Hawaiian dancing, Asian cuisine and karaoke singing are just a few parts of what is coming.
Dixie State University’s annual Diversity Week is coming up Feb. 25 through March 1. This week includes different cultural dances, food and music to gather together students of different ethnicities. All but one event is free.
“We would like to see more diversity integrated between the departments and students,” said Adam Ross, co-coordinator of activities and student involvement. “Our main goal [of Diversity Week] is to provide more diversity on campus.”
The Multicultural and Diversity Center staff will kick off the week with a barbecue at the Pavilion from noon to 2 p.m. on Monday.
Tuesday’s event is a film showing of “The Hammer”, which is a comedy about a 40-year-old man returning to his old career of boxing. It will be held at 2 p.m. in the Browning Dunford Auditorium.
A showcase of dances at the Dance Extravaganza will be held Wednesday in the Eccles Concert Hall at 7:30 p.m. Kristine Whittaker, MDC co-coordinator of activities and student involvement, said this will be the highlight of the week with many dances from the different cultures.
Ross said the Black Student Association will perform step; the Polynesian Club will present Hawaiian dances; the Ballroom Dance Club will execute the cha cha and rumba, and a few other groups will perform.
“We have two princesses coming to perform a cultural dance,” Whittaker said. “They are from the Piute tribe and will be performing a fancy shaw dance and a jingle dance.”
Whittaker said they are going to give a brief history of each dance to spread awareness of what the dance means and where it comes from.
The Gay-Straight Alliance club will have a karaoke night in the Red Rock Café Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
The Taste Around the World event will be held Friday at noon on the grass area.
“It is like a huge pot luck,” Ross said. “We will portion it out really small so everyone will get some.”
The Polynesian Club is also sponsoring a luau in the Gardner Center Ballroom Friday. The event is $10 if you pre-order and $15 at the door. Ross said the luau is a fundraiser for clubs.
Ross and Whittaker said they hope more students will get involved with the MDC.
“The Multicultural and Diversity Center is not just for people of color,” Ross said.
Whittaker said, “Diversity is for all of us.”
