UMC culture celebration draws dozens

Despite the dreary weather, many students came outside Saturday afternoon to enjoy the music and food at the fourth annual Celebration of Culture on College Green. The celebration, which was sponsored by the United Minorities Council, involved a number of campus minority groups including the South Asia Society, the Chinese Students Association, the Carribean Students Association, the Korean Students' Association and La Asociacion Cultural de Estudiantes Latinos Americanos. Throughout the afternoon, student groups sold food along Locust Walk and performed cultural dances and music on a stage on the green. College junior Jun Bang, vice chairperson of the UMC and one of the organizers of the celebration, said she was very pleased with the turnout. "We've had a constant number of about 50 to 100 people wandering through," she said. "We tend to catch people as they come down Locust Walk. We want to include the whole University and I think we're doing that." Bang added that she hopes the celebration will become a permanent part of the University. "I hope the event will be continued in years to come," she said. "Every year we always have financial problems because the University doesn't give a lot money to us because we're so new. We don't have the [traditional presence] like Spring Fling." She added that events like the Celebration of Culture provide an opportunity for several different minority groups on campus to work together. "Every group has come together to work," she said. "The Celebration of Culture accomplishes that [need for unity]." In addition to the many food booths and student performances, Smita Stanley came from Louisiana University to perform a traditional Indian folk dance and an outside band called the Steel Kings played steel drums in the afternoon. The Black Student League sold t-shirts on the Walk which read: "the battlefield is so large, stop looking and do something." Engineering freshman Diallo Crenshaw worked the BSL booth in the afternoon. "There is a problem to be solved," he said. "It's time to take action. We're starting by celebrating our culture and recognizing other cultures." Students at the celebration said they enjoyed the festivities. "I think [the celebration] is a great idea," College junior Kristin Greene said. "I'm out here supporting it instead of doing the 10-page research paper I'm supposed to be working on." Another student said he particularly enjoyed the pina coladas that members of the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan were selling at their food booth. "The pina coladas are excellent," he said. "And I've been up and down the Walk sampling [all kinds of] food."