The diversity and inclusivity at Rutgers—Camden is so amazing and I’m proud of the cultural experiences put on at this campus by the students. I was very fortunate to become a part of Rutgers—Camden’s Filipino League of Innovative Pinoy Students (FLIPS), a student run cultural organization celebrating the Philippines and its culture. What’s so mind blowing about this organization is that we are not the only university that has a Filipino club.
There are national student led non profit organizations that include numerous universities across the country. The network that Rutgers—Camden falls under is called FIND Inc, the Filipino Intercollegiate Networking Dialogue Incorporated. FIND is based in the East Coast and is dedicated to promoting unity among Filipino students through dialogues, conferences, leadership development, and networking. From Maine all the way down to Florida, the universities are divided into Districts. Rutgers—Camden falls into District 5 and there are 12 districts total. District 5 comprises 12 universities: Temple, Drexel, USci, Rowan, TCNJ, Villanova, University of Delaware, Stockton, University of Pittsburgh, Penn State, University of Pennsylvania, and Rutgers—Camden. So along with what we do on campus, FLIPS also participates in intercollegiate events with these schools in our district.
Back in my sophomore year, I represented Rutgers—Camden and FLIPS in our District’s first ever Miss District 5. For the past 5 years prior, D5 had only held a Mr. D5, so for the first time ever they decided to take it up a notch. From a classroom to a full theater, from fun to charitable, and from laughs to a full-on serious pageant. It was held at Rowan University and 9 of the universities sent representatives. Long story short, I took home the first ever Miss D5 crown, a new reputation for our university, and sent 4 teens in the Philippines to college.
Then in my junior year, Rutgers—Camden had the honor of hosting Mr.D5 where we had each college choose a student representative to showcase what Filipino culture means to them and how it’s shared in their college. We had students and families from all over the East Coast here mingling with the Rutgers—Camden community to celebrate our culture. It was so beautiful to be a part of such a large scale event and be supported by Rutgers—Camden. I can’t wait for you to experience the abundance of culture, acceptance, and inclusivity that this university has to offer!
Written by Arianna F., a Rutgers—Camden Undergraduate Student and Raptor Ambassador.