It’s all about sharing the love. The love of diversity, that is.
Each year ONU’s World Student Organization hosts the Multicultural Fair to provide students and Ada-ites with a fun and engaging environment in which they can have a first-hand experience of different cultures.
This year, the event was held on April 10. For three hours the McIntosh Activities room held 16 different booths, each engaging attendees with music, food, trinkets and/or activities. Countries represented include: Spain, Brazil, Panama, China, South Korea, Mongolia, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, and India. These are just some of the many cultures that are represented on campus by the students and faculty/staff at ONU.
Aaron Salwan, a WSO exec member, thought the event was a success. With great food, music, and people, the fair was able to increase awareness and expose attendees to cultures and peoples they had never experienced before.
“The Multicultural Fair this year was awesome; it always is. We’re representing the campus, and the diversity that is Ohio Northern. You can learn so many great things by just walking up and down these aisles. It’s fantastic,” he said.
Attendees were able to walk around to the different booths and participate in a range of activities, as well as talk to native students from those countries. Mongolia, China, and Saudi Arabia all had options for having one’s name written in the native script. These countries also had trivia and game options, where participants could even win prizes.
Senior Victoria Suarez said that she and her friend had been coming to the fair each year, and that they felt that there was no better way for them to finish off the semester than with attending for the last time.
“I actually liked a lot of the tables. I liked to see different groups just coming together, putting out their culture, heritage, and just learning more about it. So, that’s really the fun part. And also, definitely the food. The food is always the best!”
Suarez said that it’s really great to have events like the Fair because they get more people involved and more knowledgeable.
“You can never learn too much, so it’s definitely a plus,” she said.
After the booths, attendees were able to head to the Ballroom for the performances. The performances themselves displayed a wide variety of cultures, from a Danish version of “Head, shoulders, knees and toes,” to a Chinese song, to a Brazilian dance medley, to a glimpse at what a Saudi Arabian wedding is like, to a Mexican Jarabe Tapatio.
With lots of clapping and many smiles, the event turned out to be a success.
Omega Hollies, International Services coordinator and co-planner of the event, said that the initial planning for the event was a little rough because they were unsure of how many people would actually be participating; almost half of the booths and performers signed up within the two days before the fair. However, Hollies said all of the hard work paid off in the end.
“It was a lot of planning, a lot of coordinating, a lot of work. So, to see it all come together, it sort of warms my heart. As a benefit for students on campus, this is a really great way to get visibility about who we have on campus and what they’re proud of from their countries, what they want to represent.”