Freshman Honors Convocation Brings Families to Campus

NC State's 19th Annual Freshman Honors Convocation, hosted by OIED's Multicultural Student Affairs, took place in Witherspoon Cinema on the evening of Friday, February 7, 2014. This ceremony identifies and celebrates multicultural first year students who have achieved a 3.0 or higher grade point average during the fall semester. Also honored were the colleges that had over 50% of their first year students achieve this distinction. Parents and families were invited to attend this special event.

In addition, we congratulated the 32 top scholars who were recognized for achieving a 4.0 average during fall semester: Ephraim Bililign, Carolei Bryan, Breanne Burgess, Jacob Davis, Eric De Cardenas, Gabrielle Diaz, Sabriya Dobbins, Daniel Dolder, Fatoumatta Fatajo, Alexander Garcia, Gabriel Garza, Destinee Gray, Evan Heath, Caila Holley, Shima Idries, Tara Janelli, Darryl Johnson, Aaron McMillan, Taylor Mebane, Julius Nani, Jonathan Napper, David Ovies, Barricks Ralston-Asumendi, William Sealy, Madelyn Shuman, Sydney Swain, Sarah Tong, Abimael Torres Rivera, Carina Tudela, Sylvia Weir, Amber Whitley; and Mounir Zerrad.

This year's Convocation weekend included a special guest, Dr. Michael Cuyjet, who traveled from the University of Louisville where he is a professor in the College Student Personnel Program. Dr. Cuyjet gave a lunch presentation titled, "College Student Success," in which he discussed approaches to improving college retention rates of marginalized groups and facilitating their success through research-driven and programmatic approaches. Dr. Cuyjet also delivered the keynote address at the Convocation ceremony, where he applauded all the student honorees and encouraged them to continue manifesting their "triple package" of winning attributes, as defined by the recent book of the same name by Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld that is currently generating much discussion in both educational circles and popular media.

West African Dance Series

The Department of Multicultural Student Affairs is partnering with University Recreation for this dance series, which offers an active way for individuals to learn more about the history and traditions associated with West African culture and to experience another way that fitness can be incorporated into daily life. The West African Rhythmic Movement Series has two sessions left: Mondays, February 17 & 24 from 9:00-10:00 PM in Studio A at the Carmichael Recreation Center. The class is open to all Carmichael members and will be capped at capacity, so please arrive early. It is not required that individuals come to all classes. View the video on YouTube. See also the flyer.

Love Your Genes & Jeans Swap

"Love Your Genes" is a series of events to help inform our community about body image and eating disorders. Research shows that 25% of college students (men and women) suffer from an eating disorder. For yourself, for a friend, for a loved one, participate in one or all of the events happening in February, National Eating Disorders Month:

Love Your Genes: February 25, 2014, 7:00PM, Witherspoon Cinema. Accepting your own beauty and strengths is a challenge for both men and women. Join us for an engaging evening with Johanna Kandell, founder of The Alliance for Eating Disorders Awareness, to learn how to combat the pressure of having the "perfect body" and how to help someone who may be experiencing an eating disorder.

Jean Swap: February 27, 2014, 3:00PM-7:00PM, Student Health Center. Collection dates: February 11-21, 2014, various locations (see below). Accepting all shapes, sizes, and genders of adult jeans for the first ever NC State jean swap! Drop jeans in good condition that you no longer want into any "drop box." Jeans will be washed, sorted, and then made available at the official swap. Private rooms will be available for trying items on. Jeans not claimed will be donated to a local non-profit. Drop box sites: GLBT Center (360 Harrelson Hall), Health PACK Room (2720 Bostian Hall), Student Health (near steps located by the Pharmacy), Women's Center (324 Harrelson Hall), University Recreation, Carmichael Complex (lower level desk), Vet School.

Build A Wall Project Continues

The Build a Wall Project will run through February 28, 2014. The Build A Wall Project, sponsored by the Women' Center, is designed to counter the negative, unrealistic messages about body image that are propagated in the media.  At various locations across campus, you will find montages of popular images from advertisers. Place a "brick" (located next to the images) with your own written body-positive message over them to hide the images that so many compare themselves to on a daily basis.