Booths displayed countries from several of the planet’s continents and regions. Photo by Alison Skowronek.
ELLA HALL | STAFF REPORTER | erhall@butler.edu
The Morton-Finney Scholars program and the University Program Council (UPC) hosted their second annual International Culture Night on March 3 in the Reilly Room and Efroymson Diversity Center.
The Morton-Finney Equity Leadership Team (MELT) originated the event in an effort to connect the Butler community through experiences that promote cross-cultural understanding.
Culture night featured over 20 tables displaying information about different countries and culturally specific foods. Through collaboration with the International Club, the Student Government Association (SGA), the Efroymson Diversity Center and the Diversity Program Council, attendees were also able to participate in a raffle and view performances from international students.
When entering the Reilly Room, attending students were given a passport that would receive a stamp from each country’s table after completing the activity provided. After completing the passport, students could turn it in for a chance to win a raffle prize.
Rachel Rodecap, a sophomore pharmacy major and MELT leader, explained why she thinks it is important to feature activities that shine a light on different cultures.
“You can’t help what you don’t know, but you also can’t change that unless you put yourself out there,” Rodecap said. “By providing opportunities like this that are accessible and fun and entertaining, it gets people out, and it gets them away, and then they’re able to not only grow in their own personal knowledge, but also find those connections between other people or just within themselves.”
Jessica Kaur, a sophomore English and peace and conflict studies major and Morton Finney scholar, expanded on this aspect of cross-cultural connection.
“I feel like we tend to live in this bubble [where] the United States is the be-all, end-all, but essentially, there’s more to it,” Kaur said. “[There are] so many more countries and rich cultures and languages that are so diverse that we need to learn about. I think that’s so important when it comes to having a perspective of open-mindedness as well.”
Morton-Finney Scholars and MELT leaders were organized in groups where they decided which country they wanted to present on, and design a table for it. Each table had an informational poster and corresponding activity that allowed attendees to learn more about the culture.
Myron Cornel Stokes Jr., a junior business technology and analytics and marketing major and Morton Finney scholar, had a booth displaying information about Italy, which he selected due to his interest in Italian culture and architecture. After his shift ended, he decided to spend time attending other booths to learn more about other cultures, emphasizing the importance of celebrating differences.
“I feel like diversity is one of the keys to really evolving in life,” Stokes said. “I feel like you can’t get other people’s perspectives. You can’t stay on the same path, but if you have multiple different perspectives or viewpoints on life, you can learn different things and become a better person.”
Along with the booths presenting different countries, Butler’s Center for Global Education (CGE) had a table promoting its study abroad programs.
Junior healthcare and business major Tiffany Hoang tabled for the CGE and shared why she wanted to promote these opportunities.
“I think because after you see a lot of the different countries and cultures exposed in this event, it kind of makes you feel inspired to actually want to go and see them,” Hoang said. “I feel like after you kind of explore a little bit, you can walk up to our study abroad table and just ask more about how to get involved.”
Hoang shared how her study abroad experiences and exploration of Korean culture have further developed her understanding of the world and life path.
The International Culture Night ended with two performances by international students, and the raffle prizes were distributed by UPC. The first performance was a guitar rendition of Holy Wars by Megadeth, and the other featured a tutorial of a traditional dance from the Dominican Republic.
