Four Front Minority Council members have worked behind the scenes as part of an independent organization at MU for 10 years to help the many minority organizations on campus accomplish their goals.
Under new 2014-2015 leadership, they are working toward becoming a stronger and better-known organization on campus.
“We want to make people more aware of our presence on campus,” Four Front President Young Kwon said.
Four Front’s plans for the school year include reaching out to the Social Justice Committee of the Missouri Students Association, as well as creating more events for the various minority organizations to accomplish together, said Kwon, who is also the vice chairwoman of the SJC.
Four Front is also adding secretary and treasurer seats this year to create a more structured organization with visibility and transparency. Applications will open for those positions soon, Kwon said.
Members of the organization already reach out to several faculty members on campus who support MU’s minority organizations.
In past years, Four Front has held diversity dinners and retreats. It also has regular meetings with MSA and does photo campaigns to address social justice issues that affect the student body, Kwon said.
Another important event that Four Front helps with each year is Hate Wall.
“(Hate Wall is) an annual event (for) people who underwent hatred and go up to the stage and talk about (it),” Kwon said.
On stage there is also a wall made of cardboard and paper, which is eventually defaced with racial slurs and offensive words by attendees before it is knocked to the ground.
The event helps to break the wall of hate down and solve it, Kwon said. It also helps to educate others about the hate minority students can experience on campus.
In the past few months, Four Front has been working to address any cultural appropriation that affects minority communities at MU.
Four Front includes representatives from many prominent organizations on campus such as the Asian American Association (Triple A), Legion of Black Collegians and the Feminist Student Union. Each organization, of which there are many, sends one representative to Four Front meetings held at 7 p.m. every Thursday.
This allows the organization to reach out and help these other organizations with campus events.
During the spring of 2014, Triple A held Asian Night Market: Journey to the East with Four Front.
“The event was only possible through the help of Four Front,” Triple A President Andrew Pham said.
The event wasn during Asian American Awareness Month, which is celebrated in April.
Students from other organizations helped to make the event happen through working and publicizing the event, Pham said. Four Front encourages this collaboration, and it works for advocacy and social justice on campus.