By Olivia Rizzo
Staff Writer
At its latest meeting on Wednesday, April 12, the Student Finance Board funded three culture-focused events and elected its 2017-18 executive board.
Students can look forward to sampling the cultural clubs’ offerings at Student Government’s Epcot on May 2. The organization received $5,695 for Epcot, which was previously tabled due to concerns that the event was too focused on entertainment rather than education.
“TCNJ’s Epcot is basically an event that brings together students to explore all of the different cultures present on our campus,” said Cassandra Kriegel, vice president of Diversity and Inclusion. “The cultural clubs are able to show campus their club and their culture. It shows how much culture we really have on campus.”
Funding will cover the costs of food, a DJ, henna artists, decorations, lighting, inflatables and an electrician.
The Muslim Student Association was fully funded $159.75 for its culminating Islam Awareness Month event Food for Thought on April 20 at 7 p.m. in Bliss Hall Lounge.
“We have a diverse group of people on this campus, but one step above that is having all of those diverse people come together. We shouldn’t be split because of our differences, we should come together because of those differences,” said Yasseen Ayuby, MSA’s president. “The purpose is to show that our differences link us together, not separate us.”
MSA plans on having many cultural groups represented.
“We will have facilitators lead small group discussions before we come together as a larger group for closing remarks,” said Maaha Malik, MSA’s vice president. “We decided to have pizza as a way to attract more people in coming and as a way to ease tensions and give people a moment to think before they say anything.”
Funding will cover the costs of pizza and drinks.
The TCNJ French Club received $1,418.40 for its NYC Excursion on April 30.
“The trip is open to the whole campus, it's a really nice way for all students to experience French culture even if they don’t take French classes,” said Allison Smith, president of TCNJ French Club. “We plan on going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to see the George Secuart exhibition and the French impressionist collection. We also plan on going to La Bonne Soupe, a traditional French restaurant.”
