On Saturday night, members of four student organizations will come together for a semi-formal event called the Global Gala. Sponsored by This is YOUR April and produced by the Student Union Board, the second annual Global Gala will take place at 7:30 p.m. The event will be free.

Neal Sneller, junior in management and a committee member for the Global Gala, said the event is to demonstrate multiculturalism.

“We live in a world that is quickly shrinking and we are seeing more and more people from all over,” he said. “It is important to have some sort of cultural sensitivity in today’s changing world.”

Four student groups will be at the event to show off some of their native culture. These groups are the Organization of Latino Students, the Pakistan Student Association, the Mexican-American Young Achievers Society and the Thai Student Association.

Each organization will do a presentation about their culture.

“It’s a great chance to see something out of the ordinary,” Sneller said. “It is a chance to meet other people through diverse backgrounds.”

Warisara Lertpaitoonpan, graduate student in civil, construction and environmental engineering, is the president of the Thai Student Association. The Thai Student Association will be performing a traditional Thai dance called a blessing dance. Lertpaitoonpan said the Global Gala will be a good chance for people to appreciate other countries’ cultures.

“We are proud of our heritage and our culture so we just want other people to know that Thailand has our own tradition and culture and it is unique,” Lertpaitoonpan said.

“WorldBeat” DJ Bobby Aleman will take care of the music, which will also be from the cultures represented. The dress is semi-formal or, if possible, traditional clothes are encouraged.

Olamide Shadiya, a first year PhD candidate in chemical engineering at Oklahoma State University, attended last year’s Global Gala and said it was “awesome,” and promotes attending this year’s Global Gala.

“It will be a great opportunity to sample selected countries. I know, coming from Nigeria, I would like the opportunity to learn about South American culture or Asian culture,” Shadiya said.

She said she is glad the event continued after she left Iowa State and she thinks they should have an event like the Global Gala at Oklahoma State.

Shadiya and Sneller both mentioned the food as a reason enough to go.