On Sunday, April 14, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., the Asian American Student Association hosted its second annual Lotus Gala with a culturally rich evening of food, dancing and community as different Asian cultures were showcased and celebrated. The event was sponsored by the Multicultural Center and the Office of Equity and Inclusion at ETSU, with the help of AASA members and volunteers. It was a night of fashion, grand decorations and friends.

Emily Baker is the vice president of the AASA and was the co-founder of the team in 2023. The Lotus Gala event was former AASA President Tracy Ye’s idea who wanted to exhibit differing Asian cultures on campus such as India, Thailand, Philippines, China and Japan. Now, Baker leads her legacy with a bigger and better celebration in 2024.

Exhibitions throughout the night consisted of a variety of cultural attire and artifacts, some of which were brought by the Multicultural Center and participants from the International Buccaneer Buddies. They also worked with communities outside of ETSU such as the Japanese Outreach Initiative which provided Japanese cultural dresses.

“There’s not a lot of events that we can do that [dress up] on campus,” Baker said, “Everybody wants to just get dressed up for one night, dress up and have fun with your friends, take tons of pictures.”

A photo service was provided by local Kingsport Picture Perfect Photography which captured the evenings’ luxury, and a photo booth was also available for participants to use. Catering was done by Rainbow Asian Cuisine with menu items consisting of Thai Drunken Noodles, curry, spring rolls and much more. Last year, a challenge that AASA faced was running out of food for attendees, Baker mentioned, but with local catering and help from team members, they had an abundance this time around.

(Abby Trembeczki/East Tennessean)

The evening ended with performances from volunteers and a cultural dress competition of which winners will be announced the following week of the event. Performances consisted of ETSU K-pop dance group Zero Harmony who covered Twice’s “What is Love,” Nielsen Castillo with “Can You Feel The Love Tonight,” Jomarie Duties with “You Are The Reason,” Damien the Four Eye Dog with “Wild Side,” and Aarna Patel, Aashi Vora, Armita Kordamiri, Raina Desai and Sneh Patel of South Asian Student Association with a Bollywood mashup.

“For our club, at the end of the year, we love putting on something that everybody can enjoy,” Baker said.

Looking forward, the AASA hopes to continue to celebrate Asian cultures with more collaborations and exciting events for students and community members to enjoy. Giving performers platforms to share their talents, cultures and hobbies, the AASA continues to celebrate Asian cultures and educate all while keeping it fun. For more information on the AASA and how to get involved, visit, etsu.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/aasa.

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