Founded in 1991 to help cultivate an inclusive campus environment for the growing minority student population at Stetson, the Multicultural Student Council (MSC) marks 35 years since its founding — and the Multicultural Alumni Reunion during Homecoming on Friday, Oct. 16, was the perfect occasion to celebrate this significant milestone.

Joining the event for an evening of food, music and community were 70 students, faculty, staff and alumni, including Nicole Rodriguez-Welch ’15 and James Welch III ’16. The couple, who met at Stetson and exchanged vows in front of the Holler Fountain, has never missed a Homecoming since graduating and has always made it a point to attend the Multicultural Alumni Reunion.

Rodriguez-Welch recounted how her activities as a founding member of Unidos, one of the nine multicultural organizations under the MSC umbrella and now known as the Latinx Student Union, pulled her out of her shell and helped her grow as a person. 

“I didn’t really know myself coming to college,” she said, describing her upbringing in a Cuban and Puerto Rican household with a “traditional” father and “hippie” mother. “The MSC played a really big part in showing me how different people live their lives and allowing me to form my own opinion and grow into my own person.”

Many other prominent alumni joined the celebration, including Jim Johnson ’68, the 2021 George and Mary Hood Alumni Award recipient, and Dorothy Pompey Johnson ’69. The Johnsons, who met in the duPont-Ball Library in 1965 and married three years later, were two of the first Black students to gain access to the residential college experience at Stetson as the school desegregated in the 1960s.

President Christopher F. Roellke, PhD, has been attending the Multicultural Alumni Reunion every Homecoming since his inauguration and shared his opening remarks.

“I want to welcome you home,” he said, urging attendees to give a round of applause for the MSC community as he began his speech. “Our alumni, thank you for coming back. Homecoming is always special, but this gathering actually means a great deal to me. We are here in what is affectionately referred to historically as the Brick Palace on Michigan Avenue, a place that I really am proud to have had a part in repurposing as a more welcoming home for our Cross-Cultural Center. You needed some more square footage!”

Roellke continued, “For generations of our traditionally underrepresented graduates, that sense of belonging has been strengthened through friendship, mentorship, courageous leadership and the determination to make Stetson better for those who come next. So tonight we celebrate our alumni, and we also celebrate our current students. We celebrate you for what you bring to Stetson University, what you carry into the world, and the legacy you have created and are continuing to create on a daily basis here at Stetson.

“Welcome back. Welcome home. And as always, go Hatters!”

Bites from different cultures and a photo booth to memorialize the special occasion were available for attendees to enjoy. As Hatters caught up with one another and created new connections, some broke out in line dance, adding even more energy to the event.

The MSC’s founder, Patrick Coggins, PhD, was another key figure at the celebration who shared the student organization’s history and its enduring legacy on campus.

“The MSC was started in 1991 because there were lots of minority and diverse students coming to Stetson,” said Coggins, who retired in spring 2025 after 34 years as an education professor. “And I was hired specifically by Dr. [H. Douglas] Lee, the president, to develop multicultural education and to make sure that the students who were diverse feel inclusive.”

Describing the MSC as a “center for advocating for students who did not have a voice,” Coggins highlighted how his advocacy on behalf of cultural organizations on campus led the Student Government Association (SGA) to allocate funding for these groups like it does for other approved student organizations based on the Student Life Activity Fee every undergraduate pays each semester.

During his speech, Coggins called Marisol Bahena ’96 to come forward, introducing her as one of the founding members of the MSC — a heartwarming moment showing the special bond between longtime mentor and pupil. Bahena, who immigrated from Mexico with her parents when she was 10, was part of the community of immigrant farm workers at the ferneries in Pierson when Coggins recruited her to study at Stetson in 1991. 

A picture of Bahena and other MSC members at a potluck-style multicultural campus event hangs in the Tri-C building, the students in the photo smiling widely at the camera. The image is a physical representation of the 35-year legacy left behind by students like them — and the Johnsons before them — who paved the way for minority students coming after them to feel a greater sense of belonging on Stetson’s campus.

“What I can recall, and this may have been just my personal experience, is that I didn’t feel any isolation or separation,” Bahena said, describing her experience at Stetson. “I always felt like this was my home.”

Concluding his speech, Coggins brought up the significance of the number 35 and how reaching this age means an individual has developed wisdom, authenticity, values and beliefs, making the MSC not just an organization but an institution in its own right.

Alexandria Belk, associate director of the Cross-Cultural Center, organized the event with her team, Isabella Matute, Haylei Nie and Jocelyn Rodriguez, along with student volunteers. Belk commented, “I’m so grateful and happy to be part of something that, like Dr. Coggins said, is a pillar at Stetson University. I think that’s very powerful.”

–Siyon Kim