“We asked them the ways they wanted to highlight Asian and Pacific Islander heritage and culture on campus,” said Eduardo Pazos, director of multicultural student life, identity and culture. “We came out with a whole suite of events.”
The groups included the Asian Student Association, South Asian Student Association, Japanese Student Association, Chinese Student Association, Philippine Society of Bowdoin, Korean Students Association, Vietnamese Students Association, Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Student Association, and Muslim Student Association.
Additionally, faculty involved with the yearlong Asian American Reckonings initiative and the Asian Studies program planned talks by writers Ocean Vuong, Alexander Chee, and Nghi Vo.
Each April, the College honors Asian cultures and history with a monthlong program of talks, festivities, meals, and other events. Though typically observed in May, Bowdoin shifts the celebration a month earlier to avoid conflicting with the end-of-year tumult of exams and academic events.
This year, Bowdoin's Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month included an Eid Al-Fitr dinner (which President Safa Zaki joined), a night of stand-up comedy with Sri Lankan-born comedian Sureni Weeraskekera, a Pan-Asian fashion show, and a Holi festival, to name just a few festivities.
The kickoff event in late March highlighted a food item that shows up in various forms around the world and is beloved by just about everybody—dumplings, or some kind of filling wrapped in dough that is usually fried or baked.
Students from different affinity groups volunteered to prepare their culture's version of the popular staple and got together on March 30 to share the results in a meal they informally referred to as “wrap night.” The final buffet offered shumai, crab Rangoon, samosas, gyoza, lumpia, and others. “That brought people of different cultures together,” Pazos commented.
Student planners also resurrected a tradition that was put on hiatus during the pandemic—the Pan-Asian Fashion Show. Student Activities set up a catwalk in Smith Union for the April 20 event.
Eid Al-Fitr, on April 12, was celebrated in Cram Alumni House to break the Ramadan fast. The timing was right this year to include the important holiday in the monthlong program.
The Muslim Student Association and South Asian Student Association teamed up for a Chaand Raat evening before Eid to mark the new moon, which brings Ramadan to an end. Organizers invited all students to get henna tattoos, eat gelato, drink chai, and receive gifts of South Asian bangles.
The South Asian Student Association also organized a party April 5 called Utsav Mela to highlight new year celebrations across South Asian cultures. "A lot of Asian/South Asian new years fall in April because of the harvest season," organizers wrote in their promotional post, and they celebrated the night with food, music, and games.
Two other food-related events included the Japanese Student Association's Takoyaki Party on April 6, and Mochi-Tsuki on April 13, where students made and enjoyed these traditional treats.
The series of observances and festivities will close out in grand style outside with the colorful, exuberant celebration of Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, love, and spring that also commemorates the triumph of good over evil. The event is schedule for May 5.
