Campus organizations and resource centers come together regularly for events and activities, which serve as examples of our great communiversity.

While an individual organization’s events are wonderful, the best ones are those where several groups come together to create what I like to think of as super-events. Not only do these events allow people who are not familiar with an organization to learn more about different groups on campus, they also allow members of one group to expand their horizons and get more involved in the community.

“These events are great, especially for people like me who have a major and a minor or a double major,” said senior political science major Rebecca Siebens. “This way I can not only meet people who have the same major or similar interests that I do, but I can also meet new people with different interests and backgrounds and make new friends or learn new things. It’s a huge plus that NIU groups organize these kinds of events.”

As a veteran, I am a strong supporter of our Military Student Services.

I was proud to learn about the visit of speaker Lt. Dan Choi, a member of the Army who served as openly gay man before the 2011 repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. The event was co-sponsored by the LGBT Resource Center, Military Student Services, Student Association and the Asian American Center, to name a few.

“I definitely support any number of joint activities of various LGBT and outside organizations,” said Rhiannon Catherwood, English and women’s and gender studies student. “It’s important to make connections and make allies, and that will help make the community stronger.”

Events like this are prime examples of super-events that I feel help the university unite even more. Like Catherwood said, they will help make the community stronger.

“It gives people an opportunity to learn from each other where they can relate by having other things in common with activities, speakers and groups,” said Molly Holmes, director of the LGBT and Women’s Resource centers. “It’s an advantage at NIU because we have many different identities on campus and it allows students to interact and learn about their similarities.”

Being college students, we have a great advantage with opportunities to get involved in the community and expand our horizons.

You don’t have to look far to find an organization that supports your interests or to find cooperative events with any number of groups that may strike your fancy.

We should all take advantage of these opportunities before we lose them with graduation.

Whether a student is active in a group or organization or not, it is important for everyone to attend at least one event or group meeting they would not normally consider attending.

Take advantage of the opportunity we have as students to broaden our horizons while the options are still plentiful. Doing so may introduce you to new friends, ideas and opportunities.