Who are we and what do we do?

The Ethnocultural Department is an autonomous and non-political group that provides a community of support, comradery and solidarity for all Ethnocultural-identifying students at the University. We advocate for the ethnoculturally and linguistically diverse, attend and organise rallies, throw events on campus, have fortnightly meetings, and socialise online and over coffee.

Who forms the collective?

Every undergraduate student who self identifies as ethnoculturally diverse is a member of this department. We define ‘Ethnocultural’ as students who self-identify as being from a minority racial or ethnic origin, who come together with a common experience of facing systemic racism. This definition includes, but it is not strictly limited to: mixed-race or bi-racial people, people who are white-passing (i.e. are perceived to be white due to skin colour and other identifying features), and are Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.

Our Roots

The Ethnocultural Department was formed in 2015 as a collective with the vision to become an official department of the Australian National University’s Student Association (ANUSA). The collective was formed by students who saw a lack of representation, advocacy and community for ethnocultural identifying students at the university. In 2017 we achieved our goal and are now in our second year as a Department.
 

Email: sa.ethnocultural@anu.edu.au

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ANUEthnoculturalDepartment/      

Autonomous Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/491650024345060/

Jharna Chamlagai - Ethnocultural Department Officer

Tanika Sibal - Deputy Ethnocultural Officer

Anamika Chowdhury - Treasurer 

Amanda Dheerasekara - Secretary 

Joanne Leong - Publicity Officer