Posts Tagged ‘fredricka hunter’
T.J. Wolfname, Whitney Snow and Jazra Michel (left to right) enjoy a bowl of soup together Friday afternoon during the bi-weekly Soup Friday put on by the American Indian Student Services at the University of Montana. Soup Friday was started two years ago by AISS to build relationships on campus between Native and non-Native students, faculty and staff. (Photo by KURT WILSON/Missoulian)
By Chelsi Moy, of the Missoulian.
On a day when the mercury outside was well below freezing, beef stew and chicken soup seemed to hit the spot.
Yet it’s not the weather that brings folks to Soup Fridays.
It’s the camaraderie.
Every other week, American Indian Student Services organizes Soup Friday, which is where University of Montana students, faculty and staff, Native and non-Native alike, congregate in the student lounge of the Payne Family Native American Center to enjoy a hearty bowl of stew, chili or soup.
It’s a tradition that began two years ago when Fredricka Hunter took over as director of American Indian Student Services and saw the informal lunch as a way to build community on campus, bridge cultures and, now, to utilize the new Native American Center building.
It’s an opportunity for Native and non-Native students to build relationships, and way to invite non-Native students into the new building.
Before noon, Hunter goes around to each student hunched over books in the Native American Center and invites them in for a bowl of soup.
Tags: American Indian Student Services, Chelsi Moy, fredricka hunter, UM native american center, University of Montana