Caribbean Student Association presence returned to campus.
The Caribbean Student Association (CSA) at St. Joe’s has returned to campus after being dormant for the past few years.
Ckyam Saint-Cyr ’19, president of CSA, was moving early into her dorm freshman year as part of Running Start, a pre-collegiate program for incoming students through the Office of Inclusion and Diversity, when she had a life-changing conversation with Natalie Walker Brown, M.S., director for Student Inclusion and Diversity.
“She [Walker Brown] came up to me and said ‘hey where are you from?’ and I told her I’m from Haiti, and she said ‘well, do you want to start Caribbean Student Association?’ and I said I did,” Saint-Cyr said.
Though CSA had been an active organization in the past, many current students had looked for a similar organization to be part of when they first started at St. Joe’s, but did not find anything that directly related with their culture.
“I became involved [with CSA] because I met Ckyam and Marly and they told me about it,” Cherissa Allen ’18, publicist of CSA said. “I’m from the Caribbean as well and knew I would like to join because I was trying to find [an organization] when I first got here.”
One of CSA’s goals was to help students feel comfortable to embrace their culture on campus, according to Marly Rene ’19 treasurer of CSA.
“Our mission at CSA is to promote culture of the Caribbean and to share it with others, especially people who aren’t of Caribbean descent,” Rene said. “It doesn’t matter where you’re from, you can come, you are welcome.”
As part of Inclusion and Diversity, CSA strives to host events on campus that incorporates Caribbean culture with the community at St. Joe’s. Every semester, CSA holds an event called “Island Tings,” where students are able to enjoy a taste of the Caribbean on campus. Students are able to enjoy and learn more about the food and the culture of life of the Caribbean, such as from Haiti. This year, “Island Tings” will be held on March 6.
Last year, CSA participated in “Taste of the World,” a celebration of cultures through food, as part of Diversity Awareness Week. During this time, members of the organization also participated in a fashion show to highlight additional aspects of Caribbean culture.
In addition to the popular events hosted, CSA holds various organizational meetings to plan for upcoming events to bring to campus, such as the head wrapping event hosted last semester.
However, the biggest project coming up for CSA is the Fashion Show, which will be held on April 20. Saint-Cyr explained that after receiving a lot of positive feedback from the participation in Taste of the World’s show, the organization decided to host their own.
“A lot of people have signed up already, and we believe it’s going to be a success, because that’s what we’re trying to do- raise awareness for Caribbean culture,” Rene said.
With its new and improved presence on campus, the Caribbean Student Association encourages its members and students in the community to come to events, or to stop by one of the meetings to broaden their understanding of diversity and to learn about different opportunities and cultures at St. Joe’s.
“It’s also good to know things about the Caribbean, or anything, that you probably didn’t know about,” Rene said. “I feel that if you come to events, you come to a meeting, there’s something different and worthwhile that you’ll learn.”
