Metro State’s second annual Asian Student Discovery Day on April 11 was an enormous success, according to its organizers.
Last year, two dozen students from Denver Public Schools (DPS)
toured the campus. This year, 125 students participated in the all-day
event, including students from Pakistan, Afghanistan and India.
Students were taken on an extensive tour around the Auraria campus,
learned about financial aid and student housing, and even attended a
mock class where they experienced what a college course is like.
The goal for the Asian Discovery Day was to relay the importance of
higher education to the Asian community, said Director of Hospitality
Entrepreneurship Ray Moroye, who co-directs the event.
“We want these students to come to Metro State, but we also want
them to graduate and to find a career,” Moroye said. “We want (them) to
have a lifetime of learning.”
Moroye, a board member of the Asian Chamber of Commerce as well as
the Asian Pacific American Bar Association and College Invest, created
the outreach program to Denver’s fast-growing Asian community.
Teaming up with Paul Cesare, assistant director of admissions,
Moroye initially contacted high school counselors throughout DPS.
“There was a low turnout for (the first Asian Discovery Day) because
DPS gave those students an option to choose DU or Metro,” Cesare said,
adding that it was likely that the students’ parents wanted their kids
to visit DU due to its name recognition.
For this year’s event, Cesare decided to expand the program beyond
DPS to all schools throughout the seven counties in the Denver metro
area.
Word of the event reached 361 counselors.
“We were expecting 80 students to arrive this year,” Moroye said.
“It was a pleasant surprise that there weren’t enough seats for
everyone.”
Throughout the day, the visiting students were able to hear from Asian students and professors who shared their experiences.
Assistant Professor of English Tat Sang So was one speaker who motivated those in the audience, Cesare said.
“They were all enthusiastic students, most of them college-bound and quite a few of them going to Metro,” So said.
“This event raised awareness for diversity, especially with the
Asian and Asian American students who might feel isolated,” So said.
