Madilyne Nguyen-Acosta, BA ’21 (public relations), works for Sony Music Entertainment as a senior diversity, equity, and inclusion specialist. Her aspirations to work in the entertainment industry led Nguyen-Acosta to pursue PR while at the UO. However, it was her role as programming and events student lead at the UO Multicultural Center (MCC) that provided her first insight into the world of DEI. Growing up in the Bay Area, she was surrounded by people of diverse ethnicities and backgrounds, so arriving at the UO proved to be a bit of a culture shock. Nguyen-Acosta was dedicated as a student to creating a welcoming culture for other people of color on campus. In addition to MCC, she was also involved with UO Hui’O Hawaii, having performed hula and Tahitian dance since she was seven years old. Although it isn’t part of her own Filipino and Vietnamese cultures, she “learned to practice and appreciate it in the most authentic way.”