When someone looks for a safe space to talk about culture, where do they go? Now, students have started a club to advocate for cultural inclusion and education.
The Intercultural Exchange Club has established its unique presence on Bradley’s campus engaging people in conversations with others across different cultural backgrounds.
“We are about spreading cultural awareness,” IEC president Micah Yoon, said. “We are also trying to start an outreach program for international students … and we try to get the other cultural organizations to all work together.”
According to its website, the purpose is to provide international students with an understanding of American and Bradley campus culture; to provide American students with opportunities to know and understand international students and appreciate their respective cultures; and to facilitate conversation between American students and international students.
The club promotes the learning of different cultures and countries by working with international students and a multitude of other cultural organizations at Bradley.
The club’s meetings are open to everyone.
“Anybody, even professors, can attend meetings,” Yoon, junior education major said. “We try to put more of our focus towards Bradley students, but it is open for anyone who would like to learn.”
As they are just starting out this year, Yoon believes they are making steady strides to be noticed on campus.
“We have a lot of people on the email list as like any other organization, but I would say it’s pretty good,” Yoon said.
Some students who recently heard of the club are optimistic of the club’s goals and aspirations.
“It [the club] is good to have on campus because people are ignorant and a little culture wouldn’t hurt people.” Samy Batha, senior computer science major, said.
Yoon believes collaboration with fellow organizations will garner better outcomes.
“We have our name out there, especially with other organizations, so actually working with them has been a very positive thing. Getting to know students is difficult, but might be because we actually started this year,” Yoon said.
In addition to meetings, the club also hosts several events on campus. This past Monday they held a bake sale. They will also be hosting a BU World Culture Night in the student center ballroom tonight at 7 p.m.
The event will feature culture groups and a food tasting from restaurants like Than Linh, Jimador and Popeye’s. Additionally, James Foley will speak about different cultures and both the Asian American Association and Salsa Club will be performing dances.
In the upcoming months, they will be hosting a free soccer tournament called the IEC World Cup soccer tournament March 8. They will also be having IEC Around the World on April 6, where people will be traveling to different areas of the Markin Recreational Center as if they were visiting different parts of the world and performing unique cultural activities.
For more information and other events see their website at https://bradleyuniversityi.wixsite.com.
