Groups benefit from OU collaboration

THE OKLAHOMA DAILY- Wednesday night, the Bolivian International Students Association held their Taste Bolivia event at the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity house, giving students the opportunity to taste Bolivian cuisine, hear traditional music and learn about the culture.

This is a great example of something too often missing on campus: the collaboration of different groups putting together multicultural events.

OU boasts more than 30 student organizations representing the many different ethnic groups on campus.

These organizations host several events throughout the semester in an effort to educate others about their cultures.

However, many students are unaware of the scope of diversity on our campus. This isn’t anyone’s fault, and some multicultural organizations are trying bridge the gap between each separate organization by collaborating with each other to put together these events.

Most multicultural student groups apply for UOSA funding to organize campus-wide events, special cultural presentations or scholarship efforts such as pageants. These events can be expensive to put together, and the money is warranted.

However, some groups end up being allotted significantly greater funds than others, because of their size and the number of events held each semester.

With very little funding, some groups are inhibited from spreading awareness of their groups that could result in diverse membership.

This makes events bigger and cheaper for the groups involved, as well as more noticeable to other students.

Holding events with other campus organizations, as the Bolivian students and Alpha Tau Omega fraternity did, also helps integrate the student body, which should be the ultimate goal of all multicultural organizations.

Let’s see more partnership among diverse groups on campus.