SU kicks off AANHPI Heritage Month with cultural fair, performances
From a live guzheng piece to serving dishes like gulab jamun and Sichuan fried rice, students celebrated Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Kickoff on Wednesday. Though the celebration is nationally celebrated in May, Syracuse University celebrates the holiday in April. Avery Magee | Photo Editor
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In a booth of the Schine Student Center’s Atrium, Syracuse University graduate students Shraddha Aher, Soumya Mahalaxmikar and Shreya Kale sampled foods from across Asia. Gulab jamun, Sichuan fried rice, palak paneer and vegetable dumplings were among the foods in the friends’ spread. As they shared their meals, band Twona Jams filled the atmosphere with smooth jazz music.
The afternoon gave the trio, who are all from India, a chance to learn and explore other Asian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander cultures through speeches, performances and food.
“It’s very good to see everyone from other countries who’s also traveled for so long and to see how they’re representing us, and also the food,” Kale said.
SU’s Belonging and Student Success hosted the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Kickoff event at Schine Wednesday afternoon. Though the celebration is nationally celebrated in May, SU celebrates the holiday in April. The kickoff event marks the beginning of other events this month, like “What’s The Tea?” and “Flavors of the Philippines: AANHPI Celebration.”
The afternoon began with an informational fair from multicultural student organizations like the South Asian Students Association, alpha Kappa Delta Phi and Sigma Beta Rho. For Starlyn Terry, president of the Filipino Student Association, the AANHPI Heritage Month Kickoff event allows SU students to explore other communities — an experience Terry has taken advantage of.
When selecting a college, Terry’s utmost priority was to find a robust Filipino community. She came across SU’s FSA while touring SU and immediately felt at home. FSA is the main reason Terry applied early, she said.
Now, four years later, Terry is president of FSA, where she works to nourish that same community she fell in love with through events, like the AANHPI Heritage Month Kickoff.
Multicultural student organizations shared their cultures at a kickoff event for Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Participating clubs included South Asian Students Association, alpha Kappa Delta Phi and Sigma Beta Rho. Avery Magee | Photo Editor
“Syracuse is a predominantly white institution, and a lot of underclassmen feel like there’s not really a home for them or there’s not like a place where they can be themselves,” Terry said, “This is a good way to showcase what we actually have at Syracuse, the little small pockets of communities that we have.”
The latter half of the kickoff event transitioned to speeches from SU’s Belonging and Student Success. Speeches ranged from a detailed history of AANHPI to a rundown of upcoming AANHPI events.
Performances were sprinkled in between speeches. From a Desi performance to a jazz showcase from Twona Jams, the acts offered an extra sneak peek into other cultural practices.
One showing was from fourth-year architecture student Michelle Lei. Lei, who is from Shenzhen, China, performed a guzheng piece. Lei played a piece inspired by Chinese opera music, representing the changes from past to present as Lei shifted from one melody to the next.
When Lei performed for the Lunar New Year event for the School of Architecture in February, she met a member of Belonging and Student Success and was invited to perform at the AANHPI Heritage Month Kickoff event.
Lei started playing the guzheng in elementary school and continued for ten years before quitting. However, when Lei moved to SU four years ago, she returned to the instrument to reconnect with her roots and release stress, Lei said.
The AANHPI Heritage Month Kickoff event gives SASA a platform to showcase other events it has planned, sophomore Riya Gada said. On April 12, SASA will host “What’s The Tea?” in collaboration with Belonging and Student Success. The event will showcase teas from all over the world, from chai and jasmine to oolong. What’s The Tea? highlights commonalities between different cultures — in this case, tea.
“Despite having very different cultures to have something so similar and simple as tea, I think it’s cool that this month allows us to go deeper and delve into our similarities in different Asian cultures. It means a lot to me,” Gada said.
By bringing together student organizations and showcasing cultural performances, the AANHPI Heritage Month Kickoff event marks a time for students of all ethnicities to share traditions, making SU a smaller and more inclusive community to be part of, Gada said.
“Coming to a PWI, it’s always tough. You want to be surrounded by people who understand you in a way that a lot of people don’t,” Gada said. “I think that this month not only allows us to stand out and show our differences, but actually come together and realize how similar we actually are.”
