Friday night, International Students Association (ISA) brought many students at Eastern Michigan University together to celebrate the multitude of unique cultures on our campus. The organization created an experience for students to meet new friends from a range of different backgrounds and watch performances from a range of different cultures. 

Culture Night on campus was an engaging learning experience for many participants. “I didn’t know about many cultures before tonight, so I wound up learning a lot,” sophomore Osama Saleem, an engineering major at EMU, said. “There were people from Russia and Palestine. I learned some dances as well. It was very nice.”  

The event had a large turn-out as students from a range of different cultures and majors were present. EMU senior Anastasia Asberry came to the event in hopes of connecting with more students. “I’m an international affairs major, so I like to learn about other cultures, and I’m the social media coordinator for the International Business Club, so I am hoping to learn more about South Asian and East Asian cultures,” Asberry said.

Saleem also pointed out a significant activity that peaked many students’ interests at the event. “The highlight of the night for me was the Russian dancing, which was pretty cool,” Saleem said. “Also, they got everyone involved in Russian traditional activities, which I had never done before.” 

Students found themselves dancing and educating themselves on various cultures from activities they were able to get involved in throughout the night. Junior Meghan Talbot found a couple of the dancing portions to be particularly exciting. 

Talbot said: “I really enjoyed the dance we did with people from Palestine. I thought it was really engaging. I never knew much about Palestinian culture before tonight.”

Students in attendance of ISA’s Culture Night took away many new experiences from partaking in the event. “I definitely learned more about Japanese culture because of the representatives that played music tonight, and I learned about Russian culture as well,” Saleem said. 

“Culture night is really engaging, and it is interesting to learn about other cultures,” Talbot said about why she thinks EMU students should attend Culture Night. “I think that we really need to get involved with the International Student Association more. They always put on very wonderful events, and I really encourage students to come out to them and get to know the organization.”

ISA is an organization on campus that proudly assists the university in bringing inclusivity to campus. By successfully organizing and executing an event that encouraged and promoted inclusivity amongst students on our campus, ISA helped bring our campus together in a positive and simply fun manner. Being aware of others’ differences and respecting not just their culture but them as a person is important in today’s society. It is also important to explore other cultures and expand our perspective of the world.

Students who are interested in learning more about ISA or joining the organization should keep up with the student organization on Facebook at International Student Association (ISA), or visit EMU’s Office of International Students for more information.

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