Student Diversity Board (SDB) kicked off the school year by hosting their eighth annual Mosaic Welcome event Thursday afternoon. Sponsored by the Office of Inclusion and Equity and the Office of Multicultural Student Services (OMISS), the entire Saint Mary’s community was invited to help themselves to food and learn about a variety of activities offered by the club.
SDB invited local food vendors from around the South Bend area to come to the event. Options ranged from churros to elote to boba. Several other clubs on campus had tables with information for attendees to learn about how they prioritize diversity at Saint Mary’s.
Thalia Mora, a junior at Saint Mary’s and president of SDB talked about the club’s objectives and how they work toward making the College a positive place for everybody.
“Student Diversity Board’s mission is to create awareness of diversity in order to educate, provide, support and celebrate differences within the Saint Mary’s College community through social events, educational programming and just anything that students want to see,” Mora said.
Lilian Lomeli, a senior and the vice president of the club, commented on the purpose behind Thursday’s event and why it has now become an annual tradition.
“It’s to showcase the diversity here on Saint Mary’s campus, not just with clubs and organizations and the student body but also faculty and staff,” she said. “We want to share the vibrancy here and the collaborations that take place.”
Mora and Lomeli have both been a part of SDB for several years and they reflected on how it has impacted their college experiences for the better.
“I got involved with SDB my first year of college,” Mora said. “It just provided a good safe space and just a lot of people on campus who all kind of saw and value the diverse population here on campus. It makes me feel like I am giving back to my community that provides me with so much support.”
The club has many future plans open to the Saint Mary’s community and is consistently posting updates on their Instagram account for others to stay in the know, Lomeli said.
“Next on our plans is Hispanic Heritage Month coming up Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, and we will be sending out more info,” Lomeli said. “We are doing collaborations with La Fuerza and having some dance nights like Salsa and Bachata.”
Aside from the Mosaic Welcome, SDB has other annual events planned for the tri-campus community that will take place during the spring semester.
“Every spring semester we do a speaker series,” Lomeli said. “This year we want to tackle the intricacies of human connectedness and exploring the diversity of what makes us each human but connected at the same time.”
“We are trying to really celebrate the diverse regions within the Latin American region and not just a singular country or a singular identity,” Mora said. “We really want to showcase that through both fun programming like dance and educational programming.”
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