Multicultural Student Union: Students are developing a Multicultural Club and holding the first meeting on January 28 in the library

The Multicultural Club started at the beginning of January and is holding their first meeting on Jan. 28 after students decided that East needs a safe space for minority students following the racial attack in November. All interested students are encouraged to join.

Though still in the developmental stages, a group of upperclassmen including senior Taylor King were inspired to create the new club by other similar existing clubs at other nearby high schools. East is the last Shawnee Mission school to have a club focused around spreading ideas from different cultures.

“I’m excited to find ways to reach out to our district from our school”, King said. “[We] try to get policy changes and create inclusion or events to show inclusion in the school.”

In late December, King and others attended a cultural leadership workshop at K-State University where they met representatives from other multicultural clubs at Shawnee Mission South, West, Northwest and North this month at the Center for Academic Achievement. At the meeting, East students gathered more information and strategies such as networking and giving voices to students in order to run the East club efficiently, according to King.

The Latinos of Tomorrow club at Shawnee Mission West has been a model for the Multicultural Club, with West’s junior representative Dayana Camila giving advice on the subject, as West have struggled with similar recruiting issues as well. 

“For advice on the club, be patient, because you won’t get a good club in the first meeting,” Camila said. “It will take a couple of meetings to build everything up and to be really taken seriously, but by telling friends and posting on social media, it’ll be easy to get the word out.” 

West has had success with their club, with students of all ethnicities joining and participating in the club’s meetings. At special meetings or “Scholarship Nights,” students are given the ability to access various resources through the website KC Scholars related to the collegiate and educational offerings in the KC-metro area. 

Senior John Mendy has been attending group meetings with administration, Shawnee Mission’s diversity equity and inclusion coordinator and teachers to set up the club. However, he’s noticed an issue before the club has begun. 

“A lot of those people are seniors, so we’re also trying to work on recruiting underclassmen as well as juniors,” Mendy said. “Those who want to be in a position of leadership and help out with problems in this area would be perfect.”

With the issue of recruitment at hand spreading the word is important, according to King, the club plans to have various posters around the school with plans for social media promotion through various other East-based organizations. 

“It’ll be cool if we could have all types of people participate, not just minorities,” King said. “We’d like it to be open to everybody, even if other students at East don’t feel comfortable joining because they’re not minorities. We want them to feel welcome to help make more of an impact.”

English teacher Samantha Feinberg and social studies teacher Stephen Laird are helping make plans for the club. New information around the school and on social media is the easiest way to keep up with the club, according to King. She hopes the first meeting will be a way to connect with other students.