By Alana Ospina – Contributor

On Wednesday, Oct. 11, the Caribbean and African Students Association (CASA), welcomed its members to its first official event at Paterson Hall. Due to its success in previous years, it comes as no surprise that they chose a “Paint and Sip” for the occasion. This time was no exception as they experienced the highest turnout rate for this type of event. Usually, there are five to eight students who participate, excluding the executive team. This time, there were 20!

This particular “Paint and Sip” had a conversational topic that was meant to be discussed throughout the event. This discussion was meant to be on the gap between generations – specifically, what it is like to be a first-generation immigrant vs. a third-generation. While this subject is extremely important and the executive team truly intended to discuss it, things didn’t go as planned. Rather than adhering to this topic, the conversation was much more casual due to the amount of people that came and the time allotted for the event. Some students simply caught up with each other as they hadn’t seen one another since the Winter 2023 semester, others were meeting new people for the first time and some were rather focused on their paintings. Blue was a very popular colour that evening. 

CASA is a club at Bishop’s that wants to promote the representation of Black students in political and community matters, as well as create enriched environments and opportunities for these students. This year, they also want to emphasize Black success as well. That being said, the club is open to everyone! It creates a space where those who are underrepresented can share their experiences in a safe space. The club also provides opportunities for those who are willing to listen to these experiences, learn from them, celebrate Black success and become allies.

Overall, the event was a huge success and got the ball rolling for CASA’s future events. Vice-president of CASA, TJ Sweeny, expressed, “It was great to see such a good turnout for CASA’s first event. We will be having another ‘paint and sip’ in November. News to come”. This being said, we can expect a lot more from CASA this academic year aside from “Paint and Sips”, including CASA gait nights, “how-to” workshops, networking opportunities and the CASA fashion show. 

You can follow @ubishopscasa on Instagram and the BU Caribbean African Student Association on Facebook for more information!