month be treated as International Month? Seton Hall has many options for students to immerse themselves in different cultures that they might not be aware of that could be utilized throughout the year. Seton Hall has almost 20 clubs categorized as cultural or religious-based. These include, but are not limited to, clubs such as the Asian Student Association, French Club, Slavic Club, African Student Association, Italian Student Association and many more. Additionally, Seton Hall is also home to Multicultural Greek Organizations under the Multicultural Greek Council (MGC). According to the Seton Hall website, the Council is “committed to en hancing the multicultural presence on campus. The council seeks a more diverse co-existence between fraternal and sorority orders while maintaining good faith with the University.” The MGC includes 13 organizations on campus. All of them host events that would benefit students’ exposure to different cultures throughout the year, not just during the month of October. Students might not be aware of the opportunities that Seton Hall has available to immerse themselves in different cultures on a service trip or a semester abroad. There are summer faculty-led programs in Spain, France and Italy, just to name a few. Other students who qualify can study across the globe for an entire semester through Seton Hall or a third-party provider. Celebrating diversity is extremely important, especially on our campus where we have representation of students from over 70 countries, according to the Seton Hall website. Although International Month is a wonderful way to highlight different cultures, the effort should not stop there. Hopefully this year International Month doesn’t have to end with the start of November. Students shouldn’t stop after fun food truck events or film festivals. These events should be utilized as a window into the international education and involvement opportunities that SHU has to offer. This event should be celebrated as a starting point and an educational opportunity to engage students in the community.
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