World cultures converged in the Plemmons Student Union Parkway Ballroom Tuesday evening as the Student Government Association hosted “A Taste of Home: Cultures from Around the World.” The event brought together six of App State’s cultural organizations, representing cultures from four continents.
“It’s just another way of showing and representing our culture,” said Nahomi Balcazar Velazquez, a junior communication sciences and disorders major and president of the Latin Hispanic Alliance at App State.
Clubs also played music and had display boards and items for people to interact with.
“It’s an honor to represent our culture in this kind of way,” said Roman Fermanian, a senior global studies major and representative of the Middle Eastern and North African Student Association.
Fermanian said the clubs valued being able to represent the diverse cultures within them.
“We come from varying backgrounds from the Middle East specifically,” Fermanian said. “Each of us are representing different ethnic groups, different languages.”
Fermanian himself is Armenian and Chaldean, while the club’s vice president is Lebanese and the secretary is Turkish.
The event itself was the result of over a year of effort and coordination.
“We started reaching out to orgs last semester to plan all this, then getting the budget together, getting it voted on and then getting all the catering orders together,” said Bri Armijo, a senior political science major and DEI director for SGA.
This evening was a reboot of its predecessor, an event hosted by the Multicultural Center titled “Around the World.” After the closure of the Multicultural Center in 2024, the future of “Around the World” was uncertain.
Hampton Smith, a senior management major and Assembly Speaker for SGA, pushed for its return, and Armijo realized his dream.
“It’s a long process, but it’s going great,” Armijo said.
After visitors and organizers alike got to enjoy cuisines from around the globe, all attendees convened in Parkway Ballroom for a multicultural fashion show.
Armijo introduced the event before passing things off to the LHA. The club members showed off a traditional poncho, a garment meant to help farmers and travelers brave the elements.
The Asian Student Association brought traditional clothing from both China and India. The Chinese cheongsam is a traditional formal dress while the Indian lehenga is a garment commonly worn at weddings and major festivals.
All clubs had chances to represent their cultures in a variety of ways through this celebration of culture.