Multicultural Club Conflict

With much conflict between old vice president and old president the multicultural club finally came to a decision on where to eat for Taste of the Month.

“I did all the work,” said old Vice President Jocelyn to old President Brandon. As they were recapping the goings on of last week and the topic of who did what more became a heated discussion between Jocelyn and Brandon. The tension in the room was at an all time high until new President Nick Tomschek broke the silence by asking Ross a fellow member about his research on where he thought the group should go for Taste of the Month. Taste of the Month is where the group goes to a non-American restaurant to get a taste of a different culture.

The meeting was all over the place because the topic of Taste of the Month became interrupted when Nick decided to have everyone introduce themselves. Each person told their name, background, and why they joined. “I like learning about different cultures,” Ross expressed. During her self introduction Jocelyn voiced how lucky she was to get out of the Philippines where she was born. “The boys usually get adopted right away because they are allowed to leave the country, but girls do not because they keep them in the country for prostitution and housekeeping,” she said.

Jocelyn then brought up the topic of Feed My Starving Children, an organization where they bag rice, soy, vegetables, and chicken flavoring then send it overseas to starving children. She mentioned that nobody showed up to the last event and therefore if she is going to reschedule people need to show up because otherwise it looks bad. This time there was not tension but an overwhelming sense of awkwardness. Until someone from the back of the room asked, “What is Cajun?” “People that talk funny and eat spicy food, to put it plainly,” Brandon Davis explained. Not a very cultured response.

The Winona trip was on Monday and Rev. Jaime Washington spoke about race, religion, and sexuality. If you have a philosophy class mention to your teachers that he is coming to Anoka-Ramsey Community College and it would be a good extra credit opportunity. After much debate the group finally came to the decision that Taste of the Month would be at Rose Garden, a Chinese restaurant off of Coon Rapids Blvd, on Friday at 12 p.m.

When asked what he thought, Josh a new member said, “Not productive, but I guess they got through the agenda.” The whole evening was A.D.D. with the switching back and forth between topics. With all the conflict and interruptions the whole meeting was very unprofessional and unproductive.