“From my perspective, we’ve come a long way when it comes to diversity,” Owen said.

ASMSU is MSU’s undergraduate student government.

All activity departments, Council of Racial and Ethnic Students, or CORES,
groups and Council of Progressive Students, or COPS, groups were invited to attend, said Victor Draine, ASMSU programming board vice-chairman.

“The purpose of the celebration is to first and foremost celebrate the idea of diversity and different cultures … and the importance of educating students of those different cultures through events,” Draine said.

Draine and Owen spoke at the dinner, as well as representatives from various student groups.

The programming board is in charge of distributing funds to all CORES, COPS and activity departments, Draine said.

More than 60 representatives from the groups were expected to attend, including members of the International Student Association, Black Student Alliance and Jewish Student Union.

“This night and this event is one of the most important things I’ve been to since I’ve been a trustee at this university,” Owen said.

Draine said he hoped the event will lead to more collaboration between the groups to ensure that student tax dollars are effectively spent — something he promised to accomplish after he was elected as vice-chairman.

“Naturally, oftentimes we get so caught up in promoting our own cause that we don’t take the time to step back and view others and look at why their personal view is important to them,” Draine said.

Women’s Council co-chair Chelsea Gladney said she hoped the event would lead to more collaboration between her group and others.

“We’ve always wanted to bridge the gaps, but we’ve never had an opportunity like this before,” Gladney said.
The Women’s Council works to ensure people see feminism as a multicultural idea, instead of solely as a white, Christian mindset, Gladney said.

Sandra Grigg, ASMSU liaison for university multicultural affairs, said many of the student groups on campus form to celebrate their traditions and cultures with others of the same racial or ethnic group, but diversity throughout the groups is key.

“We’re hoping to have the student body be more aware that there are these groups on campus,” Grigg said.

Nick Pfost, chair of the Alliance of Queer & Ally Students, said networking between the different CORES and COPS groups hasn’t happened much in the past, but he now hopes to tackle issues such as HIV and AIDS awareness with other student organizations.

“Cultivating awareness of the different groups, that’s a worthy goal in itself,” Pfost said.