Free food and college kids go hand in hand, according to the members of the Carpe Mundum club, a student group that promotes acceptance of different nationalities and cultures. The Share Your Culture Dinner on Oct. 28 organized by the Carpe Mundum club proved this to be true.
This was the second annual Share Your Culture Dinner held here at RMU. The main reason for this event was to educate students on different cultures and collect books for the Books for Africa Service Project.
“Our thing is we like to teach people about our background and we like to learn about other people’s too,” says Sarah Lechner, a junior and member of the Asian Student Association, “That’s why events like these are perfect for us, it’s about sharing culture.”
Almost 100 people showed up to the event and were seated at 10 tables. Little tables were set up on the side of the room where different cultural clubs had set up snacks and information about the clubs and cultures. The clubs in attendance included the Asian Student Association, the Saudi Student Club, the Voci Italiane Club, and the Carpe Mundum club.
“Each of the organizations had to coordinate,” says senior Carpe Mundum member, Lindsay Schirra, “…we are going to hear people presenting tonight and do a lot of cultural activities.”
A long table of food was set up on the other side of the Yorktown Ferris Ballroom. Some of the foods included Filipino Pancit, Filipino fruit salad, Guinness Beef Stew, Saudi Arabian meat and rice, Mexican cornbread, and much more. The line was long with students trying to get a taste of all of the foods, and everyone seemed pleased with their choices.
“You learn a lot definitely, but people come for the food. That definitely brings them in,” says Lechner, “All the facts and all the little things from the tables definitely keep people around.”
After the audience was seated, guest speakers from the club spoke about each of the clubs and their upcoming events. The first speaker was Jim Vincent, coordinator of the Rooney International Visiting Scholar Program, who talked about Irish culture. Then each president of the different cultural clubs gave speeches.
Before the president of the Asian Student Association spoke, a musical performance was given by Ruthie Santiago, vice president of the Asian Student Association, who sang and played the guitar.
“This is the event that we regularly go to,” says Kyle Rasco, Asian Student Association president.
“(B)ut the thing about our club (Asian Student Association) is that you don’t have to be Asian to be in it. It was originally a cultural club, but the name got changed, but we still focus on culture,” Lechner said.
The Carpe Mundum club held a successful event and had many donations for the Books for Africa Service Project. They planned on counting the books after the event and then sending them on their way. The club did not have a set goal in mind, but they were very appreciative of all the support and donations.
