The Office of Multicultural Affairs, along with the department of Global Studies, the School of Education, and the Institute of Asian Studies, held its third annual Multicultural Mixer last Friday at 4:00 p.m. on the Great Lawn.
More than 54 student organizations were present providing information about their charities/projects , their mission, what they stand for and even performing on stage to show off their culture. Students also had the opportunity to taste around 200 popular ethnic dishes and desserts.
The purpose of this multicultural mixer was to celebrate St. John’s University’s diversity through authentic cultural dishes, performances and activities.
“One of the things that make St. John’s, St. John’s is its diversity,” junior James Livia said. “I believe that having this event, where so many different orgs attended, was a very good way to show freshmen and transfer students what part of the St. John’s spirit consist of.”
“I’m having a good time,” Tyler Fogles, a student pursuing a masters in Spanish, said. “It is a great opportunity to meet people and other clubs.”
Ashley Rodriguez, a senior majoring in TV & Film, stated that she was enjoying the evening but she found it strange that there was a lack of Latino presence.
“It is very nice,” Rodriguez said. “But since it is the Latino Heritage Month, I thought the Latino Culture was going to have a bigger presence.”
Jose Galva, a sophomore and the Community Service Chair of the Latin American Student Organization, shared his experience of the event.
“I waited on line for like an hour and half for food and I was one of the earlier ones [there], but I feel last year was more of a turnt,” Galva said.“I don’t know something was missing.”
Even though many criticized the wait for the food, some agreed that it was a nice event to end the long week of school on that Friday evening.
“I didn’t get food. I didn’t even make the line,” Karina Cast said, “It was too long.”
“But I was able to enjoy the performances with my friends,” Cast added, “and it was not so hot, so it was a nice evening.”
