On May 7, the Filipino American Association of Sonoma State University held their 11th Annual Pacific Cultural Night in ballroom B for Sonoma State students to enjoy. While this event has been going on for 11 years, this was the first virtual showcase they have done. 

Every year, FAASSU and other clubs host a slew of events throughout the month of May to promote and showcase Asian-American and Pacific-Islander culture during Asian-American and Pacific-Islander month. Vivian Stegura, a third-year Creative Writing major said “This is my first year in FAASSU and I love it so far; to me, the club is about learning and understanding my culture more, it makes me feel more connected to others and it makes me feel like I have a home here.” 

The Pacific Cultural Night (PCN), held in student center ballroom B, was a celebration of Filipino and Polynesian culture through dances and celebrations. Students were led into the ballroom to see rows of chairs and a giant screen with the PCN video showcase ready to run when all the students got seated. After everyone was settled into the ballroom, the president of FAASSU, Hannah Alferez, introduced everyone to the virtual PCN video showcase, featuring multiple cultural dances and choreography throughout the 26 minute video. 

Some of the dances shown were: The Hula, a dance to portray the words of the Oli or Mele; Tinkling, a dance to mimic the movements of birds over sticks; Haka, a cultural dance from New Zealand to represent the passion and pride of the Māori; Kapwa, which is a dance with modern hip hop elements; and Magalatik, which is supposed to mimic a fight between the dancers. Each dance from the video came with a small intro on screen explaining what the dance was and where it originated from, such as the Hula, a “Polynesian dance that can be done sitting or standing. The dance is usually accompanied by chanting or songs”. 

Each dance would show the previous years PCN performance starting from as early as 2016, and going to their last in-person showcase before the pandemic in 2020, and then transitioning to the current years’ dance filmed throughout campus in student ballroom A, Person Theater, and Parking Lot F near Tuscany village. 

Second-year communications and media study major, Sacha Wedner, who appeared in some of the dances throughout the showcase said, “Honestly, I’d say this event was pretty fun, coming from someone who was in a couple of the dances. In all seriousness, this means a lot to me, coming from a half Filipino background myself, and I found it as a new way to connect with my heritage. Plus, I thought having the opportunity to showcase it to other students was super cool.” 

Once the showcase video was over, FAASSU president Alferez once again took to the podium to do a small outro and introduce the new executive board, the Friendship Games Board who work on preparing for the annual friendship games held by different Filipino-American Associations, and the graduating seniors of the Filipino-American Association. Yellow roses were handed out to each new member of the executive board as a commemorative symbol. 

After the show, Anthony Tha May, a fourth-year Applied Mathematics major said, “The event helped promote different cultures and how they’ve all come together with dancing. It was cool seeing the different dances from each culture and I could definitely see it bringing people together, that’s the beauty of it all.” 

FAASSU and other clubs on campus will be hosting more events throughout the rest of the school year such as the Asian-American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Bystander Training on May 12 to show people different techniques to prevent verbal harassment from escalating to physical harassment in response to the surge in hate incidents targeting the Asian American community.