By Joseph Mcvey, May 2, 2023
Cal Poly Pomona’s African American Student Center hosted a roller-skating event at “Skate Express,” inviting members of the community to a night of fun and an opportunity to make new connections. The night reflected on the memories and friendships made throughout the semester while skating together, sharing one of the final hurrahs for graduating members.
As students prepare for finals week, they were urged by the AASC to take a step back, relax and surround themselves with community and find time to do things that bring them joy.
The Retention Coordinator for the AASC, Derick Prince, expressed he understands how much of a toll the semester’s end may have on students and aims to provide opportunities for students to have fun during end-of-the-semester chaos.
“The biggest thing is a sense of community,” said Prince. “This event was created to give students kind of like a de-stressor before finals week, so we decided to have an event off campus where students can have fun and just bond with one another.”
Wide smiles and good vibes filled the rink as new and old members of the AASC flowed into the venue. In hopes of continuing to provide events like these for members, the organization has expressed becoming more creative in their outreach methods.
Sonia Atkins, health records technician at the student health and wellness center, shared the best way to achieve a growth in members and connections is to get involved.
“Show up and attend,” said Atkins. “That is the only way you can network and meet new people.”
Similarly, Title IX Coordinator Dawnita Franklin, shared how students could come to find a new family in the AASC.
“We want more students to get involved, to participate, to attend whenever they can,” said Franklin. “The best thing students can do is show up and meet new people.”
The AASC aims to expand their tight knit community by showing what they have to offer for students who are interested. They provide a wide variety of resources for all African American students on campus with the mission of propping students up to become the best version of themselves they can be.
“We make the community a better place by providing resources such as academic coaching,” said Prince.
AASC provides resources in hopes of aiding in the success of African American students as well as providing a creative outlet for faculty and staff looking to become more involved in student life.
“I am a strong advocate for the African American Student Community and I’m always there to support physically when I can,” said Franklin. “Sometimes my schedule doesn’t allow me to do so but I have connected with some of the students and I’m always letting them know that I am rooting for them.”
The AASC is designed to bring nothing but the best out of everyone involved. Prince describes his favorite part of working with the organization.
“The most rewarding thing is meeting students and helping them all the way until their graduation and just overall seeing that growth and development,” said Prince.
These events are a common occurrence for the AASC and can be easily found through event listings on mybar.cpp.edu as well as their Instagram @AASC_CPP.
The AASC is one of six cultural identity groups on campus under T.R.E.E., the centers for Transformation, Retention, Equity and Empowerment. All of which contain the same goal of providing resources for underserved communities on campus.
Feature image courtesy of Joseph Mcvey