Students made connections with their peers at the first Women of Color Social, which was hosted by the Gender Equity Center on Aug. 28. The center held the event to encourage students, particularly those who identify as women of color, to meet one another and create bonds. This social was also a way for students to converse about sensitive topics in a safe environment.

Monia “Moe” Romero, the event lead of the Women of Color Social and a peer educator at the Gender Equity Center, then displayed a PowerPoint with interview questions on it. The questions asked about basics such as names, pronouns, and majors, then moved on to more complex questions like what attendees’ debut albums would be called, describing the color yellow to someone who is blind, and what accomplishments attendees were most proud of. These questions acted as an ice breaker and as a way for students to get to know their peers better.

The questions also had a greater purpose than just being an icebreaker. Moe said, “I wanted to build a sense of community, diversity and a home for the people who came and I feel that was achieved. There is more to women of color, and that shows in how we all answered the questions.” While the event was a Women of Color Social, it also was about how those who identify as female are more than just women of color, that they are “a community of people”, as Moe said.

Moe said that, the purpose is to create a social and professional connection with people of color. This social was especially important to Moe, because during her first year at CSUSM, she said that she did not connect with anyone. The Women of Color Social opened up the doors to a community between students and the Gender Equity Center.

Ingry Gonzalez, a kinesiology major who attended the social, said that she, “thought it was [an] interesting choice to answer these questions, [as] it’s particularly important to acknowledge pronouns.” The Gender Equity Center is focused on welcoming students of all genders and backgrounds

Alexis Buchanan, a first-year criminology and justice studies major said that, “I see myself coming back because I like to meet new people.” Students like Buchanan and Gonzalez got a chance to meet and socialize with students that they didn’t know. This social also introduced a community at the Gender Equity Center for students to have a place on campus to hang out.

The Women of Color Social brought together students to interact and meet other students of color. Interviewing one another allowed students to get to know each other better and start engaging in conversations. Moe said that if anything, she hopes that students could take away from this event “a friend- someone they got to know through the social.”