There’s nothing like a warm spread of Latin cuisine featuring empanadas, stuffed potato balls, and an ice-chilled beverage to keep the heat off your mind. On Wednesday (Aug 29) students gathered in the Myatt Center for Diversity and Inclusion (CDI) for music, food, and fellowship at the Mosaic Reception.

“As I look around the room, I see many people of different, colors, races, creeds, and sexual orientation,” said junior Kenneth Romello. “We’re all just getting united, enjoying our surroundings, the music, the food, and it’s stuff like this that’s actually going to make the campus relations much better between organizations.”

According to Hernandez, it’s important for new students to know the various multicultural and non-multicultural events that happen here on campus, as well as the CDI are safe spaces for all students to have a resource for socializing, homework or learning valuable information about the campus community.

“The Mosaic Reception serves as an opportunity for first-year students to mingle with returning students,” said director Juan Hernandez. “I understand that being a person of color, or a woman, or LGBTQIA can be difficult at a university like the University of New Haven. That is why we are being much more proactive with our programming.”

Sommers Smith

Even though the University of New Haven offers a number of organization opportunities, Hernandez says  change that will make students equally represented on campus, include leadership development for Black and Latino men and women, and diverse faculty.

“Having folks of color and LGBTQIA faculty means the world to students,” he said. “I don’t think we should ever become too comfortable in these types of places. That is exactly how progress is lost. But there are some areas that I’d like to emphasize.”

Hernandez hopes to build upon the center’s progress and meet more students by making sure the programming stays fun and interesting but also challenging and educational.

“I want students to come back after graduation and have great things to say about the Center,” he said.