The Multicultural Student Center welcomed UW-Madison students of color to the annual Multicultural Orientation and Reception Friday at Memorial Union.
The event hosted a resource fair that provided students with information regarding services like the Writing Center and GUTS and an organization fair, which allowed students to become more familiar with different organizations on campus.
Cynthia Lin, social justice education specialist at the Multicultural Student Center, said she hoped the event allowed participating students to become more familiar and comfortable with the many resources provided for them on campus.
""Our hope is that students, especially new students, come and feel they have resources and networks and maybe individual people that they can connect with,"" she said. ""So beyond going to classes and being in where their housing is, they will really get a sense of community at the university where they want to fit in.""
Aside from the resource fair, MCOR hosted a multicultural performance showcase where students performed skits, dances and music. Madtown Ballroom performed with salsa and cha-cha dancing and the First Wave students hosted a spoken-word performance.
Lin said the event was an opportunity to showcase the rich multicultural resources and talents of students of color at UW-Madison.
""The whole event is open to the entire community, which is really important to the work that we do ... reaching out beyond just [freshmen] students,"" she said. ""But, definitely it's a chance for new freshman, especially students of color, to come and kind of get a sense of what kind of support and resources that are available to them.""
Yan Deng, a UW-Madison freshman, said she has faced some challenges because she is an international student and has lived in Madison for only a little over a week.
She said MCOR was a great way to discover the many opportunities available at UW-Madison.
""I actually came to the fair for the free dinner, but we found so many activities here,"" Deng said.
The event concluded with a dance in the Great Hall with DJ Jarius King, hosted by diversity coordinators from the Division of University Housing.
