ASCMC officially kicked off the first ever “Affinity for Love” Week on Sunday. Affinity clubs on campus collaborated to create a week celebrating love and inclusivity, including Black Students Association, QuestBridge, Asian Pacific American Mentoring Program, ¡Mi Gente! and 1 Gen. Salomé Lefort ‘21, ASCMC Diversity Inclusion Chair, spearheaded the effort with unused funds from a Kravis Lab retreat last semester for affinity groups. Lefort said she had been wanting to create an event that involved all the Affinity Groups, and this was the perfect opportunity.
“My tenure has been difficult with all the transitions ASCMC has been going through, I just had a hard time finding programming, and I wanted to find one goal I could follow, which was bringing all the affinity groups together,” Lefort said. “Having them work together and collaborate would create a better community on our campus and a better community within themselves instead of doing their own things on the side.”
The team was careful when planning to avoid midterms and the mounting pressure that builds towards the end of a semester. The tie-in to Valentine’s Day was natural, making the week all about loving everyone. “It’s a really cute, inclusive idea,” Lefort said. “It’s all about love and loving our community.”
Each day an affinity group hosts an event. The week culminates with the the Love Day Soiree on Thursday night and a Carnival on Friday, which all the Affinity Groups worked on together. “All of the affinity groups have done really amazing work, really put in the time and effort for this event,” Lefort said.
Lefort encouraged students to attend these events to show support for the Affinity groups. “It can often be scary to be an ally within an affinity group because you don’t want to intrude on that space but I think this week’s event is a really good opportunity to hear affinity groups out, see what they actually do, and be a part of their community,” Lefort said. “This week will push our community to be more supportive, and that’s all I can really hope for.”
Check back with The Forum at the end of the week for pictures of Affinity for Love!