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Goodbye, Uni Culture Fair
What's behind the decision, and what — if anything — will replace the event this year?
Gargoyle staff photo (click to enlarge)Uni students enjoy the food during last year's Culture Fair. Did students enjoy the food so much that the main purpose of the event, learning about the diverse cultures that make up the Uni community, got short shrift? Published: Thursday, October 1, 2009 - 11:06am
URBANA — For the past two years, October has meant three things to Uni students: Halloween, PSATs, and, of course, the Uni Culture Fair, organized by the Multicultural Parent Advisory Group.
This year you can cross the fair off that list. The day full of dancers, blaring music, and delicious food won't happen.
"No one person made this decision — it was mutual and agreed to by everyone who attended the year's first MPAG meeting as well as by Uni's administration (as MPAG had requested that the event be 'institutionalized' if it continued)," said Spanish teacher Jenna Finch, faculty liaison to MPAG, in an e-mail interview with the Gargoyle.
She said the decision was based on two things:
"First, the Culture Fair last year was attended more for the food than for the information on offer according to many/most who had booths, and many students did not attend at all, but rather took the Culture Fair as time off. Additionally, students were not generally involved in putting together or planning the fair, and there was very little sense that students were invested in carrying its intended 'celebration of diversity' forward into the rest of the year.
"Secondly, the fair was extremely labor intensive — which is fine if the bang is worth the buck. But the consensus was that for that much work MPAG, which has clear goals in mind, should be more visible throughout the year in ways that clarify its mission."
The first fair took place in May 2007 to recognize the diverse cultural backgrounds of Uni students, faculty, and parents. The event was held again in October 2007 and 2008.
The parents of MPAG had to work hard to put the fairs together. But as senior Rachel Harmon, who worked closely with MPAG on the events, said in a schoolwide e-mail this morning, members concluded that the fair "is not effective and does not serve its original purpose: to recognize, celebrate, and explore the diversity that we have here Uni."
Although the fair won't take place, MPAG is planning several other activities to replace it that would be spread throughout the year.
Parent Nancy Yeagle, who has been involved with MPAG since its inception in 2007, says some of the events being considered are movie and discussion nights. Also among the possibilities: talks by guest speakers, including students who participated in the Dominican Republic or Habitat for Humanity trips.
In her e-mail, Harmon encouraged students to contact her with ideas for events that would celebrate Uni's cultural diversity. She said the following ideas came up at the most recent MPAG meeting:
- A different kind of movie night: maybe food and discussion
- A café night or talent show
- An Oxfam-style dinner
- A speakers bureau (speakers could either be students or student-recommended, and would appear at school assemblies)
- A series of "Did you know?" bulletin posts Agora Days classes
Harmon said students should: "1) Tell me which of the events you most favor and would like to see this year. 2) Give me reasons why the Culture Fair is effective and should be continued (as well as ways in which it can be improved). 3) Propose different ideas for cultural events. 4) Let me know that you are interested in working with me to serve as a sort of liaison between MPAG and the student body at large."
For students who heard that the fair won't take place, the decision came as a disappointment.
"I was interested in helping out with the fair, but I wasn’t aware of any other ways that students could contribute, aside from setting up booths," said junior Kahlilah Cooke. "I think it was a chance for Uni to have a long lasting tradition, and it’s a shame that it couldn’t continue."
Scenes from last year's culture fair
Note: Gargoyle photos by Sindha Agha, Katherine Allen, Hadley Hauser, Jason He, Revathi Maturi, Katy Metcalf, Chris Yoder
Sian Best takes a bite from a treat. (Click any photo to enlarge and to create your own slideshow)
Students begin to gather on the sidewalk of Stoughton Street.
Master drummer Mousa Bolakande from Guinea and his crew begin the show.
Bolakande starts the rhythm.
Former Uni guidance counselor Sam Smith and students dance to the beat.
More students join in and get their groove on.
It's time to dance!
Lots of excitement.
Demitri Daniels, a Shaolin gongfu master.
The master starts his first performance while a crowd gathers.
The Drunken Fist style.
Only masters can do that.
Master Daniels gives a training session.
Teaching the students a martial arts stance.
Another view.
The Alpha Phi Alpha step team.
The performance takes off.
Another view of the step team.
A close-up view.
A crowd gathers to watch.
Step team members say their farewells to the Uni crowd.
Jazz time! From left: Then-senior Clement Dossin, music teacher Rick Murphy, and then-senior Miguel "Teddy" Zamora-Mills.
Then-subfreshman Aaron Wilson sets the beat.
Go Aaron, Teddy, Clement!
The final performance goes to …
Ugandan and local Champaign rapper Krukid!
A black-and-white photo taken by Sinda Agha.
Another photo by Sindha.
Krukid gets the crowd pumped up.
Students sit on a sidewalk of Stoughton to watch the performance.
Another view of Stoughton Street.
From left: junior Arnav Pamidighantam, sophomore
Mike Zhivov, and seniors Karolina Kalbarczyk, Kareem
Sayegh, and Natsuki Nakamura enjoy the show.
Another view of the fair.
Comments
i really don't want to be
i really don't want to be lectured on culture. i think there are more creative and effective ways to increase our knowledge of other cultures.
The culture fair was a
The culture fair was a celebration of culture. You don't have to know facts and trivia about a culture to appreciate it. The culture fair calls attention to Uni's diversity that people don't realize everyday and makes an overall good impression about celebrating other cultures.
Keep the Culture Fair
I agree with both of the above comments on here. As far as I knew, the purpose of the Culture Fair was to celebrate the diversity within the school, doing so by allowing the Uni community to experience these things firsthand. I realize that no matter how much time and effort go into creating the booths that are supposed to make up much of the Culture Fair, the majority of the attention ends up going to the free food. Personally, I don't see this as an entirely negative thing. While I know that it must be upsetting to those who organize the event to see their carefully-made posters being bypassed by the herds of students rushing from culture to culture trying to fill their plates, I think that the food does serve a purpose. Food is often seen as the gateway to a culture. Every country, every region of a country, has it's own distinct style when it comes to food, so showing that off to the Uni community should be seen as a good thing.
I think it will be difficult to get the students as involved in Uni's varied culture through any other medium as they were when the Culture Fair was in place. Even though it was stated that "many students did not attend at all", I do not see how changing the event (to something optional, like a movie night, or something entirely focused on food, like a dinner) will prevent this from happening and make more students become involved. I really wish that a decision like this would have been made with the input of more of the student body. It is not fair to take something like this, which has become a tradition (under the Uni rule of "do something once and it becomes a tradition"), away from us without first hearing what we have to say.
Agreed
Everything Lisa says is true. Also, the general feeling expressed by the adults that students only came for the food and took nothing else out of the effort is rather false. Look to the photos from the past two years as proof that the students joined in the dancing, the capoeira, the kung fu, and happily watched everything else. Much recognition, celebration, and exploration of culture occurred in the very short time it was allowed to happen.
To the argument that celebration of diversity was not carried forward into the rest of the year: this goal of continuity will be impeded, rather than promoted, by the fair's elimination. This is a concise way to showcase many, many cultures at once; by all means combine it with other cultural activities interspersed throughout the year, or invite more performers, or have student performances as they do in larger high schools to further participation, but do not take it away all together. I do not see how any objective at all can be encouraged if this is to happen.
I completely agree
I couldn't agree more with the two students above me.
The one thing that I'm not sure that the staff have realized is that kids coming mainly for the food is not a terrible thing. Let me rephrase: the kids would all come because there was free food, and while they enjoyed the food they couldn't resist looking at all of the diversity related displays. If it was just a cultural presentation (which god forbid it may become) then fewer people would come and fewer people would be educated because the only people who would come are those who WANT to be educated. And those who WANT to be educated are a pointless demographic because if they WANT to know about it it is likely they already do.
Its similar to teaching morals to kids using cartoons. A kid doesn't want to be taught a moral, that's boring. But if you make a cartoon that teaches that moral, they learn the moral AND enjoy doing so.
Also I have 1 idea that may make you think again about reinstating the culture fair. If you're worried that nobody is looking at your well organized poster board, why not have a visual presentation instead. If you're eating food, its natural to do something else to entertain yourself like talk or watch a tv show. So if you show us more visual demonstrations like the kung-fu demonstration and the step team demonstration we'll definitely pay attention.
e.g. Ritualistic dance? Culture centered music? different styles of music? fan dance? tea ceremony? Square dancing? More styles of martial arts? Wushu fighting????
I liked the culture fair and
I liked the culture fair and don't think students only went there because of food!
Another Point to Keep it
Thank you Lisa for mentioning that the food is NOT pointless and thank you Diana for pointing out the mass participation that the pictures undeniably prove. People are more receptive and energized when they have good food in their bellies and how can they possibly ignore the loud and festive drum beats or the impressive dancing?
Additionally, I think we forgot to mention how much the students who spent time learning about their culture while setting up booths with their parents benefited. The culture fair was a time for individuals to delve into their own history and native culture and to learn how to display it to others. I remember seeing many proud smiles on students' faces as their peers came up to greet them and to admire their booth. Students also really seemed to enjoy watching others try a dish that they might see on their dinner table everyday.
I am sad that this tradition couldn't continue for my senior year.
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