The Chinese Students Association celebrated the Chinese New Year with China Night on Sat. Feb. 12. The night was the final celebration of week-long festivities.
Dinner, supplied by ARAMARK, began the night. The evening continued with a skit to celebrate the Year of the Rooster.
“In total, there were about 70 people who actually performed in the show by acting, dancing, singing and playing music,” CSA President and senior Katherine Dong said. “We usually incorporate a skit, cultural dances both old and new, cultural music, lion dancing and other cultural type things. This year we had Tai Chi.”
Lion dancing did not occur this year because the group that normally performs was unable to attend.
The number of people who did attend China Night, however, was large.
“Over the past four years that I have been here, the amount of people who participate and actually come to see the show has greatly increased,” Dong said.
China Night was a strong conclusion to a festive week. During Chinese Awareness Week, the members of CSA were kept very busy.
“The night before the show is always a nightmare because of last minute preparations and making sure that everything goes well,” Dong said.
The proceeds from China Night go back to the Students’ Association.
Black Student Union
celebrates Black History Month
Professor of literature Kenneth Harrow of Michigan State University presented a lecture entitled “Human Rights in Africa: The Great Lakes and Other Crises” in the Welles-Brown Room as part of Black History Month on Feb. 14.
“He was emotional while he spoke, which is nicer than when people just state the facts – it gives a human quality,” senior Alexandra Tsybeskov said.
Harrow lectured a group of about 15 people and spoke about human rights violations in the Congo region.
Harrow began by giving a brief history of the situation that has resulted from the Rwanda genocide, but avoided focusing on the historical causes of the situation.
Harrow commented on the current situation in Congo, as well as where violations of human rights are still occurring.
The Rwanda genocide occured in 13 weeks after April 6, 1994 where almost three quarters of the Tutsi population perished, as well as thousands of Hutu who opposed the genocide.
Harrow spoke of how both the Clinton and Bush administrations failed to intervene in the situation at the time.
Overall, Harrow’s lecture was more about educating people about the Rwanda situation than revealing a new way of dealing with the current situation.
Harrow admits that he does not have the solution to situations like the Rwanda conflict, but asked people in the audience to help if they could.
“Although I’m an English professor, I work with Amnesty International so I know about this, trust me,” said Harrow.
This lecture was part of the Frederick Douglass Institute Speakers Series and was sponsored by the Frederick Douglass Institute for African and African-American Studies, Department of Modern Languages and Cultures and the Susan B. Anthony Institute of Gender and Women’s Studies.
Reporting by Audrey Ricketts and Phil Reichenberger.
