Saturday, April 21, students, faculty and visitors received a taste of international flavor through Culture Night 2001. The International Relations Club, with the assistance of many individuals and student organizations, presented an international buffet in the Casey Academic Center followed by both talent and fashion shows in the Norman James Theatre. The event was well-attended and brought cuisine, fashion, poetry, and dance from around the world to WC.
Gretchen Purcell, who performed a modern Pakistani dance and an Indian Candle Dance, said, "International Culture Night is a wonderful opportunity for students from other countries to share a piece of their culture with Washington College. It is also an opportunity for students and faculty to catch a glimpse of the outside world."
Culture Night is an annual event put on by the International Relations Club to showcase the food, fashion, and talent brought to WC by international students.
Sophomore Max Orsini, president of the IRC, said, "Culture Night is one of the biggest events on this campus. This is something we mentally begin preparing for in September and physically in January."
The work paid off as both the Casey Academic Center and the Norman James Theatre were packed. There were not even enough seats in the theatre for all who wanted to attend.
"Culture Night showed me the incredible potential for doing amazing things at Washington College, at a time when I think that many students have already given up," said sophomore Ian May, who coordinated the talent show along with Orsini. "I hope that Culture Night showed students the potential we have and showed the administration and faculty that we are dedicated to building a strong community at Washington College that integrates every part of our multicultural backgrounds."
Following the talent show was a fashion show. All costumes in the show were donated and modeled by WC students.
Kristen Louk, who organized the fashion show along with Pamela Vasquez and Jamie Lang, said, "The majority of the costumes are donated from people that are either International Students or those who are of a different ethnic background and have them to offer us. Also, some of the costumes were given to us to borrow from Anthropology and Spanish professors."
Bridget Purcell commented, "This year, the fashion show was very well-organized and professionally done."
Not everything ran as smoothly as might have been hoped for, however.
Gretchen Purcell noted, "I thought that the performance section was a little long, and that some of the acts could have been cut out. Also, even though we were in the Norman James Theatre, there were still not enough seats for everyone. It was very hot in the theater and the sound was not so good."Despite this, the reaction to Culture Night was largely positive. Orsini commented, "Culture night has taught me that 'culture' is the very essence of our existence. The second that we realize that there exists culture outside our own, our world gets bigger, and brighter and I would even venture to say 'smarter.' That is what Culture Night is all about; spreading culture."
Said Sunipa Saha concerning the dinner at Culture Night, "The spicy food made me homesick."
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