One of the many ways Covenant College’s Intercultural Program (IP) serves the student community is through a weekly event called DiCaf, which stands for Diversity Café. DiCaf is put on by the seven IP student leaders as they focus on creating a welcoming campus through weekly fellowship.

IP Student Leaders

Top left to right: Kate DuRoy ‘25, Josh Williams ‘24, David Hopkins ‘26, Lydia Dorman ‘24
Bottom left to right: Mila Di Lopes Pires ‘26, Katya Kadian ‘26, Leila Mann ‘ 26

What Exactly is DiCaf?

DiCaf involves both learning about and engaging with the cultural backgrounds of Covenant College students. Wednesday night DiCafs are fun opportunities to enjoy various types of food or competitive games as well as specific cultural heritage months, planned with the purpose in mind of creating opportunities for student from all nationalities (including the US) and ethnicities to come together and celebrate diversity. Everybody has a culture!

“Our three primary goals in IP are to educate students on other cultures, create community by showing hospitality, and care for students who are struggling. How we do this ranges, but DiCaf is one of the most important functions of this philosophy.” 
Josh Williams ‘24

Who Can Attend DiCaf?

Unlike what you might be thinking, DiCaf is an event for the whole student community. It is a place to find unity in diversity, a place where all students can recognize and celebrate each other’s differences. Even the IP student leaders represent a wide variety of backgrounds! They represent countries such as Brazil (Mila), Ukraine (Katya), Indonesia (Leila and David), as well as the states of Tennessee (Kathleen), Missouri (Josh), and Maine (Lydia). 

“At DiCaf we want everyone to come and feel comfortable. We try to create an environment where every student at Covenant feels like they belong and that their story can be heard.” Katya Kadian ’26

Why Does DiCaf Matter?

It is not rare for students to feel that the college environment can expose a sense of displacement, so intentional community becomes that much more important. To meet this need, DiCaf seeks to grow students' understanding of one another and foster a more united sense of belonging. 

“Our goal with DiCaf is hospitality. We want it to be a place where people feel known and loved.” Lydia Dorman ‘24

More than anything, the testimony of students speaks to the value of DiCaf. Katya, who is now an IP student leader, personally experienced the value of DiCaf when she was a freshman.

“DiCaf helped me find a sweet community and have a fun time during stressful weeks.” Katya Kadian ‘26

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