During the week of April 16-20, the Student Union of Multicultural Affairs (SUMA) held their Unity Week. The week that happens every year consists of different types of events, ranging from fun to more serious in nature.
On Monday the 16, there was “Painting with a Twist” in the Smith Student Center Commuter Lounge. Tuesday the 17, there were two events. The first was “Awareness of Sexual Assault & Domestic Violence” that was near the Starbucks in the Smith Student Center. The next event later that night was “Bridging the Gap” that took place at the Alumni House. Wednesday, the event held was a “Discussion with Payton Head” in Eisenberg. Thursday consisted of a powderpuff football game that was held at the Intramural Fields. The final event for Unity Week will be held on Friday, a “Cultural Showcase” on the patio outside the Smith Student Center.
“Unity Week is a week dedicated to working with different clubs inside and outside of the Office of Inclusive Excellence (OIE),” said SUMA President Jesse Nwabueze-Ogbo. “We aim to show awareness, and really showcase different activities that’ll bring people together, and for a lack of a better word, Unite.”
Josiah Cole, the vice president of SUMA, explained that SUMA’s goal as a club is to bring people and organizations from all kinds of different backgrounds. That means racial, religious, cultural, gender identity and more.
“We want to help them find things in common, and learn to understand each other,” Cole said.
Both Nwabueze-Ogbo and Cole said that being in charge of the club is, at times, challenging, but worth it in the end. They agree that having fun and bringing people together makes it that much more worth it to be a part of the club.
SUMA is a unique club on campus because they are a huge part in bringing together the SRU campus and all the different people who make up the campus.
“Everyone has their own comfort zone, which is absolutely normal and expected, but I think once we start getting even a little bit outside of that and into somebody else’s world, it can really transform and improve our lives,” Cole said on this being the core of SUMA.
SUMA is all about bringing the community and campus together, which is such an important goal, especially in the world today.
