On March 22, the International Student Association with the Student Governlment Association hosted the Festival of Colors on the Pride Walk and Quad to inform and enrich students with knowledge of Indian culture.
“The goal of organizing this event is to expose students to a culture that they might not have a lot of experience with,” said Christopher Askew, the leader of ISA. “ISA is a multicultural organization with the goal of making all international students feel at home here was well as help to break down cultural stereotypes and encourage unity.”
The event began at 5 p.m. and lasted until 7 p.m. The festivities included a variety of small booth activities like getting henna tattoos, painting shirts and more.
Students also had the opportunity to try on traditional Indian clothing. If they liked how they looked, they were able to take photos with the photo booth that was available onsite.
Various games were available for another source of entertainment, while music filled the air. There was an informational booth where students could watch and learn about India and it’s culture before finishing off the Festival of Colors with the Holi paint celebration. Holi is a traditional festival commonly held by Hindu people to celebrate the beginning of spring and is known for the powder paint used during the festival.
“It was difficult to organize this event because there were a lot of moving parts behind the scenes,” said Askew. “When organizing something like this, it’s putting a lot of faith in the right people, as well as a lot of hard work due to needing a very motivated team to be able pull something like this off.”
The International Student Association has more future events planned like a picnic and hike later this semester, and they will have another cultural experience sometime next year.
For more information for those interested in joining or volunteering, email Christopher Askew at askewc@etsu.edu or find ISA on BucHub. ISA can also be found on Facebook and Instagram @isa_etsu.
