In a showcase of a variety of student organizations, the Vice President for Multicultural Affairs’ office held its 10th-annual Multicultural Extravaganza in the Mandela Room on Sunday.

An array of multicultural organizations tabled to share their missions and communities, including the Juvenile Urban Multicultural Program, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, Henna Club and the Bangali Student Association.

Alyssa Soto, the president of the Caribbean Student Association, student manager of the Multicultural Resource Center and a senior majoring in psychology, described what she hopes students gain from this event.

“I hope to see people connecting with the community,” Soto said. “I think this event is a way for students on campus to see what we have going on on campus if they weren’t able to attend UFEST. So it’s just another way to connect and get to know people and resources on campus. We’re one of the resources on campus that allows students to come and have a safe space, whether it be for meeting new people or just for you to study or to try out new things.”

E-Board members represented their missions and shared ways students could get involved on campus. QR codes and GroupMe forms were available for students to scan alongside club decorations, with organization logos visible from every table. Additionally, students received cards upon entry, allowing them to collect stamps for visiting tables, which could be exchanged for food provided by the multicultural organizations.

Newer organizations, like the Mexican American Student Association, also tabled at the event. Jennifer Vivar, the historian of MASA and a junior majoring in business administration, explained the organization’s mission and what they hope to share with the student body, after being established last semester to build a stronger community on campus.

“We try to bring awareness to what it is to be Mexican,” Vivar said. “Our culture overall and our values, our morals and our struggles, our weaknesses, stuff like that. How the world portrays Mexicans, but [we] bring some spotlight to that, and try to show other people what we are, beyond a little message that they know about.”

Among many cultural organizations, professional and career-oriented organizations were also tabling at the event. The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers centers around supporting students of Hispanic culture to connect with alumni in the engineering field, while also sharing a sense of cultural community.

Luis Ramón, the president of SHPE and a senior majoring in computer science, shared how this organization affected his time at Binghamton since joining SHPE his freshman year.

“It got me more oriented around campus and having a set of community here, and I think overall, all of my experiences, whether professional [or not], they stem from this organization,” Ramón said. “So it did really help me out, especially the alumni who graduated — they really did make an impact on me.”

Soto also shared advice for new students on campus looking for ways to get involved and find their community at Binghamton.

“It’s important in college to try to connect in a different way because you’re away from your family, you’re away from home and now you have to try to find new ways to connect with your community,” Soto said. “You can try to connect with your culture or look into different cultures, try different things, try new things. It’s important to try to get out of your comfort zone.”