By Kayli Miller
In Motion Staff Writer
At Daytona State College’s 20th annual cultural festival in early November, a large crowd of students and faculty gathered together to celebrate diversity.
“The event reminds students that there are other places and other cultures around the world,”said Alejandro Acevedo-Nunez, a Daytona State College student from Venezuela and outgoing President of the Global Friends Club.
Each of the 13 countries featured in the festival had a booth in the student landing that included their representative flags, an educational display and complimentary ethnic cuisine. The members of the 16 student clubs that participated in the event assisted in creating the exhibits, as well as serving the food.
In between the live musical performances by local bands My Uncle’s Friends, Alberto Bravo and Elika Kawaii, the Improv club provided additional entertainment.
The Co-Curricular Activities Committee, tasked with coordinating the event, began planning at the beginning of the fall semester. The committee chose which countries would be represented, provided the booths and flags, planned the menu and arranged for catering.
“We try to use local restaurants that utilize that country or region, that way we are making sure it is authentic food. Sodexo, our caterers, do fill in for us if we’re having trouble finding a country and they did a great job. We appreciate Sodexos help!.” said Lori Lemoine of Co-Curricular Activities.
Tia Cori’s Tacos catered for Mexico and Guatemala, Pantheons for Greece, Pasha Cafe for India and Le Gourmandise for France. Over 20 dishes were offered including tamales, chicken curry and shepherd’s pie. The attendees were encouraged to experience culture by trying foreign fare.
“I hadn’t tried shepherd’s pie before. It was in the PTK booth and it was quite good. It reminds me of a stew we have in Peru called estofada de carne,” said Danjha Leon, DSC student from Peru and new president of Global Friends.
A limited number of countries were available to choose from, so some clubs decided to pair up. The Improv Club coordinated with the Paralegal Association to represent Italy, the Student Government Association worked with Studio Rats on Germany and the Student Respiratory Association and Democratic Club took on India.
“It’s nice to see clubs interacting that maybe wouldn’t otherwise,” Lemoine said.
The three-hour-long festival was quite the social event and it gave students looking to get involved with the clubs on campus an opportunity mingle and learn more about them.
For more information on student clubs go to http://daytonastate.edu/student_Act/Clubsandorganizations.html
For information about upcoming events, club meeting times and location visit http://daytonastate.edu/student_act/index.html