Intercultural Student Council Formed at UA

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama Crossroads Community Center has started the Intercultural Student Council, a team of culturally diverse UA students who promote and support a campus commitment to interculturalism through varied activities and programming.

“The Intercultural Student Council will be constantly developing new programming to build relationships and foster intercultural awareness and understanding,” said Bettina Byrd-Giles, ISC adviser and director of Crossroads Community Center.

“I see ISC as a new tradition for The University of Alabama — a tradition that acknowledges its past while working toward a campus commitment for a more culturally aware future,” she added.

The ISC is made up of 14 UA students who meet bi-weekly to plan events and build cross-cultural relationships with different groups and organizations across campus.

The current student members of ISC include:

Faizah Sari of Indonesia
Tiffany Minnifeld of Birmingham
Fiona Nguyen of Belgium and Santa Clara, Calif.
Nicole Frazier of Columbus, Miss.
Tiana Wells of Montgomery
Kenny Liang of Shanghai, China
Rebecca Buchanan of Tuscaloosa
Harrison Diamond of Birmingham
Kirema Brown of Tuscaloosa
Jessica Garcia of Tampa, Fla.
Jessica Giles of Tuscaloosa
Callie Corley of Montgomery
Joseph Seals Jr. of Selma
Kamilah Perry of Birmingham.

“I really believe in the vision of ISC which is to promote the similarities between groups on campus rather than highlight their dissimilarities,” commented ISC member Joseph Seals Jr.

ISC is already working to launch several new programs at UA this fall, including:

The Global Simulation Workshop — Scheduled for Sept. 22 and 23, this workshop simulates a world-trade game where participants decide how they would run the world.

The Intercultural Café Series — ISC is partnering with other student organizations to co-sponsor the series. It will be an open forum where students may come and present their poetry, music, artwork or rhetoric in an informal setting.

ISC Logo Competition — In order to participate, students just need to bring a logo design on “What Does Interculturalism Mean to You?” to the Crossroads Community Center by Friday, Oct. 6.

The Hip Hop Conference — ISC is also teaming up with Creative Campus’s Creative Community Initiative for the 2007 Hip Hop Conference in January.

More information on ISC and Crossroads Community Center can be found at www.crossroads.ua.edu or by visiting the Crossroads office, 232 Ferguson Center.

Contact

Ian Turnipseed or Linda Hill, UA Media Relations, 205/348-8325, lhill@ur.ua.edu

Source

Liz Denson, Crossroads Community Center, 205/348-6930, Elizabeth.denson@ua.edu