Baruch College’s Filipinos Uniting Students In Other Nations club hosted “Halo-Haloween” on Oct. 31 in the main building. 

“Halo-Haloween” was one part of a series of events for F.U.S.I.O.N.’s  “Bigs & Littles” program. 

The main goal of “Halo-Haloween” was to create a bonding experience for the attendees and the new members of the club. 

In addition to bonding and getting to know one another, F.U.S.I.O.N. had another goal in mind: spread love and knowledge about Filipino culture, particularly the culture’s cuisine. 

“I always see them on Instagram,” Maria Condemaita, an attendee of the event, said. “They’re always doing a lot of events off-campus and it sounded interesting.”

“Halo-Haloween” was not the first F.U.S.I.O.N. event that Condemaita attended.

“I have been to a few events already,” she said, when asked if she will attend more of the club’s events in the future. “So yeah, I am looking forward to more events they may hold.”

Condemaita went on to say that she also looked forward to the Halloween event because she had spent nearly the entire day studying.

“I needed to distract myself from my classes,” she said. Many other students also attended the event as a way to relax after midterms.

Another student, Lecho Cano, participated in the event for a different reason.

“I [am] part of F.U.S.I.O.N.,” Cano said. “I am not Filipino, I am actually Spanish. But they actually reach[ed] out to me to join F.U.S.I.O.N. I actually cook Filipino food. I am a chef. Cooking Filipino food is exciting to me.”

In addition to those who attended sharing their personal reason for getting involved, the F.U.S.I.O.N. president, Erika Dioquino, explained the reason behind “Halo-Haloween.”

“‘Kamayan Night,’ ‘Halo-Haloween’ and other [General Interest] meetings are part of the event that we are putting together for Filipino-American History Month,” Dioquino said. “‘Halo-Haloween’ serves as the closing event. A lot of people are not aware of what halo-halo is or what Filipino culture is.”

Dioquino continued: “Having events like this really ties people together and really makes them aware. I think the first step in educating people on what the culture is making sure that we exist. I am hoping to tie people to the Filipino culture.”

Dioquino also talked about having pride for the Filipino and other cultures.

“Perhaps it will spark their interest in thinking about their own culture even if they are not Filipino,” she said.

“F.U.S.I.O.N. is one of the unique clubs that ties in other people from different cultures and they really make people think, ‘Wow, I eat this in my culture,’ or ‘I wear this in my culture.’ So, I am looking to make people look back and appreciate their cultures as well as our own and also bond along the way.”