There’s always more underneath the surface. Dedicated to educating the Penn State community about hidden diversities, one group of students is aiming to foster belonging and awareness.

Seniors Sarah Carroll, Emily Eng, Megan Fitzgibbon, Kayla Marrero, and Anna Wiggins are working on a collaborative campaign with Culturs Magazine and the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) to spread their initiative. Culturs is a global, multicultural magazine that amplifies the voices of specific minority populations such as Third Culture Kids, immigrants, and people of mixed race.

“We specifically chose [the campaign] ‘Beyond the Box’ to educate and immerse the Penn State community about the culture in between and celebrate diversity,” Carroll said.

The group’s primary goal is to foster a sense of belonging for Third Culture Kids across campus and within their team. Three out of the five members are considered Third Culture Kids, making it all the more impactful.

“This has really immersed us into the Culturs as a magazine because it pertains to the majority of our team members,” Carroll said.

At the beginning of the campaign, Culturs magazine had a minimal impact and influence across college campuses. This was the primary reason why Culturs wanted to be the client for this year’s PRSSA Bateman Case Study Competition.

The Bateman Competition serves as a way for students to apply their classroom education and internship to implement and execute a real-world public relations campaign.

The group began its campaign in February by posting content on their Instagram page. In conjunction with Instagram, it set up a table in the HUB and passed out pamphlets and “passports” related to its mission.

Some of these “passports” included diverse State College restaurants in hopes of expanding the food pallet of students. The team decided food would be one of its biggest focus targets when it came to cultural ties.

“When we began thinking about what connects people, whether that be where they were born, their parents, their grandparents, places they’ve moved to — food came to mind for all five of us,” Carroll said. “We were all able to relate and connect to that.”

They connected with the Taiwanese bakery, Chew Chew Bun, in downtown State College. For the group, this interaction helped them gain perspective about how restaurants are doing their best to bring different cultures to the community. Everyone is doing their part to ensure that people have somewhere to fit in and belong.

The major event the group put on to raise awareness was in partnership with The GLOBE PSU, a learning living community of globally minded people within the Schreyer Honors College. For Carroll, this event was the most impactful part of the campaign.

“At the event, students shared the history or significance of their dish, and I had a lot of fun learning about the power food has to bring people together,” she said.

As students submitted meaningful recipes and shared their importance to their culture, the whole team connected with the multicultural students on a whole new level. Even though they were just hanging out over a meal, the event broke down barriers and allowed for deeper relationships to be formed.

“Overall, we were able to connect with the Penn State campus and their students and get a great understanding of where they come from,” Carroll said.

Hidden diversity is something that’s rarely talked about, especially on college campuses. The initiative spread forth by this group has helped to change that.

“We want readers to understand that they shouldn’t try to fit themselves into a box and to embrace the intersectionality of their identity,” Carroll said. “Embrace yourself and you will always have a community that is waiting for you.”

“We hope that our campaign helps readers see diversity in a new light when thinking about the types of communities and experiences people have, and how Culturs Magazine has a major role in fostering this global community of people with hidden diversity,” she added.

The group’s campaign ran for one month, and at the conclusion, it submitted a report to the competition. The winners of the competition will earn the opportunity to present to the client themselves, in this case, Culturs. The finalists are set to be announced on April 16, and the lucky three will present on May 2. To continue following along with the initiative and to learn more, click here.

Editor’s Note: Anna Wiggins is the social media manager of Onward State and did not contribute to the production of this article.