The Multicultural Council met Wednesday to create a mission statement and developed a long-term goal to unite the multicultural groups of Ball State University.
Council superviser Zac Davis said the group met for the first time Sept. 20.
The council is planning what direction the group should go, Davis said.
"We're focusing on allowing all constituents an opportunity to formulate the council's purpose," he said. "The main purpose of this council is to serve as the student voice, but in particular, minority students, and facilitate that voice through and to Student Government."
Having a strong student voice is important to the university, Davis said.
"There are a lot of multicultural committees on campus, but we really wanted to find one and establish one that would bring them all together," he said.
Because the council is newly-formed, Davis said, many students will have an opportunity to sit on the council.
"We haven't chosen what the council is comprised of, so there will be an opportunity for anyone to sit on this council," he said.
Ostoich said that although the Multicultural Council is new, the organization should develop into something special.
"In a year from now, we're hoping it will blossom," she said. "Right now, we're just planting the seed."
Davis said the council members created an agenda, which will dictate the course of action for the group, during the first meeting of the council.
"We established an agenda and we facilitate conversation in the group with specific topics in mind, such as the purpose," he said, "and so we went through a lot of things like, the purpose and mission statement that we are just trying to develop."
Amanda Ostoich, SGA secretary of diversity, said the creation of the mission statement is important in creating a direction for the young organization.
"We are hoping to connect the link between Student Government, the multicultural organizations and the minority students," she said. "The links have been overlooked. We're looking to build more bridges."
Black Student Association member, Sam Osborne said he joined the council to have an opportunity to act as a liaison.
"All I want to do is to represent my organization better," he said.
Sophomore English literature major, Ashley Ford said she had a vision of what the council will do when she joined.
"My vision [for] the diversity at Ball State is that people stop working toward the same goal individually," she said. "It's more than black and white."
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