Learning community opportunities arose Wednesday as Connect Four hosted an event for students of color to get more actively involved in the College of Human Sciences.

According to the College of Human Sciences website, “Connect Four is a group just for first-year students of color in the College of Human Sciences. The goal is to develop a community of students of color and give you the opportunity to meet new people and learn about campus resources.”

At their kick off event The College of Human Sciences Multicultural Liaison Officer (MLO), Carmen Flagge, said, “Connect Four is a learning community for first year multicultural students in the College of Human Sciences, but it is also open to our upper class students as well.”

Flagge makes it a point to mention that all students are welcome, whether they be a transfer student, a student coming back for a second degree, a non-traditional student, etc. — everyone is welcome.

Flagge describes Connect Four as, “an opportunity to build community among students of color […] and an opportunity for us to share about different resources that are available to students.”

Connect Four also allows professional development funding, opportunity for networking experiences and a space to chat, according to Flagge. 

Along with an MLO, Connect Four also has a graduate assistant, Kasanda Diaz-Santana, and peer mentors. 

Diaz-Santana said, “I decided I wanted to become a graduate student assistant because I wanted to be involved with the multicultural community, specifically within the College of Human Sciences.”

Coming from a Dominican background, Diaz-Santana always wanted to advocate for students of color, and being part of a multicultural learning community like Connect Four was the perfect way to do so.

“I think this is a great community […] we try to have this learning community but also a safe space for students to come whenever they feel ready to be here and have other peers they can talk to,” Diaz-Santana said.

Connect Four will be hosting events bi-weekly throughout the semester, which can be found by contacting Carmen Flagge at [email protected]