For students interested in discussing multicultural issues, applications still are available for the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity (NCORE).

The conference is being held this year in Memphis, Tenn., from June 2-6. It will feature exhibits, workshops and discussions on race-related issues.

This year, a group of 35 Iowa State students, as well as 12 faculty and staff members, will be able to go to the conference as a part of the George Washington Carver Celebration.

In previous years, NCORE has included workshops on social and cultural values, using civic literacy projects, remedies for racial inequalities and merging diversity with technology, said Mary Tandia, member of NCORE.

“This conference doesn’t focus on any particular racial group; it focuses on building harmony [between them],” said Tandia, manager of residence hall maintenance.

Melissa DeRadcliffe, program coordinator for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Student Academic Services, went to the conference last year and also served on this year’s planning committee.

She said her favorite part of NCORE was that “there were people there of all flavors … that went there specifically to talk about race and ethnicity.”

DeRadcliffe also called the student trip to the conference “an excellent opportunity to get to know people at Iowa State.”

After they attend the conference, the students may form their own program, titled “Iowa State Conference on Race and Ethnicity” (ISCORE), to educate the ISU community about multicultural issues.

Tandia said the formation of ISCORE is a goal of the committee.

“We thought it would be a great idea to have this cultural event extended to ISU students,” she said.

Thomas Hill, NCORE member and vice president for Student Affairs, said the purpose of creating ISCORE would be to “make this campus a better place for all of us.”

Any first-, second- or third-year ISU undergraduate with a grade point average of at least 2.5 may apply to participate in the free conference.

Applications can be picked up at the Dean of Students Office, Minority Student Affairs and the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs.

The applications, along with a 250-word essay about racial and ethnic harmony, are due to 311 Beardshear Hall by Feb. 15.

“[However] if we got applicants after that period, we’d welcome them,” Tandia said.