App State’s Asian Student Association hosted a Lunar New Year social Wednesday evening in Plemmons Student Union to mark the beginning of the year of the Fire Horse.
The cultural club’s annual event was unique this year, as Lunar New Year overlapped with Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Ramadan. Senior exercise science major Annaliese Maturan, the ASA’s president, acknowledged this to open her presentation.
“I first want to say happy Lunar New Year, happy Ramadan and happy Lent for all those who celebrate,” Maturan said.
In addition to the rare concurrence of Lunar New Year, Ash Wednesday and Ramadan, two ASA members, senior finance and banking major Sophie Stohler and professional school counseling graduate student Kristine Huynh also marked their birthdays this week. Before any official business could start, Stohler and Huynh were ushered to the front of the room to cheers from her friends and dedications on the projector.
“I’ve made a lot of good friends here,” said senior exercise science major Lilyan Reid, the ASA’s external chair. “It’s a good way to destress.”
ASA meetings tend to veer toward karaoke nights and Just Dance tournaments. But for Lunar New Year, the club takes an opportunity for cultural education. After Maturan took care of housekeeping items including announcing the “Age of Mythology” theme for Asian Fest on March 29 and upcoming Latin Hispanic Alliance and Black Student Association events, she handed over the floor to club members to share their families’ Lunar New Year traditions.
Junior biology major Kimberly Jung introduced Chinese New Year traditions like rice balls and gift exchanges; sophomore kinesiology major Jacob Hagen introduced Korean traditions of bringing his extended family together; and junior cybersecurity major Savannah Truong shared Vietnamese new year traditions from her family.
“The first person to enter the house after midnight will set the energy for the rest of the year,” Truong said.
Truong presented the club with a mat for a game of Bầu cua cá cọp, a dice game usually played during Vietnamese new year’s parties. After finishing the presentation, the club split up into one crowd surrounding the Bầu cua cá cọp mat provided by Truong’s mother with images of the game’s six central figures — a fish, crab, prawn, rooster, gourd and a tiger — and another watching origami envelope guides on YouTube.
Jung, who runs the ASA’s Internal and Cultural Affairs, gave out mandarin slices to partygoers. Since the PSU’s multicultural office was liquidated in 2024 as a result of the UNC system’s decision to repeal Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies, ASA members, including Jung, have been paying out-of-pocket for club supplies and storing them at their apartments off-campus.
“A lot of students just don’t know who we are now,” Jung said. “And we get no money from the school. Other groups are school-affiliated or more well established. We don’t have that.”
One of the important themes of Lunar New Year is leaving last year’s chores and problems in the past and taking a day to celebrate those close to you and ensure good luck for the new year. As many are separated from their families while staying in Boone, the ASA is the closest thing.
