The Asian Student Organization led a successful event on Jan. 29 with their annual Asian Night. Running for almost five years now, the 200 plus audience thoroughly enjoyed celebrating Asian culture, with different foods and multiple presentations describing Asian traditions.
Jiajun Wei, Asian Student Organization (ASO) president said the event went well, with good food and programming. Wei said a majority of the event was set up by Wei and Soe Manug ManugPhone Myint, with the help of her committee members.
Wei is a junior international student from China majoring in Economy and Business Finance. The ASO has been operating for about eight years since its start up in 2008.
“What we decided to do was give some presentations on how traditional Asian people celebrate their festivals because Asian Night is a theme,” said Wei. “Asian Night is based on the Spring Festival and the Lunar New Year, so this year we thought it should be more educational.”
Junior Brooks Fiedler said club members discussed different cultures, countries and food in Asia.
“I enjoyed it. I think it’s a nice change of pace. It’s different from the events that I attend,” said Fiedler.
Wei said Augustana has a majority of clubs designed for students of color, but the ASO doesn’t have a lot of Asian students. However, the club does have large percent of Asian international students who want to educate the student body on their cultural practices.
“So what we want to do is raise this kind of cultural awareness to the entire campus, to say ‘this is our culture’,” said Wei. “…We won’t be angry if you ask me some question that is strong, but if you just pretend that it is our culture and pretend that you know it, then we would probably be kind of be offended.”