Asian, Pacific Islander, and Desi American (APIDA) Heritage Month honors and embraces Asian, Pacific Islander, and Desi American “cultures, contributions, and traditions.” Normally, APIDA is held in May; however, many universities and colleges observe it in April. According to Liliana Delman, Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, “The month of May was chosen due to the beginning of Japanese immigration to the US in May 1843 and the completion of the transcontinental railroad (built primarily by Chinese workers) in May 1869.” There are a total of 6 events scheduled from April 6 to April 30.
On April 6, SASE (Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers) Science Day took place, and it was held by SASE. “SASE Nationals has a Science Week where every chapter has a science-themed event,” Serena Lee, President of SASE, wrote in an email interview with The Stute. “We went with a water tasting event where we have people taste different brands of water and determine the brand based on taste alone, and a small activity on the side, making slime.” According to Lee, the event grew out of an inside joke about her liking a certain brand of water. “We threw in some slime making because we thought some people might not enjoy just water tasting,” she continued.
In preparation for the event, SASE experienced a significant shift in the planning process. Since the pandemic, the organization had to find new approaches to preparing food that was not prepackaged. The e-board members, however, decided to plan on finding an area where the events would be held “because [they] need designated eating areas and just make sure that [they] are following all the safety measures.” Despite this, they only had one event that included food, which was Asian Cultural Night. SASE, like many other organizations, saw Zoom as a significant challenge. “We made the best of the situation by using Zoom as most other clubs did, but the way we interacted with general body members was definitely different,” Lee stated.
Along with Science Day, SASE also hosted the event Earth Day with SASE on April 14. “We wanted to have a fun and chill event and Earth Day was coming, so we thought ‘what better way to celebrate than to have a planting event?’ Lee said. “We’re going to have attendees decorate a pot and plant a seed to take with them.” Because Earth Day is easily associated with planting events, SASE’s e-board members decided to have a twist on their planning process. “Instead of doing succulents, we went with seeds instead for people to see their plants grow,” Lee continued. Because the e-board members wanted everyone to have fun and de-stress from the end-of-semester cram, painting the pots became a component of the celebration. The goal of SASE’s two events was for everyone to have a wonderful time and “be creative with their pots.” “Another thing is turnout; as a club, we do hope to have a good turnout from our general board, and we’re hoping these two events get a pretty good turnout,” Lee added.
On April 13, the Filipino Association of Stevens Tech (FAST) presented Panagbenga, an event where people could “enjoy Filipino food and performances.” In an email interview with The Stute, Peter Om, President of FAST, said, “For our upcoming event, Panagbenga, we are bringing back a lot of what we did pre-pandemic. We are inviting other [organizations] to participate with performances and food as well.” According to Om, Edmund Yuen, Social Chair of FAST, “is [their] main event planner who outlines all the logistics involved.” He collaborates with their cultural chairs and performance directors to bring Filipino culture into meals, presentations, dances, and other activities. In addition to Filipino culture, other organizations that co-hosted the event with FAST had the opportunity to showcase their cultures. “I have high hopes for the success of the event and am really excited to see its return after 2 years!” Om said.
On April 19, APIDA Dance Workshop will take place at 9:15 p.m. at Babbio Center (BC) 104. The workshop is planned by Sigma Psi Zeta Sorority, Inc. (ΣΨΖ), and they will co-host it with the Chinese Student Association (CSA), Filipino Association of Stevens Tech (FAST), and Nu Alpha Phi Fraternity, Inc. (NAΦ). This event will have dance instructors from these organizations to teach students different genres of dance. Sabrina Vuong, Recruitment Chair for Sigma Psi Zeta, wrote in an email interview with The Stute, “We want to show people that culture isn’t scary or weird and that it transcends language barriers, just like music does.” This workshop, according to Vuong, was never held prior to the pandemic, but a similar one was held during the pandemic. However, due to technical difficulties when done via Zoom (lagging music and videos, as well as insufficient connections), the event was not as exciting and enjoyable as it would have been if it had been held in person.
Sigma Psi Zeta has also contacted various organizations to co-host the workshop, and the ones with which they are co-hosting were the ones to reply, and they will be in charge of the respective dances. The Recruitment Committee of Sigma Psi Zeta had planned for this workshop to be taught in multiple rooms, but due to a lack of co-hosts, they thought that it would be preferable if the dances were taught one after the other so that everyone could learn everything. “I’m excited! We haven’t done anything like this in-person yet and I already had a pretty good time when I had done it online,” Vuong stated. “I think the cool thing about dance is how many different styles and interpretations there are, even if you aren’t a dancer (because I wasn’t either) you just need to have fun with it and you’re already halfway there.”
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