Cultural diversity celebrated on campus

Christina M. Rafael

Sports Editor

Funny, kind, and motivated are just a few words that describe what kind of person Eddie McAllister is.

McAllister is a community liaison for the Shasta College Cultural Diversity program. The program is on campus for students with all different ethnic backgrounds. The program, which was formally known as Each one, Reach one, provides events and other activities to bring the community’s culture and know-how to the school.

“We’re here to let our community know what’s going on here on campus, to bridge the gap,” said McAllister. “Our goal is to continue to link them [the college and community] with information about cultural programs. We want to make a good connection and keep going.”

McAllister, who started working at Shasta College in fall semester of 2002, recently participated (and was a major part in) the ‘Speak Up and Speak Out’ event that honored Black History month.

The event, held on Feb. 28, featured many speakers and presentations.

“We had a bunch of student’s read poems (Michael Hendrix, Amber Davis, and Dejonna Hopper),” said McAllister with a grin on his face, “the room was about half-filled, maybe 50-65 people and lots of different ethnic groups. I spoke on James Brown and showed a 20-minute video from BET.”

McAllister enjoys talking with students and frequently stops to chat with many different people along his walks to different buildings on campus. He looks forward to graduation, the biggest event of the year to him.

“We have graduations on campus and then later each ethnic community puts on an additional ceremony out in the community”, said McAllister.

McAllister, who focuses mainly on African American students, hopes to bring light to the different ethnic communities on campus and embrace them.