Student Intercultural Programs bringing cultural intelligence to the students

Understanding culture is a conversation that is prevalent in today’s society, and
Asbury Student Congress has joined the conversation.
Three years ago, the Congress added a vice president of Student Intercultural
Programs to the Executive Cabinet. This branch was created because students saw a
need for this conversation to take place within the student body.
Seth Kinyua, vice president of Student Intercultural Programs, leads this branch
with the belief that “in a world that’s becoming increasingly globalized, and at an
institution upholding a faith that challenges its followers to ‘go into all the world,’ SIP
lends itself towards advocating for and assisting Asbury University’s student body to
more effectively engage different cultures while in the pursuit of this God-given mission.”
The Student Intercultural programs branch is all about bringing conversations to
campus about diversity, embracing other cultures and how to engage with other
cultures.
“SIP primarily serves to provide a critical student voice in promoting the growth
of cultural competency and intercultural engagement among the Asbury University
student body,” said Kinyua.
“We have partnered with different student associations to help plan celebratory
events that increase awareness and familiarity with different cultural practices,” he
added. “SIP has partnered with the Office of Intercultural Affairs in planning and seeing
through the successful hosting of the annual Embrace Conference. SIP has hosted
several events focused on advocating for Biblical justice in the treatment of different
cultural minorities.”
Advocacy and Comprehension is one of the committees on this branch. Its main
goal is to bring educational elements to campus through various cultural issues that
happen on campus. In past years, SIP has held a number of documentary screenings
over cultural conversations within U.S. ethnic minority groups. You may have heard of
“diversity dialogues” on campus. This branch committee plans and facilitates panel
discussions about stereotypes within ethnic minority cultures in the U.S. and abroad.
SIP also aims to celebrate cultures through its “Cultural Celebrations
Committee.” Cultural celebrations on campus include Caribbean Night, Black History
Month celebrations with the collaboration with the Black Student Alliance and many
other events.
As a Christian liberal arts institution, faith is an important piece of engaging the
conversation of culture. Through the equity and worship committees, SIP aims to bring
and support other stylistic choices of worship through cultural worship nights and other
campus events to embrace the spiritual aspect of the cultures represented on campus.
This year, the branch is striving to support conversations through an integration
of a biblical understanding of the Imago Dei and encourages students to engage in
other cultures through worship sessions and panel discussions.