If you want to meet new people that come from different backgrounds and have diverse ideals, go to The HUB. The HUB stands for Honoring the past, Uniting the present, and Building the future. Their mission is to celebrate everyone despite their differences and to create a safe, comfortable space. They are located on campus on the second floor in the Student Center.
One of the Hub’s attractive events every year is their movie nights on the Green Music Center lawn. Friday, Sept. 7 was the first event of the year for the Social Justice Film Series introducing the film “The Black Panther.” Hanna Green, a senior majoring in Kinesiology, said, “I think one thing to take away from the movie is when they were debating on whether or not to help outsiders and have it backfire. But in the end, they help people that are outside of their community. A lesson that although there are risks that accompany integration of different cultures, the collaborative benefits outweigh those risks.”
“The Social Justice Series” is a year long event showcasing films that may be related to current social justice issues going on. There is approximately one film per month. Lauren Morimoto, a Kinesiology faculty member, and Mo Phillips, Director of Student Invovlement, were the ones who worked together to create the social justice movie series in 2017. They work together to pick the movies and partner up with The HUB. Some of the movies screened last year were “Moonlight”, “Get Out” and “Lion”. The focus of the series is to bring in all kind of students from different backgrounds and majors together to discuss social justice issues.
The HUB also has professors or someone to come in a facilitate questions about the movie. It gives everyone a safe space to come in and talk about the film and critique it.
Shelly Gomez, a senior majoring in Women & Gender Studies, is an intern and student assistant in the HUB. She said, “All of our programs that are facilitated under the umbrella of gender and sexuality, race and ethnicities are really a focus on those specific things. We try to have different programs and speakers in order to really promote those issues. We want the students on campus to know that they can come here to not only be a part of that, but to also give us their ideas and thoughts on what they want to see. This is a comfortable place for anyone.”
Shelly also stated how important the film series is and that it is a great way to merge pop culture and cinema with Sonoma State.
This year, the HUB is bringing in new things to discuss. In honor of celebrating Coming Out Month in October, The HUB will be screening “Love, Simon” in the bllrooms of the Student Center and after the film, one of the directors of the movie will be speaking to the students and answering questions via skype. In November, they will be kicking off a new documentary series beginning with “Rumble”.
The HUB has ongoing weekly events and programs. A few being every second Wednesday is spoken poetry and open mic at 7p.m., “It’s A Guy Thing” on every first and third Monday at 12p.m., and Multicultural Organizations & Clubs Alliance happening every first and third Tuesday at 12p.m. Additionally, they offer many different resources for students. For example, a library and a mini kitchen that is open to all and presentations on various topics.
