The evening began on an awkward note Wednesday as members of Alianza, A&O Productions and Delta Delta Delta sat down to dinner at the Multicultural Center. As an icebreaker, everyone had to say a fact they knew about another group – a task more difficult than they had anticipated.

“This isn’t fun. This is hard,” said Alianza President Lilly Gonzalez.

But an hour later, the seven students were talking freely about how they could work together. They were the first guests at a series of biweekly dinners, sponsored by the Multicultural Center Advisory Board, that bring together unlikely combinations of student groups.

“We wanted to have an outreach program,” said Sadiya Farooqui, MCCAB vice president and a Weinberg sophomore. “Three or four groups at a time would come to talk about how we can change this campus. We’re trying to be as random as possible.”

Between bites of food catered by Thai Sookdee, students discussed obstacles facing their groups and challenges that keep them from cooperating more. Tri Delt member Jennie Ellis said it is difficult for the Greek system, which traditionally is not diverse, to know how to promote multicultural issues and events.

“It’s one of those things that hasn’t happened in the past,” said Ellis, a Weinberg sophomore who is one of four Greek Multicultural Advocates. “Some houses don’t know where to begin.”

A&O Productions member Neil Shah said A&O’s focus on producing large-scale acts that appeal to a mainstream audience limits its ability to bring more culturally diverse talent to campus.

“If we screw up one event, we know our name will go down,” said Shah, a Weinberg sophomore. “So we stick with what we know.”

But Shah said if cultural groups approached him with programming ideas, he would be interested in helping those organizations produce their events. For example, A&O sponsored a movie for Hispanic Heritage Month in October.

Alianza member Omar Rodriguez-Caballero said the dinner was a good starting point for discussing where the groups had failed to work together in the past. From there, they could brainstorm new ways to collaborate, he said.

“I think we’re all at fault,” said Rodriguez-Caballero, a McCormick junior. “I don’t think we’ve reached out to you. I don’t think you’ve reached out to us. Through this conversation, we’re starting at ground zero.”

The students agreed that the only way to bring mainstream audiences to cultural events is through personal contact with a member of the organization. This problem also faces the Greek system, where there are few representatives of cultural groups, Ellis said.

Ellis encouraged the students to promote their events at Greek houses’ Monday night dinners.

“There’s not an Alianza member in every house,” Ellis said. “It’s going to take time to trickle.”

But with the dinner providing a venue for students to brainstorm partnership opportunities, MCCAB members say they hope the results will be more than just talk. Tri Delt member Michelle Rabkin said the dinner will generate concrete relationships between the groups.

“Everyone’s exchanging names,” said Rabkin, a Weinberg sophomore. “People are going to keep in touch.”

Gonzalez, who has represented the Latino community at more diversity forums than she can count, said she felt that the dinner discussion was productive because it brought together a new combination of students, not the usual collection of cultural group leaders.

“It’s the best (diversity talk) I’ve been to,” said Gonzalez, a Medill junior. “This is part of the solution – to get groups that hardly ever talk to sit down.”