Celebration of nations: Towson hosts ‘Culture Con’
By: Kebron Tesfaye, Contributing Writer
To represent and celebrate the different cultures that comprise Towson, the Student Government Association and Housing and Residence Life hosted CultureCon April 7.
The event was primarily organized by Tower A residence life coordinator at Lisa Parladé, and Tower D assistant residence life coordinator Antoinette Newsom.
“We put on signature events every single year and we were looking at the events we put on every year and were like, ‘um, they’re getting a little stale, let’s mix it up,’” Parladé said. “So we decided to do something that lined up with our core values.”
What started off as a small idea including fun activities, performances and all types of cultural exposé began to fuel the idea for the large event.
The SGA and HRL decided to create an event that would include both the fun and the educational features of all the organizations and cultural aspects represented at Towson.
The tables included the American Sign Language Club, Chinese American Student Union, Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and Russian Students among many others.
At the event, each group designed activities that gave other students an idea of what they represented and why it was important.
For example, the Chinese American Student Union had students create their own lanterns to represent a specific and famous part of Chinese culture.
Students were given a piece of paper with table layout upon entering the event.
Their job was to visit all the tables and get stamps, which they would present at a raffle table. The lucky ticket chosen would win a prize of Beats Headphones.
“I think this it’s important to Towson University because it shows a sense of culture and that’s something that Towson University lacks— especially with first-generation college students,” Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Society representative Fresia Blanco said.
“I feel like, here it’s a predominantly white institution, and that’s fine,” Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Society member Karina Rubio said. “It’s great that we get to be exposed to things that we’ve never been exposed to before. By us representing the Latinas out there, even if it’s strolling, people are going to notice us.”
Culture Con brought in as many as a hundred students to watch, learn and participate in many of the activities available.
SGA and HRL hope that after the success of the night, they can present something similar again in the years to come.
