MCC Block Party makes second annual return

Joseph Schmittgen
Thu, 12 Sep 2019 01:56:49 +0000
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The Multicultural Center will host their “block party” for students on Sept. 14 at the Ohio Union. Credit: Attiyyah Tourre | Lantern Report

This isn’t the Multicultural Center’s first time around the block.

The MCC Block Party hosted by the Multicultural Center will return to campus for the second consecutive year this Saturday.

The event will aim to continue MCC’s purpose of helping students connect with resources that support diversity and inclusion, as well as introduce new updates to this year’s format.

Once confined to spaces within the Ohio Union, the event will expand to the surrounding streets, and this year’s party will feature student performances, student organization tabeling and a silent disco.

“This year, we’re moving the block party to the actual block,” Angie Wellman, associate director of the MCC, said. “We are closing 12th Avenue between High Street and College, and we’ll have some food trucks out there.”

Rapheal Rodriguez, a fourth-year in biology and member of Sigma Lambda Beta, was a performer in the inaugural 2018 Block Party. Rodriguez performed stroll — a traditional dance passed down through the fraternity’s legacy — with his fraternity brothers.

“It was a great atmosphere overall,” he said. “Everyone from top to bottom was very nice the whole time to have us there, to have everyone perform, and it was a nice community environment.”

Rodriguez said it was an honor to perform their work and he hoped that students would come away with a better understanding of what stroll means as a whole.

“I feel like I can show a genuine reflection of myself through it,” Rodriguez said. “You can add your own personality to it.”

Wellman said the Multicultural Center serves as a hub, connecting students with different communities and resources on campus, and this event aims to expose students to the work the Multicultural Center provides year-round.

“I love the synergy that happens,” she said. “I think that is ultimately one of the nice things in the beginning of an academic year is making students aware of what resources and supports are available to them.”

Aside from the cultural food trucks and student performances, the event will feature a raffle, where students who enter with their BuckID can win prizes such as AirPods, Kroger gift cards, an Apple Watch and more.

The MCC Block Party is from 5:30-11 p.m. Saturday and free to all students.