Haunted House, Pink Wednesdays, and more!
The Caribbean Students Association (CSA) is one of Mt.A’s many international student societies. First founded in 2018 by Caribbean Mt.A students, it was formerly known as the Islanders society. The goal of the CSA is to provide an outlet for a sense of “home away from home” [says Kayla Weekes] for Caribbean students or those affiliated with the Caribbean. In addition, the CSA seeks to teach the broader student body about Caribbean culture and raise awareness about issues taking place in Caribbean countries, such as the recent effects of Hurricane Melissa.
The CSA executive is composed of five students who are from the Caribbean. Co-Presidents Jaylen Minnis and Keno Smith are both third-year students from The Bahamas. Minnis is an economics major, while Smith is a psychology major. Kayla Weekes is the secretary/treasurer, from Barbados and a fourth-year student in the BSc in Aviation program. Events manager, Abbygale Freebourne, is from Jamaica and a third-year environmental science student. Completing the executive is Makyle Paul, CSA’s social media manager. Paul is a fourth-year student from The Bahamas, studying computer science and music.
CSA has had a busy line-up of events so far this semester, including sex toy bingo, sports day, and “Pink Wednesdays” in October, where Mt.A students were encouraged to wear pink to support breast cancer awareness. When Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica, the International Centre put together a pizza social for CSA members to connect with one another and served as a reminder of the familial atmosphere of the Caribbean community at Mt.A during a tragic event.
On Halloween weekend, there were two back-to-back events hosted by CSA. On Oct. 30, they held a “Haunted Escape Room” in which there were challenges for participants to solve to ‘escape.’ To create a scary atmosphere, decorations and rooms were set up with costumed actors to scare participants. On Oct. 31, CSA hosted “The Haunted House,” which was a slightly different setup to the escape room, with more rooms in the house being decorated and no challenges to be solved.
When asked about what events are coming in the near future, CSA executive members highlighted their plans of hosting a karaoke/trivia night, with the possibility of a few study sessions and a movie night, too. For next semester, no concrete plans are in place yet, but CSA is hoping to host parties at Ducky’s and Chirps with some other on-campus events.
CSA events are open to all Mt.A students unless otherwise stated. CSA can be found on Instagram (@mta.csa) and can be reached by direct messaging or emailing [email protected]. Additionally, if readers of the Argosy are interested in supporting, The Jamaica Hurricane Relief Fund can be found at https://supportjamaica.gov.jm/