Throughout the week of Oct. 24 to Oct. 28, Fairfield University Student Association will be hosting the first annual Multicultural Week. Each day, except Wednesday, there will be different events all leading to the Multicultural Ball on Friday.

Director of  Fairfield University Student Association Diversity and Inclusion Board Eden Marchese ‘23, explains that “each of the days will offer something different for students to be involved in or to experience with friends. Make sure to check the FUSA Instagram [@fusa47] each day next week for what events are being held!”

With regards to planning the event Marchese says  “a large chunk of the planning has been done by D&I’s Diversity Programmer, Donna Ismail [‘24], who has really made this event from the ground up.”

They also mention that additional club leaders from South Asian Student Association, Black Student Union, Asian Student Association “and the other amazing FairfieldUnited clubs who met with us relentlessly to make sure everything was in a really good place.”

Further, Marchese mentions Graduate student Tobenna Ugwu, a project manager for graduate and international student life in the office of student engagement “because he was another powerhouse who helped us with a lot of the planning/logistics of the week.”

FUSA sent an email to students on Oct. 18 relaying information on the happenings of each day.

On Monday Oct. 24, there will be a Multicultural Bake Sale from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the Lower Level Barone Campus Center. The email states, “while getting food, you’ll be able to connect with people from all around campus and learn more about the foods they made as well as the cultural significance of the food.” This event is an FYE Connect Credit.

 On Tuesday Oct. 25, there will be the Diwali Celebration at 6:30 p.m. where students can “come join in the celebration of the Festival of Lights in the Kelley Center and come together with other members of the campus community in a celebration filled with music, dance, food and drink!” This event is an FYE Thrive Credit. 

Marchese states that Wednesday there will be a break of events “to sell tickets for the Multicultural Ball on Friday.” 

Events will resume on Thursday, Oct. 27 where there will be a Multicultural PotLuck from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in 42 Langguth Road “to bring students together to celebrate their cultures and experience foods from other cultures!”

The email further explains that to help raise money for “a diversity initiative, students will be able to purchase a ‘food ticket’ ($7) to be able to try any food that they’d like.”

However,  students do not need to purchase a food ticket to participate in the event through interacting with friends, meeting new people, and learning about other cultures! This event is an FYE Inspire Credit. 

Finally, on Friday, Oct. 28 there will be a Multicultural Ball from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. where students can enjoy “food and entertainment …. as we come together to raise money for a diversity initiative on campus and to meet new people in our campus community.”

FUSA’s email also states that a formal dress code is encouraged.

Tickets for the event are $10 for students in advance, $12 for alumni/guests and $15 at the door. This event is also an FYE DEI Credit.

Marchese explains that this event’s main goal for this week is “all about unity on campus.”

“We want this week to bring students together to learn about the cultures of their fellow Stags and raise awareness around the various places on campus [where] one can find a community,” Marchese continues.

Marchese mentions that all the money raised will be going towards supporting “an incredible diversity fund on campus to support more students.”

Donna Ismail also comments similar sentiment to the goal of the event to “spread awareness about the extensive amount of culture we have on campus and to make Fairfield a more comfortable place, as well as creating an inclusive environment for students to express their cultures.”

Ismail continues to mention that “this event was created to not only help a numerous number of students but to also help Fairfield expand its horizons to all the diversity here on campus and we are hoping to showcase that throughout this multicultural week!”

For students interested in getting involved who want to participate in the events such as the bake sale or Potluck, they should email Marchese @eden.marchese@student.fairfield.edu.

More so, if people want to donate to the diversity fund they can donate the money to @Diversity-Board via Venmo. 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.