The Auburn Cross Cultural Center for Excellence hosted an event in celebration of Asian and Pacific Islander heritage month on Wednesday evening.
Auburn invited Fijian Cheif Tui Mali from the island of Vorovoro to campus to speak with students and faculty about his perspective and goals for inclusion for people across the world.
In his opening claim, Mali pointed out the window and gestured to the sun. He said the sun shining through Room 2196 of the Haley Center is the same he wakes to in Fiji.
Expanding on this point, Mali said we are all a family. He compared the sun to the connection between all people.
Kate Thornton, director of hunger and sustainability initiatives at the Hunger Solutions Institute and the director of global education in the College of Human Sciences, led the question and answer session.
Thornton led the study abroad program for Auburn students to study in Fiji and planned the event with Allen Sutton, director of the Cross Cultural Center for Excellence, last April.
“It took a letter writing campaign,” Sutton said. “We had to write to their government, and we had to write to the government here to allow them to come in, get passports, different things like that.”
Sutton said although it took an extensive amount of work to put this event together, it was well worth it.
Mali answered questions with his belief that "we are all one."
“If you don’t look after your friend that is beside you, that’s something else,” Mali said.
One of Mali’s initiatives within Fiji has been reducing the division between tourism and natives. He said when visiting the island, there is a clear line separating people, and he asked Auburn students when they visit to help break this barrier.
Thornton reflected on her trips and the importance of respect within Fijian culture. She said when she and the students stay on the island, they are regarded as family rather than visitors.
A recent breakthrough for the tribe came when some became engineers. The island is beginning to take steps toward taking actions against the severe impacts climate change has had upon them, Mali said.
In reference to these contributions, as well as the annual study abroad trip, Mali said, “When Auburn students come, they build the world.”
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