Culture Fest was just one of the many Seawolf events during the “Seawolf Days” week. Culture Fest was held on Wednesday at 7 p.m. located in Evert B. Person Theatre. Paolo Ochoa, our Cultural and Current Events Director worked hard to make this event happen, along with Mo Phillips, Campus Life Recreational Center and The Hub. Paolo Ochoca explained to the crowd of 139 students that they are hoping to create a new tradition. This event was designed to give new or current students a chance to see all the different culture on our campus. 

The main entrance was filled with six main booths, lots of people, music and freebees. 

Visiting the ASP booth, Casey LaBarbera from ASP, the Associated Student Productions, made it clear that any student can help with the panning event process of campus events. If anyone wants help planning future student events, please contact ASP.

The IEEC club had a booth at Culture Fest. IEEC is The International Education Exchange Counsel. They were promoting studying abroad, informing of the campus events created with exchange students, supporting NSE, or students from other states, promoting volunteering, helping with internship programs for students graduating and informing students of their weekly coffee and culture events every Thursday from noon to 1 p.m. If interested in studying abroad, they often have informational meetings, with a signup sheet in International Hall. 

Another Booth at Culture Fest was the Sonoma Hillel, Sonoma County’s Jewish Student Connection. One do not need to be Jewish to join the club, or attend events, but does need to be open to new experiences. In the celebration of Sabbath, they do a big dinner every Friday night in the Newman Center. The dinner is free, anyone is welcome to come and the food is all home cooked. The dinner is to build community, make friends, eat lots of food and to feel at home. The Sonoma Hillel also plans other events such as beach bonfires, BBQ’s and even game nights. 

The FAASSU Club was also found at Culture Fest. FAASSU is the Filipino American Association at SSU. Anyone is welcome to join this club, and over a half of the members are not Filipino. This is the largest most diverse cultural club on campus. This Club puts on lots of mixers and activities such as game night, bowling night, open mic and talent night. This first semester of each year, this club travels to Los Angeles for the Friendship Games, which can also be described as Filipino Olympics to compete with other Filipino clubs on the west coast. They are one of the smallest clubs in the Friendship Games, but still place in the Top 5 out of 50 other schools. During April, which is Asian Pacific Island Heritage month, they put on PCN or Pacific Culture Night to showcase all different kinds of traditional dances. They have a Lumpia fundraiser twice a semester where they bond while preparing, cooking and selling Filipino egg rolls. 

BSU, Black Scholars United had a great energy at Culture Fest. Kamryn Rayson from BSU explained BSU provides support for all students, they support academics first and they support a welcoming and supportive environment. They also encourage student leadership, and student excellence, as well as, provide opportunities for positive change. BSU has family dinners, lectures, family time and dances. They also volunteer in the community, and are currently working on a blood drive this Thursday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Mount Mckinley Gym. They have meetings noon to 1 p.m. every Monday in the Hub Building. 

Last, but not least, the Hub also had a booth and was a big supporter of Culture Fest. The Hub is the Honor Uniting Building. It is a center for cultural exchange and connection. This building is a place where people can go hang out and get to know others, study, rest, reserve for club meetings and so much more. It is a community building where everyone is welcome and everyone can be themselves.

Culture Fest was not just a room with booths and clubs, it was also filled with amazing performances. FAASSU did some amazing Polynesian dancing, The Tribe Step Team performed stepping and stomping where Joe Hernandez-Kolski and DJ Jedi there with a few spectacular performances as well.

Joe Hernandez-Kolski preformed aspects of his life through hip hop, movement, spoken word, dancing and acting, all while DJ Jedi was there to set the tone with music and sound effects.

 There were times when this performance pulled at heart strings, made the crowd laugh, made the crowed sit at the edge of their seats and at times even want to dance along. The performance taught the audience about being proud of your culture and who you are, as well as, doing things for you and no one else. It was perfect for culture night.