Spring 2023’s Multicultural Education Week brings exciting new changes

Multicultural Education Week (MEW) takes place every semester at Salve Regina as an opportunity to bring up topics around diversity and inclusion, and this spring 2023’s lineup of events offers a variety of speakers, panel discussions and performances to highlight important issues. The week runs Sunday, Feb. 26, through Friday, March 3. 

Organizers of this semester’s Multicultural Education Week are offering a fresh, exciting new way to approach the week. This is seen particularly with the performance by the Zuzu Acrobats and the Multicultural Festival, which will be offering a more in-depth celebration of Africa through food, dance and a fashion show.

“In the past, we’ve shone a bright light on many different cultures, but this semester we wanted to experience a more precise region of the world,” said Dhana Hinds ’23, an administration of justice major and an intern in the Office of Multicultural Programs and Retention. “This semester MEW is going to be explosive. We will be able to really immerse you in the cultures of Africa and make you feel like you’re really there. No one is going to want to miss this.”

This idea has been incorporated with feedback from students across campus. Moving forward, the desire is to highlight continents during each Multicultural Education Week, which will help students walk away with more knowledge around specific regions of the world.

“MEW has been effective in presenting a diverse sample of cultures from around the world, but by covering so much ground we were limited in many aspects in the selection of information to be presented,” said Maria Barragan ’26, a global studies major and a work-study student in the Office of Multicultural Programs and Retention. “This new model will allow the students at Salve Regina to have the time and sources to learn more than surface level facts about cultures around the world.”

Below is the lineup of speakers and events to help students, faculty and staff join in on cross-cultural conversations that breech subjects that the Salve Regina community and the world need to be talking about.  

All events can be registered for here. 

Multicultural Mass
Sunday, Feb. 26, 5-6 p.m.
Our Lady of Mercy Chapel 

Start off Multicultural Education Week with the Salve Regina community at a multilingual mass. This mass will feature diverse readings and songs in English, French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese. 

Keynote Speaker: Minal Bopaiah and Connecting Across Our Intersectional Differences
Monday, Feb. 27, 7-9 p.m.
Bazarsky Lecture Hall 

Award winning author and IDEA practitioner Minal Bopaiah will explore the concept of personal identity and the importance of understanding your personal background when speaking with people of different, intersectional identities. Through an engaging conversation, Bopaiah will help the audience develop a deeper self-awareness. 

Speaker: Max Boot and the Risks to American Democracy

Editor’s Note: This event has been moved to Tuesday, March 7, and no longer takes place during Multicultural Education Week due to weather concerns. More information on this event can be found in a SALVEtoday story. 

In partnership with the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy, Max Boot, a bestselling author, is bringing this knowledge to the table to discuss the risks to democracy across the world.

Performer: Zuzu Acrobats and a 2,000-Year-Old Tradition
Wednesday, March 1, 7-8:30 p.m.
Location: TBA  

The Zuzu Acrobats are cultural ambassadors of the Baba Watoto Centre that use dance, music, theater, drawing and acrobatics as healing methods for personal trauma. This performance will illustrate how arts and culture have a transformative effect on society. 

Panel Discussion: Conversations across culture
Thursday, March 2, 7-9 p.m.
Bazarsky Lecture Hall  

Panelists will engage in cross-cultural conversations between black and white communities throughout history through the lens of U.S policies in academia. This panel discussion will highlight cultural differences while providing insight on how to pave the way to a culturally inclusive campus. 

Multicultural Festival Celebrates Africa 
Friday, March 3, 7-11 p.m.
Ochre Court 

Join the Salve Regina community for a night of cultural exploration and enjoy the cuisine of Africa. The Multicultural Festival will highlight the resilience of Black culture in Africa through warmth, celebration and acceptance. The festival will be showcasing local community and Salve Regina talents with a focus on African culture.  

All events can be registered for here. 

Multicultural Education Week is sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Programs and Retention; the Office of Student Engagement; the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy; the Office of Residence Life; the Department of Music, Theatre and Dance; the Mercy Center for Spiritual Life; the Campus Activities Board; the Black Student Union; the Hispanic & Latinx Student Organization; the Multicultural Student Organization and the Student Government Association.