Most Quinnipiac University students spend their Friday nights unwinding from the academic week and gearing up for the weekend. However, on Friday, Oct. 15, the Quad was filled with students learning about cultural organizations, eating food and enjoying the community.
The Culture Fair is an event held by the Multicultural Student Leadership Council (MSLC) to encourage involvement in clubs centering around identity, culture and community. The Culture Fair was initially scheduled for Sept. 24, but was rescheduled.
Dimytra Kowaleski-Pham, co-president of the Asian Student Alliance (ASA), wants to spread further recognition of the club across campus and attract new members.
“We know that (the ASA) is already a pretty well-known organization, but we’d love to get more people, especially first-years, involved,” Kowaleski-Pham said. “We hope that people can see us and see that we’re a fun club and we do a lot of cultural events and that they’ll want to get involved with us.”
Kowaleski-Pham stressed that being involved in the ASA is not a strict commitment.
“We do a lot of fun things,” Kowaleski-Pham said. “We have a lot of great events, a lot of great prizes and we don’t require attendance for g-board meetings. We’re not a stickler for that kind of stuff. It’s really just more of a fun, cultural thing to be involved in.”
The event was a moment that also allowed for organizations that generally go under-recognized to spread the word about who they are and what they do.
“We’ve been educating people on who we are and our events, but also just having a fun time and hanging out with all these multicultural orgs,” said Kripa Patel, president of the South Asian Society (SAS). “Anyone can join and learn about South Asian culture.”
The SAS holds the annual Eid Dinner with the Muslim Student Associate and also holds events like Garba Night, an event dedicated to learning about Navatri, a Hindu festival, and learning how to do the folk dance, Garba.
Other clubs saw the event as a way to spread positivity on campus. The Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA) brought color to the Quad with their table decked out in rainbow pins, stickers and flags. Satine Bernsten, event coordinator for the GSA, said the club is making a continuous effort to be a light for other students on campus.
“We want to share happiness with every single booth that we do and every tabling event that we do,” Bernsten said. “People may not see other queer people on campus so just seeing the flags themselves can bring on that happiness of ‘oh, there are other people out there’ … Not only are we giving [others] positivity, we’re trying to cultivate positivity in [others] as well.”
The community event was not just about getting students to get involved in new organizations, it was about community as well. Games, including giant Jenga and Connect Four brought a competitive atmosphere. Students playing with a bucket of bubbles filled the Quad with smiles and laughter.
The MSLC also gave out 300 tickets for free food from Los Mariachis on Wheels, Mamoun’s Falafel Cart and Jim’s Ice Cream Truck.
The food, fun and education of the Culture Fair in combination with a DJ playing new and old favorites created a community atmosphere for the multicultural organizations at Quinnipiac.