As if enjoying one of the most beautiful days of the school year was not reason enough to be on College Green yesterday afternoon, hundreds enjoyed the United Minorities Council's smorgasbord of multicultural activities.
The 15th Annual Celebration of Cultures brought each of the UMC's constituent groups onto the Green in a show of unity.
"Everyone just seems really happy," said College junior Uyen Doan, one of the three program coordinators. "I'm amazed that all these groups came together. It's just beautiful to see everyone unite."
Participating groups ranged from Six Directions a Native-American student group to the Chinese Student Association to Check One an organization for multiracial and multiethnic students.
The event featured a number of performances throughout the day.
Destination Hip Hop, the Vietnamese Students Association and the Penn Philippine Association entertained passers-by, and The Inspiration a cappella group performed the celebration's final act.
Each of the groups set up a small booth on the Green, offering spectators traditional foods and cultural activities.
Members of the Bengali Students Association, for example, volunteered to write participants' names on paper in traditional Bengali calligraphy.
"We asked them [to say] any sentence, and we'd teach them that in Bengali," said Wharton and Engineering senior Aunim Mashrur Hossain, president of BSA. "It ranged from 'I'm a naughty girl' to 'It is a beautiful day.'"
"It was fun," he continued. "We just wanted to come together with groups in the UMC and have fun with our culture."
While other UMC events tend to focus more on political advocacy issues, this event, according to Doan, "brings ... groups together that would not normally interact with one another."
The activities attracted a diverse audience.
There were students, prospective student tour groups and members of the community simply passing through campus. Others even participated in the activities with their language classes.
Organizers thought the event was successful.
"Our food was just gone," said Wharton junior Preston Lewellen, treasurer of the Black Student League. "People have loved the food and loved the music."
"It's nice weather and everything," he added.
Onlookers seemed impressed as well.
"I think it's such a good idea," College senior Sarah Zilinski said. "Often on campus, different groups self-segregate, and this allows those barriers to come down and cultures to come together."
