This year, the Caribbean Student Association (CSA) became a part of Messiah’s Multicultural Council (MCC). Looking back on CSA’s first year, Deantae Moultrie, a senior applied health science major and president of CSA, feels blessed that she was able to see CSA come this far.
“It probably was one of the biggest blessings that I received coming to Messiah is to be able to see [CSA] join MCC,” Moultrie said.
Moultrie started CSA as a sophomore, joined by Katriel Moss, a current junior business administration major and the club’s vice president. The club started with small meetings on Zoom, often only joined by a few people outside of their cabinet. However, today CSA is a thriving part of MCC, though the process wasn’t without its struggles. According to Moss, being a part of MCC wasn’t something that they thought they would be able to see during their time at Messiah.
“When we first started, they were telling us that the process was gonna be like 5-10 years,” Moss said. “They said, ‘You can start it, but you probably won’t be able to see it through.’”
For Moultrie, her biggest success as president this year was developing a family environment within CSA’s cabinet.
“My proudest work is with my cabinet,” Moultrie said. “I hope that anytime I come back to Messiah it’s the same cabinet atmosphere.”
Moving into next year, Moss will be the president of CSA, and is hoping to reach those students who may not have had a chance to explore their Caribbean identity before.
“My goal for next year is to build the CSA community,” Moss said. “I want to encourage the students on campus now to come and explore [their Caribbean identity].”
For those students interested in joining the Caribbean Student Association, they can get in contact with the club by following on Instagram @messiah.csa.
