coming to the table with the culture club

COMING TOTHE TABLE

There are a lot of different outlets within the USF community for students to find a place where they feel comfortable. Whether it be through sports teams, church groups, or clubs around campus the importance of these communities cannot be overstated. For many students, college is their first experience away from their friends and family. Many students are from different parts of the country as well as from different parts of the globe. Having a place where they feel that they can express themselves is something that is incredibly important for them to be able to just be themselves on campus.

Sophomore Sonia Agasaro understands the importance these clubs play in shaping students experiences and wanted to start a club of her own. Hailing from Kigali, Rwanda, she arrived in the United States four years ago and attended Roosevelt High School in Sioux Falls. While she was there, she and others helped to establish a Black Student Union for students with similar backgrounds to have a place where they felt at home. She understood the importance of this club and the impact it had for minority students and wanted to bring that with her to college. This brought her to the idea of forming the Culture Club at USF. “I was hesitant at first to start the club here at USF but I saw how small the minority population was here and felt it was important because the unity it would bring would allow voices that may not have been heard before to have a place to do that.”

“I believe it is important that we have a club like this at USF. I think that it allows people from different backgrounds and cultures to come together to talk about issues which may be uncomfortable at first but once those conversations begin people realize that we are all more similar than we think and that together we can achieve so much more. I want to be able to reach out not just to the USF community but the local community as well. I feel that if we reach out to the youth in our area it will have a huge impact on how we see each other and that we can make strides in bringing people together because that is the real world that we are all going to go into once we graduate.”

Club founder Sonia Agasaro

culture club with the story by Adam Sheffield

Abigail Masters (left) and Culture Club treasurer Diego Jaimes (right) playing corn hole at the welcome back gathering The club had its first event in the spring semester of 2020 and had great success at its first meeting: a potluck where people could experience other cultures’ food traditions and be able to get to know each other. Over fifty people of diverse cultures and backgrounds came together to enjoy food, music, dancing, and laughter. Agasaro felt it was a good start but unfortunately things became tricky when Covid struck the country. When looking to when the world becomes more normal, she sees the club picking back up where it left off. “I would like to try and do a potluck in Coopers Café with safety protocols in place in regards to Covid but, looking ahead to when things go back to normal I want to be more engaging with club activities and keep growing the community.” She also wants to let it be known that anyone is welcome to attend club events so that people get the chance to gain new perspectives and be able to learn from one another. The Culture Club is still a new community on campus but is already showing how much of an impact it can have into helping bring the USF community even closer together.