Students Celebrate Multicultural Heritage at Rep Ya Flag

On April 25, 2024, more than 90 students-and the Seton Hall Pirate-ventured across South Orange Avenue to Seton Hall's Turrell Manor apartment complex for Residence Life's inaugural Rep Ya Flag program, celebrating our students' many cultures.

The event was born of Resident Coordinator (RC) Damasja Anderson's idea and the Upperclassmen Area's (UCA) goal of bringing a sense of vibrancy to the UCA this academic year, through signature programming. The UCA halls include Xavier, Neumann, Serra, and Cabrini Halls, as well as our apartments, or Manors, Ora and Turrell. Many students have never visited the Manors though, as they are not within the campus gates, and Rep Ya Flag sought to not only build bridges between students' identities, but also build the bridge between the main campus and our Manors apartments-an experiment not previously attempted within Residence Life's programming.

The experiment came to life, as students trickled into the parking lot, following the sounds of DJ Ush, who played music across a variety of genres, representing diversity through Afro-beats, reggaeton, Latin pop, and other cross-cultural music. Resident Assistant (RA) Jaden Tinio also shared the DJ booth with DJ Ush. "I thought it was really cool because the RA job is typically taking care of residents and supporting their growth, but I never thought I'd be able to use my skills and hobbies as a DJ in the role," Tinio said. "This was my first time getting to DJ a big event on campus so I really enjoyed getting that experience."

When students arrived at the lot behind Turrell, they were greeted by a buffet of barbeque and custom Rep Ya Flag totes, featuring blank flags that they could customize by painting to showcase their heritage or any other identities they wanted to represent. Several students also showed up wearing flags and accessorizing in ways that displayed their identities. Yard games and a photo station also offered fun opportunities for students to partake in the festivities.

Additionally, multicultural student groups and Dare to Care tabled at the event. Dare to Care shared many resources, including the UWill platform, highlighting its filter feature, which can allow students to opt for therapists whose identities align with their own.

Sylvia Bojkovic, an RA and board member of the newly emerging Albanian Student Organization, was excited by the opportunity to mesh her leadership in Residence Life with her leadership in the club celebrating Albanian heritage. The club just started this year, and they served Albanian desserts at Rep Ya Flag. "I felt like it was a way to showcase both of the things I love most on campus," Bojkovic said. "It was good in terms of networking our club as well and got a lot of people who know about my culture when most people don't know much about eastern European culture. It was helpful for us as a new club, and just really fun as well."

The UCA was proud to cap the academic year with this new spring signature program in the Manors, following the success of an also-new fall signature program at the Complex: the UCA Fall Fest. Rep Ya Flag proved that trying something new with programming can pay off, as it not only supported the UCA's goals, but also refreshed the Manors community. In fact, Turrell Manor was the first building to fill up during our housing selection period this week.

The Residence Life staff intends to incorporate the event annually into its signature programming, celebrating our students' cultures and hopefully bringing even greater energy to Rep Ya Flag in the coming years.

Categories: Campus Life