The 2022 Multicultural Fair: Here’s What You Missed
The St. Thomas University International Student’ Association (STUISA) brought on March 26 the 2022 Multicultural Fair to celebrate diversity on campus and fundraise for bursaries. Faculty, staff and students from both Canada and the world came to enjoy traditional music, dances and more.
To enter, people were required to show an entrance ticket, which was sold at $12 for students and $14 for the general public. Then, at the reception table, STUISA volunteers would give attendees a tote bag with a water bottle, stickers and food. International students made the food from scratch to represent their regions’ cuisine. All bags included soan papdi, vishetes and chifles, and then a mix of either alfajores, matcha cookies or brigadeiros.
STUISAS’ president, Maria Caridad Guerrero, opened the fair with a speech about multiculturalism in STU, praising the international students and their cultures.
“Each one of [the international students] brings a unique perspective and story to St. Thomas,” she said in her speech.
Guerrero thanked the people that assisted the event and, after some words from the international coordinator Carrie Monteith-Levesque, the show started.
Students from the University of New Brunswick (UNB) showed up at the event. The UNB Naach Club presented traditional dances from South Asia, inspired by Bollywood and Kollywood choreographers.
A group of international students walked onto the stage modelling traditional clothes from their home countries.
After the intersession, Martin Kutnowski, professor of Fine Arts at STU, performed with a group of students covers of the songs “My Way” by Frank Sinatra and “Ben” by Michael Jackson.
Valeria Torres, the lead singer and an international student from Peru, sang two solo songs after the group performances. According to Torres, the last songs are “like anthems to all Peruvians,” and “singing on stage was like going back to my home country.”
Anthony Bryan, STU alumni from Trinidad and Tobago, did stand-up appealing to the experience of being an international student. From navigating immigration, to visiting family members after a long time, the jokes rang true to most of the international students sitting in the audience.
“I think we should do an escape room for people that are from [Canada] based on the [Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada] website,” Bryan joked. “They would never be able to go out.”
Ravtej Singh, an international student from India, was also part of the band that Kutnowski put together as the drummer. But for the last performance, he sat alone on the stage and made covers of popular songs, replacing the voice with the sound of traditional Indian drums and encouraging people to sing along.
After the Multicultural Fair, Guerrero thanked the volunteers that helped organize the event and all STUISA executives and ambassadors for playing such an important role. While STUISA already funds international bursaries, they are making a new bursary in honour of Arayam Bora, an international student from India that passed in 2020.
“This event demonstrates how [international students] are,” said Guerrero. “With the money collected, we will be able to fund bursaries that will help our community.”
