Council for Cultural Organizations
C2O Mission/ Vision
The cultural richness and pluralism of the Lehigh student community thrive in its student clubs and organizations. Within the campus community, there are a host of student organizations whose focus is to educate others through the celebration and promotion of communal solidarity.
These organizations take an active and identifiable role on campus by hosting and participating in cultural heritage month celebrations, community service opportunities, lecture series, and academic round table discussions, mentoring programs, food and dance festivals, career forums and more!
By participating in the Council of Cultural Organizations, members will:
- Find and recognize a sense of community and belonging with peers from across campus.
- Effectively collaborate with other organizational members of the C2O to develop an intersectional approach to programming.
- Cultivate and enhance a welcoming and inclusive campus environment
- Critically reflect on issues around multiculturalism and inclusion.
- Gain awareness of campus and community resources and how to access them.
By participating in the LU Legacy Program, organization members will:
- Effectively tie the organization’s activities directly to the mission.
- Recognize the scope of campus and community-wide resources.
- Develop appropriate accountability measures to maintain a pattern of continuous improvement.
- Critically reflect how the organization’s mission drives the overarching mission of Lehigh University.
- Cultivate and enhance a welcoming and inclusive campus environment.
The purpose of the Lehigh University Black Student Union (BSU), its events, and administrative functions is to provide social, cultural, and academic interaction within the Lehigh University community while also serving as a medium for black students by the following:
- Increasing Black cultural awareness through unity, respect, and self-consciousness
- Provoking awareness of local, national, and international issues of interest to the Black community
- Sponsoring events that promote and nurture a sense of community on the Lehigh University campus
- Participating in the social and political aspects of the Lehigh community
- Serving as a positive influence in the academic environment of Lehigh University
- Serving as an organizational source from which the concerns and needs of Black students can be addressed in the most efficient manner possible
- Encourage Black Students to hold leadership positions throughout Lehigh University
We are here to bring Latino cultural awareness to the Lehigh community, academically support latinos, and to provide cultural enrichment through a variety of Latin cultures with the best events and programs. We also serve to help bridge the gap between underrepresented minorities and the Lehigh community through a strong focus on community outreach.
The purpose of the Caribbean Culture Club is to create and promote a safe space and community for students to be able to share their culture and heritage. It will create the chance to have a voice and to speak on Political, Environmental, Social issues going on in the Caribbean and within our own community on campus. The club will be active in organizing activities and events aimed at fostering a sense of community amongst people of Caribbean descent and others interested in Caribbean culture.
South Asian Student Association (SASA)
Welcome to Lehigh University’s South Students Association! Our mission is to promote awareness of South Asian culture and its rich heritage here at Lehigh.
SASA organizes and participates in several campus-wide events to further this mission. The club teaches Garba (an Indian dance) in order to celebrate the Indian holiday of Navaratri. SASA also partners with India Club to put on the annual Diwali show, which celebrates the Festival of Lights. Members perform cultural dances at events such as FUSION and International Bazaar. The main event of the year is Holi, the Festival of Colors. Lehigh students gather on the UC Front Lawn and throw color to celebrate unity and the arrival of spring. Over 700 students attended the event in 2019! The Diwali Show and Holi have also both received Lehigh’s Student Life Leadership Award for the Best Cultural Program over the past few years!
We serve to recognize and celebrate all Asian and Asian-American cultures through our events like Fusion, Holi, dumpling-making night, Lunar New Year celebration, bubble tea and movie night and more! Our goal is to foster a sense of community and increase diversity on campus for all.
Men of Color Alliance (MOCA)
An organization committed to providing a support network for Women of Color on Lehigh University’s Campus, empowering women, contributing to personal and professional development, promoting self-care, and discussing important issues. Membership to the organization is open to any Lehigh University student who self identifies as female and supports the mission of this organization. We meet bi-weekly.
International Voices: Intercultural Literary Journal celebrates Lehigh's diverse community of student, staff, and faculty artists, photographers, and writers. The student governed magazine highlights the creativity, diversity, and inspiration that flourish at Lehigh University. International Voices welcomes submissions of creative pieces. Written submissions are accepted in both English and other languages with an English translation.
First-Generation Initiative Represented by Students and Teachers (F1RST) promotes an inclusive and welcoming community for first-generation and/or low-income (FGLI) students at Lehigh University. We serve as safe space for FGLI students that come together to support each other academically, socially, professionally, and personally. By building a strong-knit community, providing mentorship, hosting workshops, connecting students to opportunities, and advocating for change, F1RST serves as a central hub for FGLI students on Lehigh’s campus. Our mission is to raise awareness and establish initiatives to ensure the continued success of these students who have come a long way.
No Lost Generation Lehigh is a student group tasked by the United States Department of State to support those affected by the ongoing Syrian refugee crisis and ensure that this generation of displaced Syrians is not lost. Our current objectives include raising awareness on campus about the refugee crisis and working closely with the local refugee resettlement agency to learn about the refugees living within the Lehigh Valley.
In conjunction with the State Department, NLG-Lehigh hopes to serve as a model for future collaborations between the US government and university students across the country. By combining the network power of university students with the resources and expertise of the State Department, we hope to connect students with opportunities to support humanitarian efforts working to ensure a generation of Syrians is not deprived of the universal right to education.
Before we were a club, we had a vision. We envisioned a united community of international students who would provide for each other understanding, comfort, and encouragement to persevere through culture shock and homesickness. We began by making a group chat and organizing potlucks, movie nights, group study sessions, and visits to local events. Friends brought in their friends, and before we knew it, we had over 20 people wanting to join the club before we even considered it to be a “club”! Our current membership consists of students representing: Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, and the United States.
Activities include DIY recipes, How To workshops, open discussions, product swaps, and other fun information sessions. We also collaborate with other organizations to throw events that foster an inclusive Lehigh community.
Lehigh University Hillel Society
The Lehigh University Hillel Society is a student-run organization. We offer a free Shabbat dinner every Friday night, holiday celebrations, social events, cultural programs such as cooking and moviess, and community service. The Jewish Student Center and all of our programs are open to students of any background and experience level with Judaism. We welcome involvement, whether it be coming up with ideas for programming, helping to plan, or just showing up and bringing friends.
Diversity Peer Educators (DPE)
DPE’s aim is to educate through peer-peer facilitation on diversity and inclusion with the goal of improving the racial climate on our campus. Student groups can sign up for the 4-5 part series and can be customized to address the needs and goals of those participating.
Empowering Leaders To Initiate And Target Excellence (E.L.I.T.E)
The E.L.I.T.E. program is an initiative that shall serve as a means to increase the retention rate of students of color at Lehigh University by developing interpersonal relationships between students, faculty, staff, and alumni that will foster a true sense of unity and community.
National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE)
The National Society for Black Engineers was established to increase the numbers of minority students in STEM majors who can succeed academically and professionally, and also positively impact their community. NSBE at Lehigh is an organization dedicated to providing academic support to all students regardless of their choice of study. Students of diverse racial and academic backgrounds are welcomed to join and will experience an environment where they can mature and succeed.
Society Of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE)
Our Mission:
To change lives by empowering the Hispanic community to realize its fullest potential and to impact the world through STEM awareness, access, support, and development.
Our Vision:
A world where Hispanics are highly valued as influential leaders, innovators, scientists, mathematicians, and engineers.
TUMBAO is a Latin-Caribbean Fusion performance dance team at Lehigh! TUMBAO focuses on merging traditional and new styles of Latin & Caribbean dance which will include typical styles such as Salsa, Bachata and many more. Our mission is to spread Latinx & Caribbean culture throughout Lehigh as well as engage the community in such styles of dance through different events.
Get ready for TUMBAO to bring you, "sal, limón y un poquito de saźon."
The Latin Dance Club is an organization that learns different Latin dance styles, implements it in social scenes and shows it off during campus-wide events and performances. We often hold more than one practice time throughout the week and during the weekend. We teach some of the more popular styles such as Bachata, Merengue, and Salsa, as well as learning new ones like Cumbia, Tango, and more. This club is open to the entire Lehigh community and is one of the few dance clubs that does not audition its members.
LU's Finest Step Team is a dance club that uses the body as an instrument to make music. The rhythmic beats produced by stomping our feet, clapping our hands, and occasionally incorporating some vocals is a tradition that has been passed down through generations of people that originated from Africa. Step dancing is based on a traditional form of boot dancing but now has a modern dance twist that has been placed on it.We step and dance to regular music as well.
Leela is Lehigh's only Indian Fusion Dance Team. The group uses choreography and music from both Western and Eastern culture as a way to produce a range of styles and performances. These styles include: Bollywood, Bhangra, Classical, Raas, Garba, Hip Hop, Lyrical and more. Our dances help to introduce our audiences both to the diverse styles of traditional Indian dance and to the new and vibrant fusion dance styles inspired by the impact of Western culture.
Anyone is welcome to join the club and come to open practices to enhance and learn dance skills. Towards performance dates, a Performance Team is selected by the captain to represent Leela on stage in a variety of performances with different costumes and song mixes. This year, we performed at Fusion, Diwali, Dance Fest 10, International Bazaar, Holi, and Lehigh After Dark events with a variety of mixes.
Becoming a part of Greek life is a lifelong dedication and a truly life-altering experience. The members of the Cultural Greek Council at Lehigh University are influential role models and leaders on this campus and have only continued to flourish within the many leadership opportunities that come from being a part of a culturally based organization.
Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc.
Kappa Alpha Psi, a Greek letter college Fraternity, was founded on January 5th, 1911 at Indiana University, Bloomington Indiana by a group of 10 astute men in spite of many obstacles. The racial climate at Indiana during the early 20th century was quite tenuous, and the founders of the Fraternity sought to create an organization that would never exclude or suggest the exclusion of a man from membership merely because of his color, creed, or national origin.
Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority
ΛΘΑ was founded in 1975 by 17 founding mothers based on the principles of Unity, Love & Respect. The goals of ΛΘΑ are scholarly excellence, the empowerment of Latinas and the universal woman, cultural and political awareness, and community activism.
We were chartered on Lehigh University's campus by five founding sisters on April 20th, 2008. Our chapter philanthropy is sexual assault & gender violence awareness.
Events we hold: Cultural Appropriation ≠ Appreciation, Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, I Stand With Immigrants, Being a Woman in a Male Dominated World, Mr. Burgundy & Grey, The Bandana Project, Red Hearts Campaign, etc.
ΛΘΑ - The FIRST and LARGEST Latin Sorority
Although we are founded on Latin roots, we are 'Latin by Tradition, Not by Definition' therefore membership is not exclusive.
Mu Sigma Upsilon Sorority Inc.
Mu Sigma Upsilon Sorority, Incorporated is the FIRST multicultural Greek-letter organization in the nation founded on November 21, 1981 at Rutgers University. Its purpose is to unite all women from all different nationalities and share with them the theme of "Mujeres Siempre Unidas" or "Women Always United". MSU was founded by five women determined to establish an organization that brought together not just women of the same background, but all women. It was their limitless vision that enabled these determined women to break down barriers and build the bridges that connected women from all different parts of the world.