Iowa State’s Student Union Board (SUB) will host its annual Global Gala event Friday at the Great Hall, intended to promote diversity and celebrate all cultures on Iowa State’s campus.

Global Gala has not taken place since March 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, Global Gala was hosted annually for over a decade.

“It will be exciting to bring this event back to life and showcase students on campus,” SUB president Brooklin Border said. 

Global Gala celebrates the various cultures present on campus. This event will give multicultural student organizations the space to showcase and represent their cultural heritage through dance, music and fashion. 

Sophomore Axel Ramirez and junior Mo Fesenmeyer serve as the co-directors for Global Gala.

“I am really looking forward to the groups that are performing and getting to learn about more cultures around campus,” Fesenmeyer said. “I think this event is important because it showcases the different cultures that are represented on campus.”

SUB has worked to put together this event over the past couple of months. Student organizations were able to fill out an application to participate in Global Gala, while SUB also reached out to other potential clubs to promote attendance at the event. 

Attending the event are the two Asian interest Greek organizations on campus, Pi Alpha Phi and Delta Phi Lambda. Delta Phi Lambda and Pi Alpha Phi are the only Greek organizations at Iowa State specifically advocating for Asian and Asian-American students.

Several dance clubs will also be in attendance. The Cardinal Swing Society is a social dance club that focuses on various styles, including East Coast Swing Dancing, Lindy Hop, the Charleston and other established styles of swing dancing. 

Motion Sickness Dance Team is another dance club that will be in attendance. They focus on moves and styles from hip hop, jazz and modern dance. 

The Bhangra Dance Club will represent the traditional Punjabi-Indian dance style that members learn and perform at various events in surrounding cities. 

The Martial Arts Club will also be in attendance. They will be performing a demonstration of judo, hapkido and taekwondo.

Global Gala will begin at 7 p.m. Friday at the Durham Great Hall. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. Light refreshments and food will be served for free at the event.

The Global Gala is free and open to all Iowa State students. For more information, visit the Student Union Board website.