By Alexa Low

With Halloween in full swing, students may want to think twice when planning their Halloween costumes.

Kiana Reed, a Graduate Assistant at Quincy University, put out fliers detailing the effects of careless costume choices taking a toll on another student’s culture.

The fliers were posted around campus as a reminder for students to be conscious as to what their costumes could be perceived as. Fliers came from a previously made campaign that schools are using to get the message to their students.

Reed would like students to think about the meaning behind the costumes they chose and whether or not it would affect other students.

“Realistically, it’s just a costume to them but to other people it has more meaning than what people are aware,” Reed expressed.

Reed took control of Multicultural Affairs after arriving on campus this year. The group has multicultural ambassadors and is starting a multicultural club.

Multicultural Affairs would like to partner more with students, since they are the ones experiencing what happens on campus.

The club is so students have the opportunity to be more involved. The meetings will be a platform for students to offer suggestions and ideas as far as giving students more opportunities to be included.

“I have heard quite a few students tell me that their experience here is quite different compared to some other students. Some have said they have felt unrepresented on campus,” Reed said.

The group is focused on bringing in programs and events to educate students to where they are starting to have more difficult conversations that remind them certain events from the past are still very relevant today.

November 10th, QU is hosting a holocaust event. That time period may seem very far away for some students, however there are still many survivors alive today.

Organizers want students to learn the importance of diversity and why they should be able to speak up for injustice. Being more aware, encourages them to have those types of tough conversations relating to culture and how the topics are relating to their lives now.

As far as the future of Multicultural Affairs, Reed sees it as a group that can make students feel more included by putting on events that they feel are necessary so everyone on campus is represented.

“I think we need to take the diverse students we have and really make them feel included,” Reed said.

The group has already celebrated National Hispanic Heritage Month by showing the movie “Cocoa” and giving the students an opportunity to learn salsa dancing.

Skittles with facts taped on the back were also passed out for National LGBTQ History Month.

“I thought it was pretty cool, that the school offered some insight on what the LGBTQ community has gone through and how far they have come,” Jess Merino, student, said.

Reed says they have multiple events planned for the month of November and would like to bring guest speakers along with giving students a calendar of events.