All-College day aims to raise community awareness

Nate Kimball Staff Writer

On Wednesday, Feb. 22, Vassar will celebrate its sixth annual Multi-Cultural Awareness week and All-College Day.

The theme for the week is unity, and activities are aimed at bringing students and community together. Students of Color Organizations will be participating or organizing events from Monday, Feb. 20 until Saturday, Feb. 25.

Sonia Chandra ’08, an acting Committee Chair for the week, has outlined a series of events that will be finalized on Thursday. On Monday, Feb. 20, panels organized by student organizations will be held to start the event. Feb. 21 will be game day, with games from the cultures that the organizations represent.

All-College Day focuses on bringing the community of Arlington and greater Poughkeepsie closer to Vassar. Through musical, artistic, and social events, All-College Day is a day-long exploration of the local community.

The theme for All-College Day 2006 is “Beyond the Gate: Vassar and Poughkeepsie.” The day will be filled with discussions and student performances encouraging people to “tell it like it is.”

The annual mural project is a centerpiece of the day, which allows everyone to write their thoughts on the day’s theme.

Panel discussions have been held in years past with topics such as “At a Crossroad: Vassar and Arlington” and “Stereotypes, Sexuality, Sports, and Stigma: Learning From Our Mistakes.” Panel topics and involved campus groups had not yet been declared at time of press.

The kick-off for All-College Day will be at 10 a.m. in the Villard Room, and Associate Dean of the College Ed Pittman encourages students to participate, sign up, and interact with the community.

Thursday, Feb. 23 will feature a movie marathon in the Retreat with international films. As of Feb. 14, the films and times for this event were yet to be finalized. The main event of the week will be the international dinner on Friday, which will be a potluck-style dinner with each organization bringing a regional dish. Chandra says there will hopefully be entertainment as well.

The week will end with a VISA-sponsored Cricket tournament on Saturday, Feb. 25, and organizers are hoping to bring a cricket team down from Bard for the match. Chandra said, “The activities this week will support the cause of unity. We have been planning this week since December to help build a more united campus community.”