By Abigail Vannatta, Staff Writer
Newman’s Asian Student Association will host a Lunar New Year Festival as a part of its revival after being dormant for two years.
The event will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. Tuesday in the Dugan Library between the Student Success Center and the Center for Teaching and Learning. It will feature traditional Asian food for free and custom Lunar New Year dances like colorful fan dancing and a lion dance.
“It’s a great opportunity to learn more about Asian culture,” said Kristine Pham, vice president of ASA. “There will be a lot of delicious foods and fun activities.”
The Lunar New Year is most prominently celebrated throughout East and Southeast Asia and marks the start of the new year and the arrival of spring using the Lunar calendar instead of the Gregorian calendar.
ASA president Ba Minh Nhat Nguyen, who’s Vietnamese, said the difference between the calendars has to do with agriculture.
“As an agricultural civilization, we depend heavily on farming and cultivating,” he said. “When spring comes, the apricot and the cherry blossom are the first plants to bloom, so we often associate those trees with spring in the hope of a good year of harvest.”
Nguyen, only a first-year student at Newman, said he revived ASA in the fall semester because he saw the need for community among Asian students.
“Most of the time, we Asian students tend to focus too much on academics and end up failing to make any real connections or networking,” he said. “It was a problem that my parents and generations before me had.”
Despite ASA being early in its resurgence, the club already has 26 members.
“I hope by reviving this club, we can create a community where both Asian and other cultures can come together to celebrate our traditions and create opportunities for everyone to connect,” Nguyen said.
It's not just club members who ASA wants to connect, but all of Newman.
“Our goals are not to bring people to our culture but to bring our culture to everyone,” he said. “We don't want to have the impression that you have to be in our club to experience our culture and create a sense of exclusivity.”
PHOTO: Courtesy, Unsplash
