{"id":2037,"date":"2025-04-24T20:40:33","date_gmt":"2025-04-24T20:40:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/intercultural-collective\/?page_id=2037"},"modified":"2026-05-06T11:55:55","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T15:55:55","slug":"itanwa-orinwa-program","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/intercultural-collective\/belonging-and-student-success\/itanwa-orinwa\/itanwa-orinwa-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Itanwa Orinwa Program"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Itanwa Orinwa 2026<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Friday, May 8, 2026, 3:30-5:30 p.m., JMA Wireless Dome<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Run of Show<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Schedule<\/th><th>Presenters, Speakers and Performers<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>Procession<\/td><td>2026 Graduates<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Land Acknowledgment and Welcome<\/td><td>Amaya Saintal \u201926, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and School of Education<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Piano Ensemble<\/td><td>Myra Bocage \u201926, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Black National Anthem<\/td><td>Alani Simone Henderson \u201926, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs; Tyreese Malik Brown \u201926, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs; and Rojanni Sean Wisdom \u201926, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Opening Remarks<\/td><td>Dawn Singleton, Vice President, Student Experience Division<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Student Speaker<\/td><td>Sydney Olivia Trapp \u201926, College of Arts and Sciences<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Video Presentation Introduction<\/td><td>Jamie Sterling \u201926, School of Information Studies<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>History of Stoles<\/td><td>Tanisha M. Jackson, Assistant Professor, African American Studies and Executive Director, Community Folk Art Center<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Distribution of Kente Stoles<\/td><td>Aylin Gonzalez, Director, Belonging and Student Success; Marissa Willingham, Assistant Director, Belonging and Student Success; Christopher Maldonado, Associate Director, Career Services; and Chad Williams, Executive Director, Intercultural Collective<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Closing Remarks<\/td><td>Janese Yana Fayson \u201926, Martin J. Whitman School of Management<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Recessional<\/td><td>2026 Graduates<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Event Details<\/h2>\n\n\n<div role=\"region\" class=\"accordion\">\n      <div class=\"accordion-item border border-gray-light\">\n      <div class=\"accordion-header-text\">\n        <h3 class=\"margin-bottom-0\">\n          <button class=\"accordion-header full-width background-gray-light-30 border-0 margin-0 padding-top-2 padding-bottom-2 padding-left-3 padding-right-3\" aria-expanded=\"false\">\n            History            <div class='accordion-toggle icon-right' class=''>\n              <i class='icon-chevron-right'><\/i>\n            <\/div>\n          <\/button>\n        <\/h3>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class='accordion-content'>\n        <p>Itanwa Orinwa (Our Story, Our Song) is a celebration dedicated to creating space for community building, connection and recognition of graduating students of color. The name &#8220;Itanwa Orinwa&#8221; translates from Yoruba, a language spoken in southwestern Nigeria, to &#8220;Our Story, Our Song.&#8221;<\/p>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n      <div class=\"accordion-item border border-gray-light\">\n      <div class=\"accordion-header-text\">\n        <h3 class=\"margin-bottom-0\">\n          <button class=\"accordion-header full-width background-gray-light-30 border-0 margin-0 padding-top-2 padding-bottom-2 padding-left-3 padding-right-3\" aria-expanded=\"false\">\n            The Significance of Kente Cloth in the Black Diaspora            <div class='accordion-toggle icon-right' class=''>\n              <i class='icon-chevron-right'><\/i>\n            <\/div>\n          <\/button>\n        <\/h3>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class='accordion-content'>\n        <p>A significant part of Itanwa Orinwa is the distribution of authentic Kente stoles. The Kente cloth is a meaningful sartorial material with a rich historical presence in our culture, representing the pride we hold in our African heritage. Each aspect of the cloth carries symbolic weight. Gold signifies status and serenity; yellow represents fertility; green embodies renewal; blue symbolizes pure spirit and harmony; red represents passion; and black signifies union and spiritual awareness.<\/p>\n<p>This tradition is adapted from Ghana, where Kente is a royal cloth, and its presentation serves as a loving rite of passage gift.<\/p>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n  <\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Itanwa Orinwa Committee<\/h2>\n\n\n<div role=\"region\" class=\"accordion\">\n      <div class=\"accordion-item border border-gray-light\">\n      <div class=\"accordion-header-text\">\n        <h3 class=\"margin-bottom-0\">\n          <button class=\"accordion-header full-width background-gray-light-30 border-0 margin-0 padding-top-2 padding-bottom-2 padding-left-3 padding-right-3\" aria-expanded=\"false\">\n            2026 Committee Members            <div class='accordion-toggle icon-right' class=''>\n              <i class='icon-chevron-right'><\/i>\n            <\/div>\n          <\/button>\n        <\/h3>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class='accordion-content'>\n        <p><!-- wp:table --><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\">\n<table class=\"has-fixed-layout\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Name<\/th>\n<th>Role<\/th>\n<th>School or Department<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Tyree Benjamin &#8217;26<\/td>\n<td>Student<\/td>\n<td>College of Arts and Sciences<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Janese Yana Fayson &#8217;26<\/td>\n<td>Student<\/td>\n<td>Martin J. Whitman School of Management<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Aylin Gonzalez<\/td>\n<td>Director<\/td>\n<td>Belonging and Student Success<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Alani Simone Henderson &#8217;26<\/td>\n<td>Student<\/td>\n<td>Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Tanisha M. Jackson<\/td>\n<td>Assistant Professor; Executive Director<\/td>\n<td>Department of African American Studies; Community Folk Art Center<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Ethel Kabor\u00e9 &#8217;26<\/td>\n<td>Student<\/td>\n<td>College of Arts and Sciences<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Debbie McKie<\/td>\n<td>Senior Program Coordinator<\/td>\n<td>Greek Life<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Andrea-Rose Oates &#8217;26<\/td>\n<td>Student<\/td>\n<td>Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Amaya Saintal &#8217;26<\/td>\n<td>Student<\/td>\n<td>Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and School of Education<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Aaliyah Muolo Vergara<\/td>\n<td>Manager<\/td>\n<td>Intercultural Collective<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Michael-Daniel Vodzogbe<\/td>\n<td>Program Coordinator<\/td>\n<td>Barner-McDuffie House, Belonging and Student Success<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Claudine-Lonj\u00e9 Williams<\/td>\n<td>Program Manager<\/td>\n<td>Barner-McDuffie House, Belonging and Student Success<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Marissa Willingham<\/td>\n<td>Assistant Director<\/td>\n<td>Belonging and Student Success<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n  <\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Belonging and Student Success Senior Reception<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Join the Intercultural Collective\u2019s Belonging and Student Success Senior Reception for students and their families immediately following Commencement from noon-2 p.m. in Schine Student Center\u2019s Goldstein Auditorium on Sunday, May 10, 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Itanwa Orinwa Survey<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>We kindly request that you complete the <a href=\"https:\/\/syracuseuniversity.qualtrics.com\/jfe\/form\/SV_4SgwGlltk8MZL0i?Q_CHL=qr\">Itanwa Orinwa Survey<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Itanwa Orinwa 2026 Friday, May 8, 2026, 3:30-5:30 p.m., JMA Wireless Dome Run of Show Schedule Presenters, Speakers and Performers Procession 2026 Graduates Land Acknowledgment and Welcome Amaya Saintal \u201926, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and School of Education Piano Ensemble Myra Bocage \u201926, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications Black National Anthem&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":324,"featured_media":2886,"parent":81,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2037","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/intercultural-collective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/intercultural-collective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/intercultural-collective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/intercultural-collective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/324"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/intercultural-collective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2037"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/intercultural-collective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2037\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2891,"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/intercultural-collective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2037\/revisions\/2891"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/intercultural-collective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/81"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/intercultural-collective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/intercultural-collective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}