Universities partner for program
South Carolina State University, CSU create
BY TAYLOUR NELSON
TaylourNelson@coloradoan.com



Colorado State University students are working with their counterparts from South Carolina State University to begin a multicultural leadership program they hope will bring a better understanding of each student's differences and similarities.

CSU's Office of Student Leadership, Involvement and Community Engagement, or SliCE office, hosted Shades of Promise: Today's Young Leaders in Action during the weekend.

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This was the first time CSU students participated in a program that brings together 36 students, 19 from SCSU, a historically black university, with 17 from CSU's predominately white student body to talk about multicultural issues and social justice.

"It's all about respecting our differences and appreciating our likenesses and that we're all very different and all very much the same," said Jake Blumberg, the SLiCE public relations coordinator and one of the organizers of the project.

"We're hoping this will cause a ripple effect from this project to other institutions. Hopefully they will have a new-found respect and knowledge base and send a message through all those involved that working with someone different from you is one of the most important and different experiences you can have in your life."

The trip was SCSU sophomore Justin Miller's first to Colorado and he said he was surprised by how comfortable he felt.

"It's a lot different than everything I heard," he said. "I feel that I'm at home here; the people, the food, it's amazing. I wasn't expecting something so different to be so similar to something I was used to."

He said he applied for the program because he saw the potential to bring people together.

"It's time for a change," he said. "We have to be able to look past what we see on the outside and bond together and be successful together. I feel like this is a stepping stone to that."

In the fall, CSU students will travel to SCSU to participate in a similar experience on that campus. The team-building exercises and dialog will culminate in a trip to Africa in 2009 where the group plans to participate in a cultural learning and service project.

"They really got college students across different segments together," said Allison Hughes, a junior at CSU. "Culturally, South Carolina State is very different from CSU and we want to bring more cultural awareness to both schools."

The students' experiences over the weekend were filmed and will be turned into a documentary to be shown to other universities and organizations.

Good deal.

Nice!