As the Saint Xavier Council’s (SXC) Diversity Week came to a close, an evening full of food, music, and culture filled the student lounge and the diner.
Complete with food from many cultures, music from a salsa band, and a henna artist, Multi-Cultural Night brought in students for an evening of enjoyment.
Before being able to host such an event, many factors had to be considered. Anna Goldman, the director of Multi-Cultural Events for the SXC, notes that it took a number of weeks for decisions to be made.
Goldman comments that both the Diversity Week Board and “The SXC Programming Board provided input into the food and entertainment selections and was supportive of the event.”
To be sure that people would attend and enjoy the evening, Goldman “surveyed a number of student groups regarding food and entertainment preferences and researched potential vendors” to make for a successful event.
After these decisions were made, it was time to choose the types of food and entertainment for the night. In this decision process, Goldman notes that the Diversity Week Board had to consider what cultures would be recognized, what foods would be brought in, and what entertainment should be selected.
She notes that “we discussed which nationalities should and could be included in the mix and the preferences for vendors expressed by students.
We discussed serving Chinese, Mexican, Italian, Greek, Caribbean, Middle Eastern and other types of food.” With over 150 students in attendance, the Multi-Cultural Night was held on November 14, 2014. Food was served in the Student Lounge for anyone who was interested.
Goldman comments that the food “was provided by Chi Tung for the Chinese, Big Poppas for the Greek, Papa Joe’s for the Italian and Las Fuentes for the Mexican.”
For enjoyment while eating dinner, there were a few forms of entertainment. Goldman informs that there “was a six piece, live music salsa band from Valdes Music Productions, with Jose Valdes as the director of the band.
A henna artist, Kendra Williams, also was present for the event and had a consistently long line of students interested in the henna.”
Everyone in attendance had a good time and it went well in the eyes of Goldman. She enjoyed watching everyone have a fun evening and felt that everything exceeded her expectations.
She comments that “I enjoyed having students ask what ingredients were in the different foods and eating things outside of their comfort zones.
I was surprised that so many students had never had a cannoli (an Italian pastry)! My favorite part was seeing how many people chipped in to make the event a success.”
If you are interested in attending events such as these, be sure to keep up with the SXC and always, continue reading the Xavierite.
Julie Gardner
News Contributor
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