USG hosted the first Cultural Carnival in the NVC cafeteria on Feb. 13. The event brought together cultural clubs at Baruch to showcase their clubs and show off their talents.
The event had a turnout of over 180 students who were given a sticker to mark where their families originate from on a large map, showcasing the diversity within Baruch’s student base.
Clubs had the option to either showcase their club using a table with a trifold or a performance. From there, each club took full creative reins of how to draw people in. Of the nine participating clubs, seven were tabling while two performed.
“We just wanted to try to give the clubs at Baruch a place to kind of invite and showcase their culture,” Ann John-Rose, a junior and the Vice Chair of Campus Affairs, said.
Clubs were spread in a circle around the cafeteria, leaving open space in the center for performances.
Club leaders used the Cultural Carnival as a chance to promote their upcoming events and share their culture.
“The main purpose is to raise more awareness for clubs on campus and allowing students to learn about different cultures,” Sheila Bakthari, the co-president of the Afghan American Club, said.
The Afghan American Club displayed authentic jewelry and provided a trifold with details about their club including fun facts and upcoming events.
The president of the Indian Student Association, Annirudh Patel, shared the same sentiment.
“All the other amazing culture clubs here [were] given an opportunity from USG to be part of the culture club and have a display of their culture so that people know more about it to blend the cohesiveness with other cultures,” Patel said.
ISA gave out rasgulla, a sweet, syrupy dessert from India, to give Baruch students an idea of their cuisine and make international students feel at home.
Five members of Baruch’s SOON movement sang ‘The Blessing’ by Kari Jobe, each singer represented a different culture and sang in a different language.
The featured languages were English, Spanish, Korean, Tagalog, and Malayalam, an Indian dialect.
BSU’s Star Steppers performed one of their step-dance routines. Sophomore founder and team leader Saraya expressed, “I just wanted to bring step here because when I first came there was no step team, so I’m like, we need a step team.”
Many of the other members chimed in stating that for them, the discovery of BSU’s step team brought a “homey vibe” for them at Baruch as many of them have been doing step for years.
The club showcase was being held in the multipurpose room at the same time as the Cultural Carnival, causing a conflict for the amount of culture clubs available to participate in the carnival such as the Japan Club, Women in Islam, Mexiculture, and the Puerto Rican Student Society.
However, Patel expressed excitement that the events overlapped, finding that there were still many students attending the carnival with interest in their club.
“We still have such a great show of people here who are eager to learn about other cultures,” Patel said. “It’s just amazing because everyone’s just looking for an opportunity to be part of something, and they’re getting that opportunity.”
USG hopes to obtain a larger space for future Culture Carnivals so there is more room to include more clubs at tables as seven was their max within the NVC cafeteria.
The carnival and club showcase coincidentally overlapped according to John-Rose. Promotions for their events typically go out the same week the event is happening.
The official USG social media announcement for the Cultural Carnival was posted on Feb. 11, two days before the event. However, clubs were also given the opportunity to announce their participation on their own social media accounts.
Other clubs that participated in the Culture Carnival include the Vietnamese Student Association, ASEDOM, the Latin American Student Organization, the South Asian Student Association, and the Ukrainian Association.
“I think students feel like they’re a lot more estranged from student government than they actually are,” John-Rose said. “Our office is pretty much open all the time and stuff like that. So literally, anybody can walk in here and be like, hey, I want to see more of this.”
