TRUSU’s Multicultural Students Association (MCSA), one of the newer clubs on campus, organized one of its first major events early last month at the TRUSU lecture hall. The program (also known as Taste Day) aims to present a variety of cultural foods to the larger TRU audience. It was the first of a series called Taste World Tour.
To kick off the series, the first of the MCSA’s Taste Days was chosen as “Taste of Nigeria”—a dive into Nigerian cultural foods, music, dress, symbols and values. Guests poured into the hall at 11:00 a.m., drawn in, many attested, by the prospect of free jollof rice and chicken as promised on the program flyers.
The guests, a veritable cornucopia of individuals from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds, were treated to a PowerPoint presentation on the broad strokes of Nigerian culture. The presentation included interesting facts about the nation’s ethnic and linguistic diversity, religious differences, marriage rites and traditional attire, among other topics.
After the presentation, guests were encouraged to mingle, introduce themselves, network and share what they had learned about Nigerian culture. The buffet table was open, and attendees were welcomed to taste Nigerian cuisine.
According to the TRUSU club directory, TRU boasts more than 20 culture and ethnicity-related clubs on campus, including the Indigenous Culture Club, the Hispanic Club, the Muslim Students Association and the Chinese Students and Scholars Association. While these clubs provide essential spaces for members within a cultural group to find community, some suggest there remains a glaring lack of opportunities for cross-cultural exchange. For Ayomide Maxwell, a 2nd-year law student and MCSA founder, this deficit needed to be urgently corrected.
The idea of the club was conceived in May 2024 but required months of planning and interviews before it was ready to be launched in November. The opening meet and greet, which was held on Nov. 22 with an audience of around 70 people, featured Middle Eastern cuisine and performances that celebrated African, South-Asian and Canadian cultures. The goal, according to Maxwell, was to introduce the club to the university in a way that gave a glimpse of what was to come.
Maxwell’s efforts for cultural representation and appreciation on campus began with his stint in the Afro-Caribbean Students Association (ACSA). His ideas and aspirations grew over time, and when he realized the ACSA was unable to accommodate them, Maxwell decided to exit the club.
“Being a part of the ACSA was huge for me,” Maxwell said. “It was more than just a club, and [leaving] was heartbreaking. I had to find something to replace that.”
After speaking with people across the university, Maxwell was clued to a need yet to be filled: spaces where people could experience other cultures without feeling like intruders. The MCSA was born out of that need and got to business, assembling a diverse executive team of like-minded students.
Still in its first year the MCSA has not reached the level of cultural diversity it aspires to. The executive team and event contributors consist of personal connections made by Maxwell and MCSA Vice President Imaad Basmati. As a result, events lean heavily towards African, South Asian and Middle Eastern cultures. According to Maxwell, the fear would be organizing an event for a culture they are unfamiliar with and making potentially offensive mistakes.
As the club grows, opportunities abound for collaborations with other cultural clubs in the university. “We think of it as earning our stripes,” Maxwell said. “But over time, we’ll be able to reach our purpose.”
At a time of heightened tension around immigration and cultural diversity in Canada, the MCSA’s purpose is particularly potent. According to Maxwell, the MCSA helps plug an important blind spot as he feels opportunities for engaging with and celebrating other cultures in TRU are few and far between.
To learn more about the club, visit their website here or contact them at mcsatru@gmail.com.