Dathan Brown arrived at Iowa State not knowing what to expect.

But after attending the office of Minority Student Affairs’ first-ever Communities of Color Orientation, the freshman in pre-journalism and mass communication said he felt better about this new stage in his life.

“If everyone could attend COCO, then everyone would feel as comfortable as I do now,” Brown said.

Facilitators wanted students to feel that they were a part of a community, said Angela Mosley, enrollment services adviser.

“Students of color coming to campus don’t get the chance to consider, to think about what being a student of color at a predominately white campus entails,” said Carmen Flagge, program assistant for the dean of students office.

The orientation began Tuesday night with a social for faculty, staff, students and families of the 46 freshmen who attended. The social allowed families and students to ask last-minute questions and meet professors and staff of color before parents left and students settled into classes.

On Wednesday, participants heard speakers George Jackson, assistant dean of the Graduate College, and Leonard Perry, director of Minority Student Affairs.

Jackson focused on the history of higher education and how students of color fit in that history, Flagge said.

Perry spoke about morals and values in the community of color at Iowa State, stressing seven key values: honesty, respect, integrity, responsibility, kindness, humility and faith. He encouraged students to help everyone stick to those values.

“As [students] are becoming part of the ISU community of color, [they have] to take care of themselves and all those around them,” Perry said.

Brown said he found the speakers’ suggestions enlightening. One point Brown said he considered particularly powerful was students’ ability to change perceptions. If students work to change perceptions in Ames, eventually the new views will spread across the state and the Midwest, Brown said.

“You don’t think about having that much impact on people,” Brown said.

Team-building activities were also part of the orientation, allowing students to bond.

One exercise, called “Step In,” gave students a chance to discover common interests among the group. Participants stood in a circle and took turns calling out phrases beginning with, “I like people who… ” Those fitting the criteria stepped into the circle. In the next round, each person said something he believed to be unique about himself. Brown thought he would be the only person never to have seen the ocean but was surprised to find another who hadn’t seen an ocean.

“It was an opportunity to improve yourself, to make friends, to make contacts for the things you want to do,” he said of the activity.

In a feedback session at the end of the program, the orientation as a whole received excellent response from participants.

Nilaphay Vorasith, freshman in liberal arts and sciences-open option, said she learned a lot and made new friends, which helped her get through the first night without homesickness.

“I was welcome here; it’s like home,” she said.