MERCED, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – Hundreds of students representing all nine University of California undergraduate campuses will descend upon Merced during the weekend for the annual Students of Color Conference, officials announced.

Organizers say the conference’s mission is for students of color to come together and share their experiences to better identify targeted advocacy among different identity groups.

Officials say about 350 students are expected to attend the conference taking place from Jan. 27 until Jan. 28 at the UC Merced Conference Center. For the conferences, identity training will focus on anti-Blackness.

“The focus is whatever marginalized group we think needs attention that specific year,” said UCSA UC Merced External Vice President Arianne Huffman. “We will give training regarding that identity or culture and how to be more mindful when interacting.”

Huffman says the conference’s various workshops will focus on teaching tricks of the advocacy trade while developing awareness and understanding of other groups.

This year’s workshops will focus on Southeast Asian culture, different Indian diasporas, and Black diasporas, among other topics.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity to meet people from the different campuses and better understand how the UC experience applies at all locations,” said Huffman. “We all have very similar struggles: it just shows up in different ways because we are all in different environments.”

This conference is sponsored by the University of California Student Association (UCSA), which is the official voice of students from across the UC system.

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