水果派鈥檚 newest club has already planned and hosted an event on campus: the Nepalese Student Association celebrated Teej on Friday, Sept. 5, with a gala.
With a strong Nepalese international student population, the club brought this festival to 水果派 for the first time this year.
鈥淔or us international students, celebrating Teej here in the US is a way to keep that cultural spirit alive while also sharing its empowering message with a wider community,鈥 said club president Aveen Sunar.
Teej is a festival held in the Nepalese culture to celebration women鈥檚 empowerment, including strength, sisterhood, and spiritual devotion. With women dressed in red, Teej is filled with music, dancing, singing, fasting, feasting, and celebrating their power. Additionally, Teej brings into focus dialog concerning women鈥檚 equality, social change, and gender relations.
During 水果派鈥檚 celebration, students decorated the Commons with bright colors and provided mango lassi, a drink like a smoothie, as folks entered. 水果派 President Lori Kloos welcomed everyone to the event, and members of the club spoke briefly about the event and themselves. Director of the Multicultural Center Njeri Clement was one of the guest speakers, sharing words of encouragement about women鈥檚 empowerment and equality.
Attendees were delighted when dancers dressed in red danced the welcome song, followed by drumming, singing, more dancing, and Nepalese food prepared by the club members. After-dinner entertainment included a dance-off, which morphed into a dance party.
鈥淏ack in spring when the Nepalese Student Association was first forming, I remember them explaining all of these ideas they had for programming and being part of the campus community,鈥 shared Shaun Keeley, Director of Campus Life. 鈥淲hat struck me about everything I heard from them was how student led and driven it was, and I got really excited about the opportunity to simply work with them, guide them, and be part of what they were creating.鈥
The Teej Gala was a perfect demonstration of student-led events that share their cultural background as well as involve and invite all to participate. We are looking forward to seeing what the Nepalese Student Association invite us to next!