The Student Multicultural Advisory Committee is back for this school year. This organization, open to all students and faculty members on campus, strives to make known the multicultural issues that students feel are prevalent at UNA and in the surrounding community.

SMAC was created in the spring of 2010 by student adviser Allison Ray and staff adviser Tammy Jacques. Jacques said that the main design and purpose of the committee is to try to meet the needs of the students and to provide a forum to discuss what those needs might be.

“The goal (of SMAC) is to become more culturally aware, and to have a better understanding of diversity and appreciation of diversity,” Jacques said. “(SMAC’s goal is to) respond to those issues to serve their needs better.”

SMAC has planned and hosted several events, including the Martin Luther King March, the Civil Rights Tour to Birmingham and Global Culture Night.

SMAC recently held its first meeting of the semester and discussed potential programs and activities for the school year. The committee has not set any concrete goals for the year but plans on doing so at its next meeting. Jacques and Ray both encourage students to attend the meeting with ideas about needs in the student community and ways to respond to those needs through educational programming.

Ray is encouraging members of the committee to pursue “interactive, innovative, engaging programming” this year. She is also advocating for companion programming with other multicultural student organizations on campus to provide a larger opportunity for student voices to be heard.

SMAC will hold its next meeting Monday, Sept. 26. The committee meets bi-weekly each Monday at 5 p.m. in GUC 207.

Anyone with questions about the organization can e-mail Allison Ray at [email protected].