Just in time for this month’s International Education Week, Transylvania University students launched a new cultural inclusion organization: the Multicultural and International Student Organization (MISO).
It is the work of two bright juniors, Farris Herrington from Cape Town, South Africa, and Shalomel Jatau from Nigeria. Both have come together to promote friendship between students, diversity and the specific needs of multicultural and international students on campus.
“Our vision for the organization is to make a permanent safe space and support group for international and multicultural students as well as first-gen students,” Harrington said.
Transylvania is committed to the inclusion of members from all over the world, as diversity represents our differences and inclusion is how Transy empowers those differences.
When asked about starting the organization, Omar Bojang, a senior and upcoming MISO member, said, “It was great to see all the international students in one place, as well as non-international students. It already feels like a strong sense of community, and it feels like the beginning of something special.”
The organization remains in its infancy, but with support from faculty in various departments, MISO is set to be a successful addition to the Transy community.
“We hope that MISO will be a way to bridge the gap between our international students and the American students on campus so that they can make friends, since we know how hard it is to do this in a foreign country,” Herrington said. A main goal of the group is to push for Transylvania to hire a permanent, full-time international student director/coordinator.
If student turnout is a reflection of organizational support, then MISO has support from many who look forward to seeing what the program will accomplish in the future.
About the author: Kennedy Irakoze ’23 is a business marketing major from Kigoma, Tanzania, and a work-study student for the Office of Marketing and Communications.