A Celebration of Cultures

UWG’s Center for Diversity and Inclusion (CDI) is hosting its 4^th annual Multicultural Festival on Thursday, March 14^th. CDI has presented this event every Spring for the past four years with its goal to encourage students to come together and experience something new and enjoyable.

The CDI has invited several Consulate General Officers from Atlanta to come and speak at the event. Each speaker is an official national representative of a specified foreign nation and altogether is presently based in Atlanta. Liberian and Latino dancers will instruct students in folk and spiritual dances of their homelands. The culture of India will be represented through demonstrations of henna tattooing and international foods and beverages will also be offered at the event.

“Each year we try to incorporate activities as such, to get students more involved and more interested in learning about other cultures,” said Deirdre Rouse, the Acting Director for the CDI. “We (CDI) have important missions and values to uphold and by putting on this festival, we can honor those values and foster appreciation of other cultures through this event.”

The CDI’s program coordinator, Doris Kieh is responsible for the organization of this event.  “The Multicultural Festival is designed to celebrate diversity on-campus, as well as various external multicultural communities.” With UWG being a mixed population of races with students ranging from Asian to African, events such as this one are a good way for students to interact with each other and learn things about one another’s culture. For some students, this festival could even mean learning things about their own ancestral heritages. Many of the on-campus organizations bring their members together to participate in this festival as well, “the West Georgian, BSA, ASA, Art Students, The Anthropology Society and its’ participants to name a few”.

Students are invited and encouraged to participate with other students in learning about each other’s lifestyle, family, backgrounds and traditions. This festival will serve as a liaison for students of various cultures and ethnicities and stresses the importance of learning and embracing diversity. All of the activities are designed to facilitate. “The CDI is aware that students do not take time to learn and embrace other cultures as much, so we are consciously sponsoring interesting programs that will attract students, faculty and our community partners,” said Doris Kieh.

The addresses of the Consulate General Officers are highly anticipated and are expected to have a big influence on students. Guest speakers will discuss their native culture and after each speech there will be a question and answer session.

Programs like this are designed to bring the students of UWG together. A lot of events that are held on campus usually cater to specific students but CDI has put this event together to reach out to each type of student that there is and to get them involved and educated on the many cultures of the world.

The Multicultural Festival has always been a popular event and a large crowd is expected for this year. The event will be held from noon to 4pm in UWG’s Campus Center ballroom.

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