Greene Street was filled with hip hop music and dancing Wednesday as the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs hosted Hip Hop Wednesday, the second event of Diversity Week.
The organization hosts the event the first Wednesday of every month. During Hip Hop Wednesday, a plethora of student organizations and departments within the university come out to tell students what they’re about while listening to Hip Hop music on Greene Street.
Zipporah Williams, a third-year pharmaceutical sciences student, is the parliamentarian of Association of African American Students (AAAS). She said she enjoys Hip Hop Wednesday because of the environment.
“You can just relax, you can let go, and be surrounded by people that look like you and share the same interests,” Williams said.
Though Hip-Hop Wednesday is a monthly event, Williams said she hopes having it under the umbrella of Diversity Week will increase the flow and encourage students to attend when they see it is happening again.
Charles Frazier, the assistant director for cultural programming within the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs, said Hip Hop Wednesday is a mini celebration of culture.
“It promotes cultural awareness by promoting the organizations,” Frazier said.
Hip Hop Wednesday is open to everyone. Frazier said one of the goals of the event is to shine light on the different aspects of culture at the university. Even if students can't stay they whole time, they can walk through or stop by on their way to class.
One of the organizations that tabled at Hip Hop Wednesday was Impressions of Beauty, an organization with the goal of connecting millennial multicultural college students to premium brands without the premium prices.
Madison McNeal, a third-year advertising student, is a member of this club.
“We focus on natural hair, and a lot of African American women have natural hair, so being that this is Hip Hop Wednesday hosted by the African American Association of Students, we felt like more natural-haired people would be at this event,” McNeal said.
Carolina Health Outreach, a club for pre-health students which exposes them to volunteer opportunities in the field, was present at the event.
Rachel Bohnenkamp, a second-year biology student, said she is enthusiastic about the impact being made by Carolina Health Outreach.
“We are really trying to target students, populations that might be more at risk for heart disease, so by being here we’re able to speak directly to students and educate them about their heart health and how the things they do now will impact the rest of their heart health throughout their life,” Bohnenkamp said.
The first Diversity Week was in Spring 2019, but the Office of Diversity and Inclusion decided to move it to fall to coincide with National Diversity Day on Oct. 4.
Diversity Week will conclude with the ThisIsUSC event on Oct. 4 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will include speakers who explain how their identities have molded their lives.
Editor's Note: This article has been edited to accurately reflect the host of Hip-Hop Wednesday.